BIDDEFORD, Maine (AP) — Immigrant rights organizations are demanding transparency and planning further protests following the fatal shooting of a driver by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer during an enforcement operation in Biddeford, Maine. This incident, which occurred on Monday, represents the second deadly force use by ICE in a week and at least the ninth fatality linked to the immigration crackdown initiated by the Trump administration.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security indicated that the ICE officer shot the driver while agents were monitoring a residence connected to an individual they believed was in the U.S. illegally with a final removal order. According to a statement from the department, the officer opened fire when the vehicle driven by an individual departing from the residence allegedly attempted to flee.
Hours after the incident, Maine Senator Angus King reported that Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin informed him that the officer fired his weapon, fearing for public safety, as the driver allegedly attempted to use the vehicle as a weapon against ICE agents. Mullin also clarified that the officers were attempting to serve an arrest warrant for someone other than the individual who was shot.
Notably, the officers involved did not wear body cameras, which raises significant questions about the circumstances surrounding the shooting in the coastal community south of Portland, Maine's largest city. Details regarding the distance of the officer from the vehicle at the time of the shooting, whether the officers directed the driver to stop, and the potential endangerment to the public remain unclear.
In response to media inquiries, DHS did not immediately clarify the specifics surrounding the shooting. The Maine Attorney General’s office, which is conducting its own investigation, noted that initial assessments indicate the driver may have been trying to flee directly toward the agent. The officer responsible for the shooting has since been placed on leave.
Immigrant rights groups identified the deceased as a 26-year-old Colombian national, and officials from the Colombian Embassy stated they are in contact with U.S. authorities and providing support to the man's family. Maine's other senator, Republican Susan Collins, reported that the DHS's Office of Inspector General is collaborating with the FBI on the investigation.
Surveillance footage from a nearby business showed a white vehicle approaching an intersection at a modest pace before executing several slow circles. A law enforcement SUV subsequently blocked its path, leading to two officers forcibly extracting an unconscious body from the driver's seat. The timing of the gunshots in relation to the video footage remains ambiguous.
Local resident Daniel Boucher recounted hearing a series of “pop” sounds and witnessing the SUV moving down the street after the shots were fired. He described seeing the victim with visible injuries and claimed to have heard him say, “I tried to stop.” Boucher also recalled a close interaction with the officer who discharged his firearm, during which he expressed his emotions and received a comment from the officer suggesting the driver had attempted to run him over.
The Maine Immigrants' Rights Coalition and another advocacy group, Presente!, asserted that the deceased individual was authorized to work in the U.S. Nearby resident Mary Hayes, who witnessed the incident, described seeing the victim's wife collapse in grief over her husband's lifeless body on the ground, holding a sign that read “No ICE Stop ICE.”
This shooting incident follows another recent case in Texas, where an ICE officer fatally shot 52-year-old Lorenzo Salgado Araujo during a controversial pursuit while he was transporting his construction crew to a job site. These events are occurring amidst the Trump administration's escalation of mass deportation efforts, evidenced by the arrest of over 10,000 individuals in a five-day operation at the end of June. The current trend indicates a significant surge in arrests, diverging from the previously focused urban enforcement strategy.
