A new YouTube project is aiming to show New Mexicans the raw, disturbing public safety cases that its creators say are being underreported, sanitized, or ignored by legacy media outlets.
The project, called Breaking Bodycams, publishes raw law enforcement body camera footage and case information involving violent crimes, illegal immigration, drug trafficking, cartel-linked activity, and other cases its creators say the public deserves to see for itself.
The channel can be found on YouTube at youtube.com/@breakingbodycams.
According to information provided about the project, the focus is to provide “raw bodycam videos and information about stories that are either underreported, or completely ignored.” The goal is to release at least two videos per week.
The first major case being highlighted by the channel involves Ruben Dario Gonzalez, a Venezuelan national accused in the alleged kidnapping and sexual assault of a 13-year-old girl in the Albuquerque area.
In the Breaking Bodycams video, the narrator says, “Rubén Darío González is not from Albuquerque, as the local legacy media inaccurately reported. Instead, González is from Venezuela. He told police he crossed the border into the United States claiming he deserves asylum.”
The video states that Gonzalez was charged with six felonies and one misdemeanor, has pleaded not guilty, and is awaiting trial.
The case was also discussed on the Scott Jennings Show, where longtime New Mexico political strategist Jay McCleskey said the project was created to bypass media filters and give the public access to the underlying records and footage.
“You basically have it exactly right,” McCleskey said after Jennings described the project as using court records, government documents, and bodycam footage to show cases involving foreign nationals and illegal immigrants accused of serious crimes. “I mean, as you know, I do campaigns and we’ve talked about these cases for a long time and we find the records and we put them in campaigns. You try to talk to the media, but it just gets censored.”
McCleskey said this particular case pushed him to launch the project.
“And finally, this case, when this case you’re talking about occurred, it set me over the top,” he said. “And I said, you know what, I know what these cases are because we’ve done the research. And so I’ve started requesting body cams for them and basically figured we’re going to go around the media. We’re going to show the public exactly what is happening in these cases.”
According to McCleskey’s description of the case, the 13-year-old girl was skateboarding in February when a man approached her and allegedly claimed her father had sent him as an Uber driver.
“He spoke his very broken English,” McCleskey said. “She didn’t know what was going on, but she thought maybe my dad sent him as an Uber.”
McCleskey said the suspect then allegedly kidnapped and assaulted the girl through the night before she was able to escape around 6 a.m. by convincing him to let her use the restroom at a gas station. Instead, she found a Good Samaritan in a vehicle and asked for help.
“The Good Samaritan calls 911,” McCleskey said. “So what you see in the body cam where it opens is the police officer pulls up, and as he’s pulling up, the victim, who we blur obviously, and the Good Samaritan point out the suspect, who suddenly flees.”
McCleskey praised the responding officers.
“The police officers acted great. They did a great job. They apprehended him right away,” he said.
But McCleskey said the larger issue is what the public was not told clearly when the story first broke.
“But again, when the story breaks, the public here doesn’t know anything,” he said. “It’s 34-year-old Albuquerque man.”
That is the central argument behind Breaking Bodycams: that New Mexicans are often given vague descriptions of suspects and incomplete reporting on violent crimes, especially when the accused offender’s immigration status or foreign-national background may raise uncomfortable questions about sanctuary policies, border enforcement, and public safety.
McCleskey said one outlet, the Santa Fe New Mexican, mentioned that Gonzalez told police he was from Venezuela and seeking political asylum. But he said Albuquerque television outlets did not emphasize that fact.
“All the TV stations, all the Albuquerque — none of them mentioned it,” McCleskey said.
He argued that the omission matters because it prevents the public from understanding the consequences of New Mexico’s sanctuary policies.
“The public deserves the truth because there’s a quick, easy solution to this, which is to end sanctuary policies,” McCleskey said. “And we’re a sanctuary state and a sanctuary city in Albuquerque.”
McCleskey also said the channel will not stop with one case. He said Breaking Bodycams plans to highlight drug trafficking and cartel-linked cases, including a forthcoming video involving an Arizona sheriff’s deputy traffic stop tied to fentanyl pills headed toward New Mexico.
“We’re going to start in New Mexico, but we’re going to bring it nationally,” he said.
The project arrives as New Mexico continues facing intense concerns over violent crime, fentanyl, cartel activity, and the effects of border-state policies. McCleskey argued that Albuquerque’s status as a “catch-and-release city” creates conditions that benefit criminals.
“If you’re a cartel, you’re operating in a catch-and-release city that is a sanctuary city,” he said. “They’re never going to hold an illegal immigrant in jail, so you’re going to get released back on the street within 24 hours.”
He also pointed to New Mexico’s driver’s license policies, saying Gonzalez had a New Mexico driver’s license despite allegedly being in the country illegally.
“This man who’s in the country illegally kidnapped and raped this girl had a New Mexico driver’s license,” McCleskey said.
The case remains pending, and Gonzalez has pleaded not guilty.
For viewers, Breaking Bodycams is offering a direct challenge to the way crime is often packaged by legacy outlets. Instead of relying on sanitized headlines or brief police summaries, the project is asking New Mexicans to watch the footage, examine the facts, and decide for themselves.
Those interested can watch and subscribe at youtube.com/@breakingbodycams.