Judge orders government to stop making public comments on Kilmar Abrego Garcia's case

The judge presiding over the criminal case against Kilmar Abrego Garcia in Tennessee directed both sides Thursday to stop making public statements about the case after defense lawyers argued the government was depriving him of his right to a fair trial by making inflammatory comments.

The judge presiding over the criminal case against Kilmar Abrego Garcia in Tennessee directed both sides Thursday to stop making public statements about the case after defense lawyers argued the government was depriving him of his right to a fair trial by making inflammatory comments.

Attorneys for Abrego — who was erroneously deported and later hit with human smuggling charges — had asked U.S. District Judge Waverly D. Crenshaw to hand down the order, arguing the government had been routinely violating a local rule barring comments that could be prejudicial.

"For months, the government has made extensive and inflammatory extrajudicial comments about Mr. Abrego that are likely to prejudice his right to a fair trial. These comments continued unabated — if anything they ramped up — since his indictment in this District, making clear the government’s intent to engage in a 'trial by newspaper,'” the defense filing said.

The scope of the order was not immediately clear. Abrego's attorneys had asked that it encompass the Justice Department and the Department of Homeland Security. The judge granted the defense motion in a two-sentence ruling that said, “All counsel are expected to comply with the Local Rules of this Court.”

Attorneys for Abrego and representatives for DHS and the Justice Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment.