Another immigrant has been shot and killed during an Immigration and Customs Enforcement operation, according to Maine lawmakers.
The circumstances of the shooting and the legal status of the victim are still being investigated, but the Maine Immigrants’ Rights Coalition has identified him as 26 years old and from Colombia.
‘He was in a vehicle, pulled out in the vehicle — and the term the secretary used was “weaponized” the vehicle — and was shot.’
The MIRC also claimed that he had received a Social Security card and was authorized to work in the U.S.
Photos from the scene in Biddeford show a Kia sedan with several bullet holes in the windshield.
“I know that situations like these are alarming and frightening,” said Maine Gov. Janet Mills, a Democrat.
One witness said he saw officers with green ICE vests hop out of an unmarked Ford Explorer at about 7:20 a.m. on Monday and surround the white sedan with guns drawn. He heard four gunshots.
Independent Maine Sen. Angus King told reporters he received a briefing from Markwayne Mullin, the head of the Department of Homeland Security, about the shooting. Mullin told him the man had a deportation order issued against him and also had an arrest warrant.
“He was in a vehicle, pulled out in the vehicle — and the term the secretary used was ‘weaponized’ the vehicle — and was shot by an ICE agent,” King said.
“What I said to the secretary was, ‘We want a full, transparent, and open investigation of this matter,’” King added after noting that the agents did not have body cameras recording during the incident.
A press release from the office of Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey, a Democrat, said of the Biddeford shooting: “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.”
Blaze News reached out to the DHS for comment.
RELATED: President of Mexico VOWS to take action over lethal ICE shooting of illegal alien in Houston
Dozens of protesters joined a demonstration at a park after the shooting. Dozens of activists also went to Maine Republican Sen. Susan Collins’ office to protest.
“Vote her out!” they chanted.
WMTW-TV news video from the scene shows agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation investigating the shooting.
“Today, a 26-year-old member of our community is dead following an incident involving ICE,” reads a statement from MIRC Executive Director Mufalo Chitam.
“We are grieving, we are furious, and we will not allow his death to be treated as routine or inevitable,” he added. “How much more harm must our communities endure before those with the power to act acknowledge that this has gone too far?”
Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!
Read the full article here
