Homeland Security says the federal immigration agent who shattered a vehicle’s window to detain a Guatemalan asylum seeker in New Bedford has worked with ICE Boston “for years” and is not a militia leader from Arizona.

“The rumors circulating on social media that ICE Boston employed a militia leader from Arizona to make arrests in New England are not only false,” the department posted on social media Thursday, “but they are also inflammatory and place the safety of federal officers in jeopardy.

“Our ICE officers are facing 300% increase in assaults while carrying out enforcement operations,” the department added.

The post came after rumors started to spread on social media that the agent seen in a video of the New Bedford altercation was Michael Meyer, the founder of a movement called “Veterans on Patrol,” which has reportedly been connected to militia activities in Arizona and other states along the southern border.

A spokesperson for the U.S. Immigration Customs and Enforcement has said that the agent seen in the viral video is rather a “federal law enforcement officer who has worked with ICE to help keep New England communities safe for years.”

ICE did not release the officer’s name nor provide details on agents being assaulted.

One anonymous account, titled “Alexander Hamilton,” posted on X: “Oh look! One of (Tom Homan’s) Brown Shirts forgot to cover his face. Who knows him?!?”

Homan is leading President Trump’s mass deportation efforts as the administration’s border czar. ICE has faced criticism for the handling of the case of Rumeysa Ozturk, a Tufts University PhD student who agents, in plainclothes and masks, detained on a Somerville sidewalk last month.

The Arizona Mirror, an independent news outlet, found Thursday that the subject of the rumors, Michael Meyer, was in Oklahoma, “spreading conspiracy theories there,” and not in Massachusetts.

“Meyer has been making videos of himself at the Oklahoma state Capitol telling staff of lawmakers that he intends to “destroy” what he claims is ‘military weather manipulation’ technology,” the Mirror reported.

A lawyer for the family of the man detained in New Bedford claims agents were not looking for Juan Francisco Mendez when they grabbed him Monday.

Attorney Ondine Galvez-Sniffin has said that the agents were looking for another man with a different name before they grabbed Mendez and his wife, Marilu Domingo Ortiz, out of the car.

The incident, recorded on video by Mendez’s wife, shows ICE agents using a hammer-like tool to smash the car window and then seize Ortiz.

Mendez remains incarcerated at Strafford County Correctional Facility in Dover, N.H., the New Bedford Standard-Times reported on Friday.

Massachusetts Congressman Bill Keating sent a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and FBI Director Kash Patel on Thursday, demanding answers on Mendez’s arrest.

An ICE spokesperson has said Mendez “refused to comply with officers’ instructions and resisted apprehension.”

“ICE concurs with the actions deemed appropriate by the officers on the scene who are trained to use the minimum amount of force necessary to resolve the situation in a manner that ensures the success of the operation and prioritizes the safety of our officers,” the spokesperson said in a statement.

The Associated Press contributed to this report