This is an update to the previous post about Caroline Dias Goncalves, whose traffic stop by Mesa County Sheriff’s Office “Investigator” Alexander Zwinck resulted in her being detained by ICE and jailed for two weeks.
On Thursday, the Mesa County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) announced that Investigator Alexander Zwinck, the officer who pulled over a 19-year-old Utah student, has been placed on administrative leave after an investigation.
Zwinck was the deputy who pulled over Caroline Dias Goncalves for a traffic stop on June 5. She was later detained by ICE shortly after the interaction.
In the statement, MCSO said any further repercussions for Zwinck will be determined after the investigation has been completed.
MCSO’s investigation includes reviewing communication between members of the Mesa County Sheriff’s Office and local, state, and federal partners through a Signal communication group chat. The investigation aims to see if MCSO’s deputies acted within the sheriff’s office’s policies and Colorado law after it was discovered that details about Dias Goncalves’ birthplace, Brazil, were allegedly released in the group chat and given to ICE.
Further investigation is being conducted to see if MCSO employees were aware that the information in the group chat, originally for drug interdiction efforts, was being used for immigration enforcement.
https://www.westernslopenow.com/top-stories/mcso-investigator-placed-on-leave-after-ice-incident