A 27-year-old Honduran national is facing serious federal charges after prosecutors say he swung a hammer at ICE agents during a traffic stop in Gibbsboro, a quiet Camden County borough of roughly 2,261 residents. Reinieri De Jesus Licona Amador was arrested October 19, fifteen days after the encounter, and made his initial court appearance the following day before U.S. Magistrate Judge Elizabeth A. Pascal in Camden federal court.
According to NJ.com, ICE agents first spotted a truck driving through Gibbsboro on October 4. A license plate check showed the truck was registered to Licona Amador, and investigators determined he was in the country illegally. Agents stopped the vehicle after the driver's appearance matched Licona Amador's immigration-file photo, the outlet reports.
What happened next, prosecutors say, escalated quickly. Investigators told NJ.com that agents observed Licona Amador moving inside the truck and reaching into a toolbox in the backseat, where he grabbed a hammer and ignored orders to stop moving. When agents opened the passenger-side door to remove him, he instead exited through the driver's side, climbed on top of the passenger door, and swung the hammer multiple times at two ICE agents, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey.
Body Camera Footage Captures the Struggle
Agents used OC spray to subdue him before wrestling him to the ground and placing him under arrest, the report states. Federal court documents reviewed as part of the case show officers had stopped a black Chevrolet pickup truck bearing New Jersey license plate M85 YKK, and that the entire physical encounter — including Licona Amador exiting the truck while holding the hammer — was captured on officers' body-worn cameras, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Licona Amador has been charged with assault using a deadly or dangerous weapon, per the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey. The office has not disclosed where he is being held pending the criminal case, NJ.com reports.
What the Charge Could Mean
Under 18 U.S.C. § 111(b), assaulting a federal officer with a deadly or dangerous weapon carries a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in federal prison and a fine of up to $250,000, per the Department of Justice. The statute provides extraterritorial jurisdiction and covers any forcible assault, resistance, or opposition to federal officers performing official duties — regardless of whether the encounter results in severe bodily injury, according to the U.S. Government Publishing Office.
The stop was conducted by deportation officers from ICE's Enforcement and Removal Operations division, with criminal investigation support from Homeland Security Investigations' Newark office, the Justice Department said. Special Agent in Charge Michael S. McCarthy of HSI Newark said following the arrest that federal law enforcement personnel are facing a nationwide surge in violence, pointing to Department of Homeland Security data showing a 1,600% increase in assaults against federal officers.
Local Police Barred From Immigration Enforcement
The targeted nature of the stop reflects a legal boundary unique to New Jersey. Under the state's Immigrant Trust Directive, established by the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General in 2018, local, county, and state police are strictly barred from participating in federal civil immigration operations or assisting ICE unless responding to judicial warrants or exigent criminal threats. That restriction explains why the Gibbsboro stop was carried out solely by federal deportation officers rather than local police.
Federal criminal cases originating in Camden County are handled at the Mitchell H. Cohen U.S. Courthouse in Camden, which falls under the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey. The case also arrives amid a broader expansion of federal coordination in the state: ICE's HSI Newark office and the FBI's Newark field office established a joint Homeland Security Task Force in late 2025 to coordinate federal enforcement actions across New Jersey, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
