Protests after ICE agents kill man in front of young daughter
Protests have broken out in a US country town after a delivery driver who was in the United States legally was shot dead by ICE agents.
Joan Sebastian Guerrero, 26, was shot in front of his three-year-old daughter outside their home in Biddeford, Maine.
The scene of the shooting in Maine on Monday. AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty
A witness told the Portland Press Herald that the little girl was wearing her Bluey pyjamas at the time of the shooting.
Photos from the crime scene showed an unmarked police car had collided with Guerrero’s sedan.
Bullet holes could be seen in the windshield in front of the driver’s seat.
“Initial statements indicate an Enforcement Removal Operations Officer was conducting an enforcement operation related to a final order of removal when the subject attempted to flee in a vehicle in the direction of the officer and was fatally shot,” the state attorney-general’s office said in a statement.
“The Enforcement Removal Operations Officer will be placed on leave as is standard protocol in police involved shootings.”
The attorney-general has called for any witnesses to the shooting, which took place at 7am on Monday.
A statement from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) described Guerrero as an “illegal alien”.
“The vehicle attempted to flee the scene and fearing for public safety an officer discharged his weapon,” the statement read.
But one witness said he saw Guerrero speaking while he was still alive.
Joan Sebastian Guerrero was not the target of ICE agents when he was shot. Facebook
“His face was bloody. His head was bloody,” neighbour Daniel Boucher said.
“I clearly heard the victim say, ‘I tried to stop’.”
Maine Senator Angus King said Guerrero was not the target of an arrest warrant.
“They’ve been told they have to arrest 2000 people a day by the White House,” King told CNN.
“That’s a terrible way, an instruction, to give law enforcement.”
The Colombian national had a work permit and a social security number.
Governor Janet Mills was angered by the news Guerrero was not the target of the ICE operation.
“This development makes this tragedy even more disturbing and infuriating, and it underscores the reckless and haphazard manner in which immigration enforcement operations are being conducted in Maine and across the country,” Mills said.
“This has to end.
“To those Maine people who are horrified by this tragedy, I am with you, and for those who choose to protest, I urge you to do so peacefully.”
Attendees at a snap protest in Maine. AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty
Demonstrators in Biddeford have held a vigil in memorial to Guerrero.
Meanwhile, angry protesters rallied outside the Biddeford office of Republican Senator Susan Collins.
Collins issued a statement after the shooting.
“The shooting in Biddeford requires a full and impartial investigation of what happened,” Collins said.
“It is my understanding that the Biddeford police have secured the site and that the FBI is investigating.”
Guerrero’s death is the second fatality at the hands of ICE agents in a week.
Lorenzo Salgado Araujo had no criminal record and had lived in Houston for decades. Facebook
Lorenzo Salgado Araujo had lived in Houston for 35 years before he was shot last Tuesday.
DHS said Salgado Araujo ignored commands and attempted to ram the officer with his vehicle.
Other witnesses said there was no ramming attempt and Salgado Araujo was shot through the passenger side window.
His family said Salgado Araujo had no criminal record and ran a homebuilding business.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said the country would file criminal complaints over Salgado Araujo’s death.
The ICE officers were not wearing body cameras in either shooting.
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