Erik Ortiz

Senior Reporter

I cover national news. I also focus on racial injustice and social inequality, and cover aspects of the criminal justice system, including judicial misconduct and federal prisons.

Do you have a news tip you want to share with our journalists? Visit NBC News Tips to learn more.

I cover national news. I also focus on racial injustice and social inequality, and cover aspects of the criminal justice system, including judicial misconduct and federal prisons.

Do you have a news tip you want to share with our journalists? Visit NBC News Tips to learn more.


Latest from Erik Ortiz

5d ago

Trump's DHS immigration enforcement officers have shot 14 people since September. Here's what to know.

ICE and Border Patrol agents have shot three people in Minneapolis in recent weeks, killing two U.S. citizens, Alex Pretti and Renee Good. Here’s what we know about each case.

Questions swirl around federal government's plan to investigate DHS shootings

DHS is leading the investigations, not the FBI, which has raised questions about independence, and local officials have been cut out where there is usually cooperation.
43d ago

The Trump administration’s playbook after fatal DHS shootings

The response to both shootings followed what experts say is a signature Trump approach to crisis management: First go on the attack.

Demands grow for ICE accountability, but Trump administration cutbacks leave fewer options

The Trump administration has restructured key federal agencies in ways that leave fewer avenues for investigations that could determine whether the agent’s response in Minneapolis was overly aggressive, experts said.
62d ago

Maduro detained in New York City jail that's a 'far cry from anything luxurious'

The ornate neoclassical facade of Venezuela's palm tree-lined Miraflores Palace — the seat of power held by Nicolás Maduro for more than a decade — is in stark contrast to where, now deposed, he is currently confined: a drab, warehouse-looking lockup in Brooklyn, New York, saddled with violence and complaints of poor sanitary conditions.
76d ago

Experts who once backed 'shaken baby' science now fight to free imprisoned caregivers

A growing number of medical experts and officials are walking back shaken baby syndrome testimony that put parents behind bars. They face an uphill battle.
83d ago

A medical examiner's testimony put a father behind bars for life. Now he says he 'made a mistake.'

Dr. Bruce Levy’s finding that shaken baby syndrome killed Russell Maze’s son, Alex, was critical in the Tennessee man’s murder conviction. Levy now says Maze is innocent.
84d ago

85% of people given federal pardons or clemency this year are white, House lawmaker’s report says

Eighty-five percent of the people granted pardons or clemency this year by President Donald Trump are white, and Jan. 6 defendants made up 90% of those who benefited, according to a new report compiled by Rep.
111d ago

Whistleblower who provided House Democrats with Ghislaine Maxwell documents speaks out

A whistleblower who came forward to House Democrats alleging convicted sex offender Ghislaine Maxwell received preferential treatment at a federal prison camp in Texas says she was not motivated by politics
122d ago

Ghislaine Maxwell's prison emails show she is 'happier' at minimum-security Texas facility

Ghislaine Maxwell, a convicted sex offender connected to Jeffrey Epstein, sent emails praising Federal Prison Camp Bryan in Texas after she was moved there in August.
136d ago

NBA rigged poker suspect's wife says the case is a flop

Federal prosecutors allege a Georgia man named John Mazzola — nickname “John South” — played on the “Cheating Team” in rigged poker games in Manhattan and Miami.