Devin AKA QueensNewsNow

During my time investigating and documenting the migrant crisis, I started digging deep into what was really happening inside many of these hotels and shelters. The more questions I asked, the more people started telling me to stop. Some warned I was bringing too much heat and attention to these locations. One person even told me straight up: “You’re f***** with their money, Leroy.”* But what I uncovered would make any grown man sick to his stomach. Staff members at several of these locations quietly told me that kids were being raped and trafficked by cartel-connected individuals. Gangs were allegedly operating right out of the hotels, running their operations in and around these shelters. According to staff members, layers of procedures and internal rules were put in place that seemed designed to keep incidents quiet and prevent information from getting out. Reports were discouraged, situations were handled internally, and many things that should have been exposed were buried under policy and bureaucracy. Some of the things I exposed were later verified by the federal government, and arrests were made. But some of the stuff I reported on still haunt me to this day — there are nights I can’t sleep thinking about it. What makes it worse is that some of the people I thought were supposed to fix these problems actually played a huge part in covering up what was happening. All for money. Because of my reporting, a lot of doors closed for me. Opportunities I could have had — big ones, career moves, connections, even access to platforms — vanished simply because I chose to do the right thing instead of staying silent. I lost a lot, and it stings, but I’ve never regretted it for a second. But here’s the thing — I have morals, and I don’t care about the consequences when it comes to that. What I did and what I reported on wasn’t for me. It wasn’t for clout, attention, or favors. It was about exposing what was happening and hopefully saving lives — especially the lives of children who were allegedly being trafficked. For me, this has always been about morals. Not about clout. Not about who can offer me something. I would never take dirty money in my life. By @LeeroyPress @StephenM @MargoMartin47

This was posted on Citizen by @QueensNewsNow. God bless the NYPD for having to put up with this.

Car explosion in the Bronx.