An example of a tattoo the Trump administration says identifies the wearer as a member of a violent Venezuelan gang was apparently lifted from a random British man who has no gang affiliation whatsoever.
“I’m just an average middle-aged man from Derbyshire,” Pete Belton told the BBC after the outlet linked a tattoo of a clock on Belton’s elbow to the very same one in a Department of Homeland Security training manual.
Rather than signify his predilection for violence, Belton, 44, said the tattoo commemorates the birth of his daughter, with the hour and minute hands pointing to the time of her delivery.
The same image also appeared in a PowerPoint presentation prepared by the Texas Department of Public Safety in September 2024:
Other examples provided in the document include tattoos of the iconic Michael Jordan silhouette, trains, stars and crowns.
Last month, the Trump administration sent a professional soccer player named Jerce Reyes Barrios to a brutal prison in El Salvador allegedly based on a crown tattoo. Barrios’ lawyer said the tattoo is merely an homage to the soccer club Real Madrid, which leans heavily on crown imagery.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers have been instructed to identify members of Tren de Aragua using a points-based system, an “Alien Enemy Validation Guide” obtained by the ACLU shows.
Tattoos, such as the above, that purportedly “denote loyalty” to TdA, count for 4 points. Other symbolism-based points can be assigned for wearing suspicious clothing (4 points), using suspicious hand signs (2 points) or posting TdA symbols on social media (2 points).
Anyone scoring 8 points or higher is automatically considered a member of Tren de Aragua, while immigrants who score 6 or 7 points “may be validated” as members ― but only after a conversation with the officer’s supervisor.
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Belton insists he’s no Venezuelan gangster. But he told the BBC he’s nevertheless rethinking a planned family vacation to Miami this fall, fearing it could instead turn into an “all-inclusive holiday to Guantanamo.”
How his elbow ended up in a training manual to identify criminals in an entirely different part of the world remains unclear. The Department of Homeland Security didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.