Terrance Cole, a 22-year veteran of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), recently nominated for the role of Administrator by President Donald Trump, confirmed that alleged MS-13 member Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s knuckle tattoos are consistent with affiliation in the violent gang.
As I noted before, Democrats have been eagerly attempting to debunk photos of Abrego Garcia’s tattoos in the hopes that if they can plant the seeds of uncertainty, their muse will be released from El Salvador and returned to the United States with a heroes welcome and, quite possibly, a parade in the streets.
They’ve gone so far as to suggest that the addition of helpful labels to identify each symbol’s representation in spelling out MS-13 means the images released of the Maryland gangbanger have been doctored or photoshopped.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) condescendingly criticized the Democrats’ narrative during a Wednesday evening hearing for Cole’s nomination in the Senate Judiciary Committee. He pointed out that gang members don’t necessarily have membership cards in their wallets to confirm their affiliations.
“In your time in the DEA, do they have like membership cards?” Graham wondered.
Cole, who had just described MS-13 as a “terrorist organization,” noted that individuals active in the gang don’t necessarily carry membership cards along with their Costco savings cards, but “they are well recognized based on tattoos.”
Graham then held up the now-famous image of Abrego Garcia’s tattoos, each knuckle adorned with a symbol the federal government has said equates to spelling out the letter and number sequence, ‘M-S-1-3.’
“Based on your time as a DEA agent in the field, particularly in Mexico, these tattoos are consistent with MS-13 associations?” he asked.
Cole’s response dispensed with the absurd argument to the contrary swiftly.
I asked President Trump’s DEA chief nominee about illegal immigrant and suspected MS-13 gang member Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s knuckle tattoos.
His answer is a MUST WATCH 🔥 pic.twitter.com/EWmow1d8pZ
— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) April 30, 2025
READ MORE: Trump Savages ABC’s Terry Moran to His Face in Contentious 100 Days Interview – ‘Look at You’
Second Petition for Restraining Order Against Deported MS-13 Gang Member Surfaces
“Well, they suggest that he’s an MS-13 member,” Cole had said of the tattoos. “Those are his markings. That’s his brand.”
“Do you know of any other set of combinations that would suggest some other organization this represents?” Graham later questioned.
Cole replied, “With this particular one, no, sir.”
The DEA nominee went so far as to explain how each symbol spelled out Abrego Garcia’s alleged ties to MS-13 – M for Marijuana leaf, S for smiley face, the number 1, and a backwards 3.
President Trump recently got into a contentious argument with ABC News host Terry Moran when the latter attempted to dismiss Abrego Garcia’s tattoo image as having been “photoshopped.”
Trump Takes Down ABC’s Moran Over Abrego Garcia
Trump: “That was photoshopped? Terry, they’re giving you the big break of a lifetime…I picked you, frankly I’ve never heard of you but that’s okay… Do you want me to show you the picture?… This is why people no longer believe… pic.twitter.com/bzXuJEGdpQ
— Mr Producer (@RichSementa) April 30, 2025
“This is why people no longer believe the news, because it’s fake news,” Trump said in response to Moran’s argument.
Who are you going to believe, Moran, who is regurgitating leftist media conspiracies, or Cole, a man who worked at the DEA for over two decades?
The tattoo link isn’t necessary to prove Abrego Garcia’s gang affiliations, in the end, when two separate judges have already done so. But it’s good to have an expert calmly torch the false narrative with reality, just in case.
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