During a rally in Albuquerque on Oct. 31, former president Donald Trump falsely claimed that a man accused of beheading another in Las Cruces was in the U.S. illegally, repeating a false claim fabricated by a right-wing media outlet shortly after the 2021 incident.

This story originally appeared in the Las Cruces Bulletin. It is republished here with permission.

The falsehood concerns the case against Joel Arciniega-Saenz, a U.S. citizen, who police accused of killing 51-year-old James Garcia at Apodaca Park in 2021.

“They come from Venezuela, they come from the Congo. And they’re stealing countless American lives in Las Cruces, Mexico,” Trump said, omitting the word “New” in the state’s name. “And they’re arrested and released from jail on an unsecured bond; what is an unsecured bond?”

Trump mused on the phrase – referring to a bond that a defendant only must repay if they’re found to have violated their conditions of release – before adding, “was charged with decapitating a man, mutilating his body and kicking his head around like a soccer ball in a public park.”

For the most part, Trump correctly recounted the case’s goriest details.

However, he did not mention the fact the Las Cruces police believed that Arciniega-Saenz knew Garcia and believed Garcia had sexually assaulted Arciniega-Saenz’ girlfriend. Police said in the affidavit that they had no reason to think the girlfriend existed.

As Trump said, Arciniega-Saenz was also out of jail on an unsecured bond at the...

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