Trump's acting ICE Director hit with brutal fact-check over Colorado operation claims

President Donald Trump's acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director, Todd Lyons, was hit with a brutal fact-check on Sunday over claims he made about a recent operation in Aurora, Colorado.

Last week, Lyons appeared before the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee, which oversees his agency, to answer questions about ICE's "Operation Metro Surge" in Minneapolis. During the hearing, Lyons made comments about another operation in Aurora that a local journalist found specious at best.

Lyons claimed that ICE officers were prevented from arresting Tren de Aragua gang members at an apartment complex in Aurora because their operation was impeded by local protesters. He also said that those protesters had been tipped off by local law enforcement. ICE's social media team later amplified those claims in a post.

However, those claims fell apart after journalist Marshall Zelinger with 9News delivered a brutal fact-check.

Clark noted that when 9News reached out to ICE for clarification about the social media post, the agency then deleted it. The City of Aurora said it "was not and has not been involved" in ICE's operations locally.

The most stunning part of Lyons' claim, Zelinger noted, was that it did not match the timeline he offered.

Lyons claimed that the apartment complex that ICE planned to raid was empty when they arrived, which he chalked up to the alleged tip from local law enforcement. But that claim doesn't hold any weight, as the U.S. government alerted the public about the operation one week before it happened. Zelinger then played a clip of a 9News reporter telling the public about ICE's plans to stage operations at nearby Buckley Air Force Base.

It is unclear whether Lyons plans to correct his testimony, Zelinger noted.