ICE officer kills a Colombian man in Maine

**Oliver Conway** (0:00)
This is the Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service. Hello, I'm Oliver Conway. We're recording this at 15 Hours GMT on Tuesday the 14th of July. The US authorities say an immigration agent shot a man in Maine as he tried to flee. It was the second ice killing in a week. Iranian state media say the US has launched new daytime attacks as the battle for control of the Strait of Hormuz intensifies. And we hear about the eight-week kidnap ordeal of school children and teachers now rescued in Nigeria.
Also in the podcast.

**Freya Terrace** (0:36)
At the start, we didn't really know what it was and took maybe about a year before we heard it would be unlikely that I would be back to playing with two hands again.

**Oliver Conway** (0:45)
The one-handed pianist who's passed the top music exam.
Although fears of ice raids at World Cup games have not been borne out, the US has continued its immigration crackdown. Opposition has been relatively muted since the end of the operation that led to two killings in Minneapolis. But the controversy has continued. In the past week, immigration agents have killed two more people, neither of whom were supposed to be the target of enforcement operations. The latest came in the state of Maine, where an ICE agent shot dead a Colombian man who reportedly had the right to work in America. Rachel Wright has been following the story.

**Rachel Wright** (1:27)
This is what we know so far. The federal ICE agents shot and killed a 26-year-old Colombian man, identified as Joan Sebastian Guerrero, by a neighbour. During an immigration enforcement operation on Monday morning, the ICE agents say they were watching what they said was the last known address of an individual with a removal order. They say that a man got into his car and tried to drive away. And when he wouldn't stop, an ICE officer, according to officials, feared for public safety and discharged his weapon, which means he shot him. Now one of the senators from Maine, an independent called Angus King, says the head of Homeland Security told him that the man was shot because he weaponised his vehicle.
But there are various videos on social media and US networks, which clearly show a white car driving around in circles as a man tries to open the car door. Though it's not clear whether this was before or after the shots were fired. What they don't show is the car being driven at anyone.
Senator King also said the Department of Homeland Security has told him that the victim of the shooting was not the intended target of the warrant.

**SPEAKER_5** (2:46)
One of the problems is apparently there are no cameras involved. Body cameras were not on the agents. And so we have no video evidence of what occurred in this case.

**Rachel Wright** (2:58)
Meanwhile, Maine's top prosecutor said the ICE agent who fired has been placed on administrative leave, whilst an investigation into whether an appropriate level of force was used is completed.

**Oliver Conway** (3:10)
Now, with other ICE shootings, there's been plenty of anger from local people. What's been the reaction this time?

**Rachel Wright** (3:17)
Well, the Maine Immigrants' Rights Coalition says the man who was shot was authorized to work in the US and they said he was a valued member of the community and that his life was cut tragically short. A neighbour of the Colombian man told the Associated Press news agency that he watched a woman fall to her knees as she saw her husband's dead body.
And a little girl with a pink backpack burst into tears as she saw her father lying dead on the ground. Which has given rise to a lot of anger. Following the incident, demonstrators in Bidderford marched to the office of Senator Susan Collins, who is the other senator for Maine and she is a Republican who voted to fund ICE. And some actually entered the building where her office was chanting voter out and ICE out. Then later around 200 protesters gathered in the Maine park.

**SPEAKER_6** (4:12)
No KKK, no fascist USA.

**Rachel Wright** (4:18)
They also lit candles and wrote messages expressing their support for migrants.

**Oliver Conway** (4:24)
And this shooting in Maine in the northeast of the country followed another one last week down south in Texas. Tell us about that.

**Rachel Wright** (4:33)
Yes, on July the 7th, an ICE officer shot a 52-year-old builder who was of Mexican descent as he was driving to a construction site in Houston.
Federal officers later acknowledged that he wasn't the intended target of the ICE operation, but they claimed the man had tried to run them over. Now there are various figures suggesting that ICE and border agents have shot and killed at least 7 people, maybe as many as 10, since President Trump's second term in office began. And people may remember two of the most well-known shootings in Minneapolis, Alex Preti and René Good, which sparked protests all across America. Replying to criticism, an ICE spokesman said its officials are trained to use the minimum amount of force necessary to resolve dangerous situations to prioritise the safety of the public and our officers.