Topline
The person killed in a deadly Immigration and Customs Enforcement-involved shooting in Biddeford, Maine, on Monday was not the intended target of the officers’ warrant, Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, told multiple outlets, citing a conversation with Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin.
Key Facts
At an earlier press conference, King said Mullin had previously told him the victim had been “given an order to leave the country,” and then “weaponized” his vehicle before ICE agents shot him.
Hours after the deadly shooting, the Department of Homeland Security said ICE agents in Maine were surveilling the “last known address of an illegal alien with a final order of removal.”
Agents tried to stop a vehicle leaving the address, but the driver tried to flee, DHS said in a statement, and an agent opened fire “fearing for public safety.”
The victim was identified as Joan Sebastian Guerrero, the Portland Press Herald reported, citing his neighbors—a 26-year-old father from Colombia with a wife and daughter, who one neighbor estimated was around 3 years old.
Witnesses told the newspaper they saw Guerrero’s wife and daughter at the scene after the shooting.
Witnesses also told the Portland Press Herald they saw agents pull a man from a car, with one person telling the newspaper they heard the victim say “I tried to stop” before they stopped moving and presumably died.
In a separate update, Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said Mullin told her the Department of Homeland Security’s inspector general would begin investigating the shooting, alongside the FBI.
Tangent
Anti-ICE protests mobilized quickly in the immediate wake of the shooting. Local group Biddeford Saco for Racial Justice announced a noon protest Monday against the shooting and ICE. Hundreds of protesters gathered in Biddeford, the Portland Press Herald reported, while more gathered outside Collins’ office to chant “vote her out.” Collins, Maine’s long-serving Republican senator, is up for reelection this year, and was previously facing a strong challenge from Democrat Graham Platner before he dropped out of the race following sexual assault allegations.
Surprising Fact
The shooting comes after Lorenzo Salgado Araujo was shot by an ICE agent Tuesday during a traffic stop in Texas, though witnesses and ICE dispute the circumstances of the incident. Araujo was also not the intended target of the administrative warrant that led to the ICE operation in Houston last week, Rep. Sylvia Garcia, D-Texas, said at a press conference last week. Earlier, the New York Times reported the warrant targeted two migrants, including one person from Guatemala believed to be in a van driven by Araujo, an immigrant from Mexico.
Key Background
Maine has been one of the targets of the Trump administration’s controversial push to send federal immigration agents to states and cities, often sparking widespread protests and legal action. The Trump administration launched “Operation Catch of the Day” in Maine in January, alleging agents would target “the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens who have terrorized communities,” but later appeared to end the widescale operation only days later. The alleged death in Biddeford and Araujo’s death in Texas come after ICE agents shot two U.S. citizens, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, in Minnesota in January, during the federal government’s push into the Twin Cities. Those deaths sparked national outrage and widespread protests, part of a broader opposition to the Trump administration’s hardline immigration agenda and widespread deportation efforts.
Further Reading
Top Democrats Demand Investigation Of Fatal ICE Shooting In Houston (Forbes)
Texas ICE Shooting Victim Was Not The Arrest Target, Lawmaker Says (Forbes)
