Fox News’ Bill Melugin Calls Out Local Fox Producer Slamming His ‘Grimy’ Border Patrol ‘Ride Along’
Fox News national correspondent Bill Melugin called out a local Fox producer who criticized his “grimy” Border Patrol ride along segment which followed agents on a dramatic Home Depot raid in California that led to several arrests.
Melugin embedded with agents in Sacramento on Thursday with his crew filming when the raid occurred, which resulted in 11 arrests as well as the arrest of a U.S. citizen. His reporting was then featured later that day on a segment of anchor Bret Baier’s Special Report.
After Baier aired Melugin’s report, FOX40 producer Jodi Bacon took to X to criticize Fox News for having the journalist “ride along” as “grimy” and protested that those arrested were “targeted for NO reason.”
Melugin hit back, calling the local producer out for her criticism, jabbing: “[y]ou thought it would be appropriate to post this?”
Bacon did not respond.
According to FOX40’s own reporting, the raid, described by witnesses as chaotic, was challenged by California Assemblymember Rhodesia Ransom, who questioned the jurisdiction of Border Patrol, which works under Customs and Border Protection (CBP), to conduct the operation.
“Are they actually supposed to be in our communities out here picking up people?” she asked.
The outlet also quoted Sacramento-based immigration attorney Arturo Benavidez who argued Border Patrol agents are not permitted to detain individuals solely because of their “race” and added that agents would need “probable cause” to conduct an arrest, whether a warrant or record of prior deportation.
According to ICE officials speaking to FOX40, the agency is now involved in processing some of those detained. They emphasized that the operation was targeted, not random, and that some individuals had previously been deported.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office issued a statement saying Border Patrol “should do their jobs — at the border — instead of continuing their tirade statewide of illegal racial profiling and illegal arrests.”
Watch above via Fox News.
