President Donald Trump released a graphic video Thursday evening showing a man smashing an SUV parked outside a Florida gas station with a hammer, then using it to bludgeon a woman who was coming out of the adjoining convenience store to confront him.
The suspect, Rolbert Joachin, repeatedly struck the woman with a hammer at a Chevron gas station in Fort Myers last week and fled, according to the Fort Myers Police Department arrest report. Police officers responding to the scene found the woman on the ground, who was no longer breathing, and emergency services declared her dead.
The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement release Tuesday, Joachin is originally from Haiti and is an undocumented immigrant.
Police then located Joachin and took him into custody. After being read his rights, he agreed to speak to detectives and “provided a detailed confession about the murder,” the police report states.
Joachin, 40, was charged with homicide as well as property damage and criminal mischief, according to court records, which listed him as a passenger. His public defender did not immediately respond to NBC News’ request for comment. Joachin appeared for a remand hearing on Wednesday and his next court date is set for May 4.
The premises NBC Affiliate identified the victim as Nilufa Easmin, also known as Yasmin, who was allegedly a gas station employee and mother of two teenage girls.
In his lengthy article on Truth Social, Trump accused the Biden administration, congressional Democrats and “deranged liberal district court judges” of supporting policies that led to Joachin being granted temporary protected status.
A representative for former President Joe Biden and the offices of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Joachin entered the United States in August 2022 and was deported by a federal judge that year, the Department of Homeland Security said, but was granted temporary protected status by the Biden administration, which expired in 2024. The special status prevents the expulsion of people from countries where conditions make it unsafe to return.
Trump made combating illegal immigration a central issue during his first and second terms, instituting a tough policy that included aggressive efforts over the past year to quickly deport large numbers of undocumented immigrants — moves that have faced numerous legal challenges. The president has regularly pointed to crimes committed by undocumented immigrants as evidence of Democrats’ lack of leadership on immigration and border security issues.
The Trump administration sought to end temporary protected status for about 350,000 Haitian immigrants, but the effort was postponed indefinitely by a federal judge. The administration has since appealed the lower court’s decision to the Supreme Court, which is expected to hear arguments later this month in the case.
Asked for comment, the White House pointed to Trump’s comments on Truth Social.
Trump said CCTV footage “is one of the most vicious things” a person can see.
“As I’ve always said, if you import the Third World, you become the Third World, and that’s what happened during the four years of Democratic control,” he said.
DHS said U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has placed Joachin on hold and he will be deported “regardless of the outcome of this case.”
