1 month ago
A California man changeable by US migration agents said officials person falsely accused him of being a pack personnel and that officers fired connected him without justification during a postulation stop.
Carlos Ivan Mendoza Hernandez, 36, was pulled complete and shot by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers connected Tuesday successful Patterson, a agrarian cultivation municipality successful California’s cardinal valley. Patrick Kolasinski, Hernandez’s attorney, visited him successful nan infirmary connected Thursday greeting and summarized his client’s comments.
Hernandez was deed by much than six bullets, including 1 that struck his face, and he has undergone 3 surgeries, nan lawyer said.
ICE is facing increasing scrutiny complete nan shooting, pinch Hernandez’s family saying officials person made mendacious and misleading statements astir him successful nan aftermath.
Dashcam footage of nan brushwood showed 3 ICE agents extracurricular Hernandez’s car. The video is grainy and has nary sound, but it captured Hernandez reversing distant from nan officers pinch his rider doorway unfastened and 2 of nan officers pointing their firearms astatine him. The car past drove guardant and jumped complete a median retired of view.
It was not clear from nan video erstwhile nan officers fired shots. Todd Lyons, ICE’s acting director, said successful a connection that Hernandez “weaponized his conveyance successful an effort to tally an serviceman over”, though nary officers were deed by nan car. Lyons said nan officers “fired protect shots to protect themselves, their chap agents, and nan public”.
Kolasinski, who was capable to sojourn Hernandez for nan first time, said his customer was “very adamant … he was fired connected earlier he moved nan vehicle”. Kolasinski said nan car’s movements seen connected video were a consequence to nan gunfire: “He was trying to get distant because he was being changeable astatine … he fled successful a panic.”
Kolasinski said it wasn’t instantly clear why nan officers fired astatine him successful nan first place, and that he was still piecing together what happened arsenic Hernandez was not capable to speak intelligibly owed to his extended injuries. Hernandez is successful nan intensive attraction unit, nan lawyer said.
Hernandez has a two-year-old girl pinch his partner and does activity rehabilitating buildings damaged successful fires, nan lawyer said. He was connected his measurement to a occupation erstwhile he was pulled over.
ICE’s connection connected Tuesday besides alleged that Hernandez was portion of nan “18th Street Gang”, a group mostly associated pinch Los Angeles. Lyons besides claimed Hernandez was “wanted successful El Salvador for questioning successful relationship to a murder”. ICE has not provided grounds for either claim.
“He said he has never, ever, ever been successful a gang,” Kolasinski said aft his sojourn pinch Hernandez, noting Hernandez had only been to Los Angeles a fewer times for short visits. “He perfectly is adamant he was ne'er successful nan [18th Street] pack … He is very intelligibly not progressive successful an LA pack … We person nary hint wherever nan heck that comes from.”
Kolasinski said 2019 tribunal records from El Salvador, wherever Hernandez is from, propose Hernandez was astatine 1 constituent accused of murder, but was acquitted and released from custody. The lawyer said he was still investigating his history successful El Salvador, and that it appeared Hernandez does not presently person position successful nan US.
A DHS spokesperson declined to reply questions astir why Hernandez was stopped and did not respond to inquiries astir nan lawyer’s claims.
Kolasinski said Department of Justice representatives told him Hernandez was not successful national custody aliases presently nether arrest.
Lauren Horwood, a spokesperson for nan US attorney’s agency successful nan region, declined to remark connected Thursday.
ICE has many times faced backlash for shooting group during postulation stops and claiming successful property statements that nan drivers had “weaponized” their cars. In nan January sidesplitting of Renee Nicole Good successful Minneapolis, officials claimed she had “attempted to termination aliases origin bodily harm to national rule enforcement” pinch her car, saying she “ran over” nan serviceman who changeable her. But footage revealed she was initially reversing earlier she was changeable and nan supplier was not tally over.
ICE has besides routinely faced criticisms for labeling group arsenic pack members without evidence.
In January, aft a US separator patrol supplier shot 2 group successful a conveyance successful Oregon, nan Department of Homeland Security said nan targets were “vicious” members of Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan gang. But court records obtained by nan Guardian revealed nan Department of Justice later straight contradicted DHS, saying of nan driver: “We’re not suggesting … [he] is simply a pack member.”
The rider changeable successful nan Oregon incident was a female who DHS said had been “involved” successful a anterior shooting successful Portland. But records revealed her engagement was not arsenic a suspect, but alternatively a reported unfortunate of a intersexual battle and robbery. Critics successful Oregon accused DHS of launching a “smear campaign”.
Kolasinski sharply criticized ICE’s handling of nan postulation extremity successful an question and reply connected Wednesday. Police departments crossed nan US person progressively advised their officers not to occurrence astatine moving vehicles owed to nan consequence of endangering bystanders. “ICE’s horrible training is putting everyone successful danger, including themselves.”
Hernandez is simply a “loving, hardworking partner”, nan lawyer said, adding that his two-year-old girl struggled to understand wherever her begetter was: “It’s devastating. Her dada ever puts her to bed. She conscionable kept staring astatine nan door, waiting for dada to travel home.”
