ICE Says It Will Halt Traffic Stops After Deadly Shootings by Agents

Florida state troopers report a person was struck and killed by a semi-truck on Tuesday morning as he ran from federal immigration agents in the parking lot of a gas station in St. Augustine. The Department of Homeland Security reported few details, saying only that a Mexican national had died. The New York Times reports the unnamed man was 28 years old. He’s at least the third person in just the last week to die during immigration enforcement operations. His death follows Monday’s killing of Joan Sebastián Durán Guerrero, the 25-year-old Colombian man shot dead by ICE agents on Monday morning in Biddeford, Maine, during a traffic stop on the block where he lived. His wife was home with the couple’s 3-year-old daughter and witnessed the immediate aftermath of the shooting. Durán held a valid work authorization and a Social Security number. According to Maine officials, he was not the person the agents were looking for. In a statement, ICE said, “The vehicle attempted to flee the scene and fearing for public safety an officer discharged his weapon.” The FBI and state authorities say they’re investigating. In the wake of Durán’s killing, ICE ordered its agents to halt most traffic stops. In response, President Trump wrote on social media, “we CANNOT give up one of I.C.E.’s most important and effective Crime Fighting tools, THE TRAFFIC STOP!” Trump added, “it won’t happen on my watch.” Meanwhile, protests continue across Maine. On Tuesday, hundreds of people rallied outside an ICE facility in Scarborough. This is Democratic Maine state Representative Sophie Warren. Rep. Sophie Warren: “This is an organization that is absolutely out of control. Just yesterday, of course, they killed one of our neighbors here in our state, and that’s completely inconsistent with our values. We want ICE out of our state. We want them defunded at the national level. And we want safety and peace for our communities and for fathers to know that they can be driving with their beloved wife and little baby daughter and know that they’re safe on our streets. And ICE is making that impossible.” www.democracynow.org