U.S. District Judge Jinsook Ohta ordered the immediate release of David Antonio Aviles Perez, a 35-year-old Salvadoran national known as “La Bruja,” after concluding the government violated his Fifth Amendment due-process rights by detaining him for months without an individualized assessment of danger or flight risk, the New York Post reported, as cited by The Gateway Pundit.
What the ruling says, per the source
According to the article, Judge Ohta’s Aug. 26 order found the government “offered no evidence” it considered Aviles Perez’s public-safety risk or flight risk before holding him in custody for roughly five months. The source quotes the order: “The government has offered no evidence that it detained him after considering those facts and making an individualized determination of his danger to the public or flight risk.”
The Gateway Pundit reports the court also barred immigration authorities from re-arresting Aviles Perez unless he first receives a bond hearing before an immigration judge, citing the federal court docket.
Who is Aviles Perez, according to the reporting
The New York Post, via The Gateway Pundit, identified Aviles Perez as a Salvadoran national known as “La Bruja” (“The Witch”) who entered the U.S. in December 2013 and remained in the country unlawfully, citing court records. ICE apprehended him in San Diego on March 26, 2026, the article states.
The Salvadoran murder case described by authorities
The article cites El Salvador’s Attorney General’s Office in stating that Aviles Perez and another MS-13 member, Ismael Enrique Mendoza Flores, were involved in a July 2014 killing in La Unión. According to that account, the attackers chased a man, forced him to his knees, and shot him multiple times in the chest, back, and face before fleeing. The source says both men were convicted in absentia of aggravated murder and sentenced to 20 years, and an international warrant was issued.
Prior U.S. arrests reported
The Gateway Pundit states that in 2023 Aviles Perez was arrested in California after allegedly swinging a machete at a man in Monterey, and that his record included arrests involving possession of a controlled substance and petty theft. The article says California authorities released him at the time under state sanctuary policies. These claims are reported by the source and have not been independently verified here.
What the order changes—and what it doesn’t
Per the article, Judge Ohta’s ruling did not overturn the Salvadoran conviction or erase the international warrant. It addresses the process by which the federal government detained Aviles Perez and, according to the source, limits any new arrest by requiring a bond hearing before an immigration judge.
