Radicals waving foreign flags and leftist signage flooded the streets of North Austin on Sunday following a nonfatal shooting involving a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer and a Venezuelan national.
As the sun set on a day full of anti-ICE rhetoric from Democratic officials, including Austin Mayor Kirk Watson, protesters turned violent, prompting a crackdown from Texas Department of Public Safety troopers.
The shooting
The shooting took place just before 1 p.m. on Sunday in the 8000 block of Anderson Square.
‘I am ready to Melt ICE.’
Austin-Travis County EMS Rob Luckritz noted that the individual who caught the bullet — identified by his immigration attorney as 28-year-old Wilber Rafael Garces Perez, a Venezuelan national allegedly working as a DoorDash driver — had stable vital signs but was nevertheless taken to Dell Seton Medical Center in “serious condition.”
A video live streamed around the time of the shooting and reviewed by the New York Times captures the sound of screeching tires and a collision, then pivots to show a damaged Corolla driven by Perez stopped next to an SUV driven by an ICE officer, the NYT reported. The vehicles can be seen on the video facing in opposite directions.
In a different video obtained by ABC News that shows the aftermath of the shooting, Perez can be heard claiming in Spanish that he was shot for failing to “brake,” the outlet reported.
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Masked radical throws a rock at law enforcement at an anti-ICE demonstration in Austin on Sept. 20. Brandon Bell/Getty Images.
Homeland Security Investigations is now investigating the shooting with the help of the FBI.
According to the Department of Homeland Security, the individual shot on Sunday is an “illegal alien from Venezuela, who illegally entered our country under the Biden administration and had a final order of removal, during a law enforcement operation today in Austin, TX.”
Perez received treatment at the hospital and was transferred into ICE custody.
The Democratic reflex
Following the shooting, Austin Mayor Kirk Watson joined other Democrats in presuming the worst and attacking ICE, stating, “I am very angry and extremely disappointed that a person was shot on the streets of Austin by ICE. While I’m angry and disappointed, I’m not surprised. This has happened in other cities. With the rogue nature of ICE and the chaos we’re seeing fomented by ICE, there’s no reason to be surprised.”
Texas Rep. Greg Casar (D) also seized the opportunity to remind everyone that he loathes federal immigration enforcement, stating, “The horror has come to our city: ICE has shot a person in Austin this morning.”
“Just like Americans have from Minneapolis to Houston, Austinites will speak out peacefully against this deadly mass deportation machine. ICE has been terrorizing our country for far too long. We will not be silent,” added Casar, the son of immigrants.
Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas) tweeted, “Trump has allowed ICE to flood our streets and put our communities in harms [sic] way again and again and Governor Abbott is complicit every time.”
Anchor-baby Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.) accused the DHS of being the “biggest threat to our collective safety” and noting, “I am ready to Melt ICE and dismantle DHS!”
While admittedly short on information, Texas state Rep. Vikki Goodwin (D) stated, “This violence cannot continue.”
The restoration of order
As Democrats took turns attacking ICE online, a horde of anti-ICE demonstrators rallied near the scene of the shooting, waving signs that said, “Stop ICE murder,” “F**k ICE,” “Moms against ICE,” “Justice 4 Wilber,” and “Abolish ICE.”
The mob grew increasingly unruly, not only lobbing rocks and other projectiles at law enforcement but attempting on multiple occasions to march on the taped-off site of the shooting. The Texas Department of Public Safety troopers responded by firing pepper balls toward the radicals while Austin police officers in riot gear stood ready.
After deploying tear gas, tackling some rioters, and successfully dispersing the mob, whose assembly was declared unlawful, troopers left the scene around 11 p.m., reported NBC News.
Blaze News reached out to the Texas Department of Public Safety and the DHS for comment but did not immediately receive responses.
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