CNN Panel Erupts After Leigh McGowan Calls Illegal-Immigrant Crime Debate 'Exhausting' in 33-Year-Old's Killing
Updated
Updated · Fox News · Sep 2
CNN Panel Erupts After Leigh McGowan Calls Illegal-Immigrant Crime Debate 'Exhausting' in 33-Year-Old's Killing
3 articles · Updated · Fox News · Sep 2
Summary
Leigh McGowan drew backlash on CNN's "NewsNight" after calling repeated discussion of Americans killed by illegal immigrants "exhausting" when Federalist reporter Brianna Lyman cited the strangling death of 33-year-old Massachusetts woman Brianna Connolly.
The clash came during a segment on 20-year-old Haitian-born student Pierre Damas Bel, whose family said he died by suicide after being required to wear an ankle monitor following the loss of Temporary Protected Status; Ohio authorities said the Interstate 70 death remains under investigation.
Lyman shot back on air that the issue is not exhausting for victims' families, then later accused the political left of treating murdered Americans as an inconvenience; Remembrance Project spokesperson Maria Espinoza also condemned McGowan's remarks.
ICE on Tuesday identified Flavio Alcantra Dias, 43, as the Brazilian national accused in Connolly's killing, saying he entered the U.S. illegally in 2019 and had his immigration proceedings terminated in 2024 on what DHS called a technicality.
The exchange landed amid the Trump administration's push to end TPS for hundreds of thousands of Haitian migrants after the Supreme Court allowed the policy shift to proceed while litigation continues.