Filmmaker With Ties to Grosse Pointe Arrested in Venezuela

A 35-year-old California filmmaker with ties to Grosse Pointe was arrested by Venezuelan authorities on suspicion of inciting post-election violence on behalf of the United States.

President Nicolas Maduro said last week he personally ordered Timothy Hallet Tracy’s arrest for allegedly inciting violence in Venezuelan cities. Venezuela's interior minister accused the American of working for U.S. intelligence by paying right-wing youth groups to hold violent protests in order to destabilize the country after Maduro's narrow election win this month, according to The Associated Press.

Those close to Tracy said he is filming a documentary exploring the political scene in the country following the death of President Hugo Chavez.

"They don't have CIA in custody. They don't have a journalist in custody. They have a kid with a camera," Aengus James, a friend and associate of Tracy’s in Hollywood, California told The Associated Press.

U.S consular officials in Venezuela are attempting to meet and speak with Tracy.

Tracy's father Emmet, of Grosse Pointe Farms told The Associated Press that the family recently had been urging his son to leave the country. Venezuela’s political climate has become increasingly tense after Maduro beat opposition candidate Henrique Capriles in the April 14 election by less than 2 percentage points.

"Frankly it's the kind of scenario that we were concerned about and kept telling him," Emmet Tracy said.