Tuesday, July 14


ICE kills man in Maine: what we know so far

An ICE officer has fatally shot a man in Maine during what authorities described as a routine removal operation, the state’s attorney general’s office confirmed on Monday afternoon. Here’s what we know so far:

  • The shooting occurred as federal agents were carrying out an “enforcement operation related to a final order of removal”, the office of the Maine attorney general said.

  • The man who was killed around 7.20am had reportedly “attempted to flee in a vehicle in the direction of the officer”, the agency said, prompting the use of deadly force.

  • Senator Angus King said he spoke with homeland security secretary Markwayne Mullin following the fatal shooting in Biddeford, Maine. King urged state and local officials to remain involved in the FBI-led investigation. He also raised concerns that ICE agents were not wearing body cameras.

  • The person who was killed during the altercation involving ICE is believed to be a 26-year-old man from Colombia, according to the Maine Immigrants’ Rights Coaliton and Presente! Maine. He has not been identified further.

  • Witnesses described the man as being shot in the head, though ICE and DHS have not yet commented.

  • Dozens of demonstrators were seen in Biddeford, Maine, where the shooting occurred, hours after the incident chanting “get ICE out” and calling out Republican senator Susan Collins for her complicit votes supporting the DHS agency.

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Key events

Man fatally shot by ICE in Maine was not target of operation, senator Angus King says

Senator Angus King said that the man who was shot dead by federal agents in Maine was not the target of an immigration enforcement operation, CNN reports.

Earlier, King had said that, according to homeland security secretary Markwayne Mullin, the man shot was “the target of the end of the arrest warrant based upon his immigration status”. He said the man was “in his 20s” and had been ordered removed from the United States.

But, in the latest update, Mullin now says the man was not the target of the warrant, according to King.

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Senator Elizabeth Warren called the fatal shooting of a man by federal agents in Biddeford, Maine, “ beyond horrific”.

double quotation mark“ICE has shot and killed another person — the second death in two weeks”, Warren said in a statement on social media. “This is beyond horrific.”

“ICE is terrorizing our communities, and Republicans in Congress voted to send the rogue agency more blank checks”, Warren added. “Enough. The Senate must stop ICE’s violence”.

My colleagues Lucy Campbell and Chris Stein bring us more details about Lindsey Graham’s sister, Darline Graham, who has been appointed to serve the remainder of the late Republican senator’s term:

A commissioner at the South Carolina Commission for the Blind, Graham was known as having a close relationship with her brother, who became a surrogate father to her after both of their parents died when she was 13 years old.

She had introduced the senator onstage when he announced his bid for the presidency in 2015, and he later said he thought she could have been a part in his future administration.

“If she took a role on, she would be a great representative of our country. I can’t think of a better person to represent our country in an event than my sister,” Graham told CSPAN.

Asked on CNN about the possibility of Graham taking her brother’s seat in the Senate, John Thune, the majority leader, said the idea “makes a lot of sense” and called it “a way of extending Lindsey’s legacy here, and certainly something that, if that’s what they decide end up doing, I think there’d be a lot of support for”.

Graham will serve as senator until Graham’s term ends in early January.

Republicans will hold a special primary on 11 August to choose a new Senate nominee, who will face off against Democrat Annie Andrews in the November midterms. South Carolina is a strongly Republican state, and analysts believe whoever the party nominates will be favored to win the seat.

David Smith

Greetings from the South Carolina State House in Columbia, where Governor Henry McMaster has named the late Lindsey Graham’s sister, Darline Graham Nordone, to temporarily replace him in the US Senate.

In an emotional five-minute press conference, where grief was written on the faces of Graham’s family and friends, McMaster described the senator as an “irresistible”, “irreplaceable” and “extraordinary” man.

Wearing dark suit, white shirt and red tie, the governor said he called Nordone early on Sunday morning and, “through tears”, she agreed to serve in her brother’s place.

McMaster, a staunch ally of Donald Trump, turned to look at Nordone as he added: “I called the president afterwards and he thought it was a great idea.” Nordone forced a smile.

In brief remarks, the 62-year-old, wearing a blue dress, pleaded with the media: “Just bear with me as I try to get through this.” She referred to “two very difficult days” since her brother’s death aged 71.

Nordone, who was raised by Graham after their parents died, said: “Lindsey has always been there for me and now I will be there for him … I think this is what Lindsey would have wanted, and I plan to honor him in this way.”

She was speaking against a backdrop of four US national flags and four South Carolina state flags, beneath a glass dome, a wrought-iron balcony and some coloured glass mosaics, including the state seal.

About 50 reporters and camera operators were gathered. Behind them was a statue of John C Calhoun, a former US vice-president, secretary of state and senator. The ornate state house was built in classical revival style in the late 19th century, primarily from blue granite and marble.

The group, which included Senator Tim Scott, departed without taking questions.

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South Carolina governor appoints Lindsey Graham’s sister to serve remainder of Senate term

South Carolina governor Henry McMaster has appointed Darline Graham Nordone to replace her late brother, senator Lindsey Graham, following his death on Saturday.

She will serve the remainder of his Senate term.

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José Olivares

The shooting in Maine marks the 11th person fatally shot by federal immigration officials since the Trump took office in his second term.

It is also be the fifth person of those 11 to be killed by ICE while driving a vehicle.

Shenna Bellows, the Maine secretary of state who is running for the Democratic nomination for a US Senate seat, referred to that number in a post on X on Monday.

“It’s time to get ICE off our streets,” Bellows said.

One eyewitness, Daniel Boucher, 71, a ‌caregiver and part-time drafter who lives in downtown Biddeford, told Reuters that he was on the second floor of his apartment when he heard what sounded like firecrackers around 7.30am.

He ran to the window and saw a ‌white SUV ram a smaller white car more than once, causing the car to change direction. At that point, Boucher told Reuters, he saw an ICE officer get out of the SUV and try to open the other car’s door before pulling a man out.

The man, whom Boucher described as looking like a younger man, had blood on his face and his head, and the officer put him on the ground.

“Initially I remember hearing the victim say, ‘But I tried to stop,’” Boucher said.

An officer who appeared to be the one who shot the man looked “very distraught, almost in shock”, according to Boucher, and said that the victim had tried to ram him or hit him.

Eventually, Boucher said, the wounded man appeared to stop breathing.

“I’ll be very honest with you, I am not pro-ICE at all,” he said. “And I am a Democrat. But regardless of that, what I’m telling you is what I experienced today.“

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ICE kills man in Maine: what we know so far

An ICE officer has fatally shot a man in Maine during what authorities described as a routine removal operation, the state’s attorney general’s office confirmed on Monday afternoon. Here’s what we know so far:

  • The shooting occurred as federal agents were carrying out an “enforcement operation related to a final order of removal”, the office of the Maine attorney general said.

  • The man who was killed around 7.20am had reportedly “attempted to flee in a vehicle in the direction of the officer”, the agency said, prompting the use of deadly force.

  • Senator Angus King said he spoke with homeland security secretary Markwayne Mullin following the fatal shooting in Biddeford, Maine. King urged state and local officials to remain involved in the FBI-led investigation. He also raised concerns that ICE agents were not wearing body cameras.

  • The person who was killed during the altercation involving ICE is believed to be a 26-year-old man from Colombia, according to the Maine Immigrants’ Rights Coaliton and Presente! Maine. He has not been identified further.

  • Witnesses described the man as being shot in the head, though ICE and DHS have not yet commented.

  • Dozens of demonstrators were seen in Biddeford, Maine, where the shooting occurred, hours after the incident chanting “get ICE out” and calling out Republican senator Susan Collins for her complicit votes supporting the DHS agency.

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State AG confirms ICE officer killed man in Maine

An ICE officer has fatally shot a man in Maine during what authorities described as a routine removal operation, according to the state’s attorney general’s office.

The office of the Maine attorney general said the shooting occurred as federal agents were carrying out an “enforcement operation related to a final order of removal”. The man who was killed had reportedly “attempted to flee in a vehicle in the direction of the officer”, the agency said, prompting the use of deadly force.

The officer involved works in enforcement and removal operations and has been placed on administrative leave, which the attorney general’s office called “standard protocol in police involved shootings”.

The victim’s identity has not been released, though immigration advocates say it is a 26-year-old male from Colombia.

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Senator Angus King calls for an investigation, said he was told no body camera of incident

During a press conference, the independent Maine senator Angus King said he spoke with homeland security secretary Markwayne Mullin following the fatal shooting of a man by an ICE agent in Biddeford, Maine.

King said he was told the man, who was in his 20s, had been ordered to leave the country and was killed after allegedly using his vehicle as a weapon during an encounter with immigration officers, similar to the explanation given for the fatal shooting by ICE of Renée Good in Minneapolis in January.

King said the FBI would lead the investigation because it involved a federal operation, but urged state and local officials to remain involved. He also raised concerns that agents were not wearing body cameras, leaving no official video record of the incident.

“We want a full, transparent and open investigation of this matter,” King said, adding that secretary Mullin committed to a “full, fair and transparent” review.

Person killed was 26-year-old man, according to immigrant advocacy groups

The person who was killed during the altercation involving ICE is believed to be a 26-year-old man from Colombia, according to the Maine Immigrants’ Rights Coaliton and Presente! Maine.

The man was authorized to work in the US and had a social security number, according to Presente!.

Witnesses described the man as being shot in the head, though ICE and DHS have not yet commented.

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Anti-ICE protest in Maine after person killed during immigration operation

An anti-ICE protest has formed near the shooting in Biddeford, where dozens of demonstrators chant “get ICE out!” and call out Republican senator Susan Collins for her complicity in voting to support ICE without any reforms.

People hold placards as they take part in a protest at Mechanics Park after a shooting involving ICE in Biddeford, Maine. Photograph: CJ Gunther/Reuters
Protesters in Biddeford, Maine. Photograph: CJ Gunther/Reuters
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Maine governor Janet Mills has just shared this brief statement.

double quotation markI have been briefed on the fatal shooting in Biddeford this morning involving Federal law enforcement. I know that situations like these are alarming and frightening. The Maine State Police are at the scene supporting and working cooperatively with the Attorney General’s Office, Maine’s Office of Chief Medical Examiner, and Federal officials to determine the facts of what occurred this morning.

The shooting in Maine occurred at approximately 7.20am, a man named Lucas Scott – described as an eyewitness – told the Biddeford Gazette. Scott described seeing “at least two officers” in green ICE vests gathered around a white sedan stopped at an intersection, according to the outlet.

He said the agents were yelling “very loudly” and that he heard at least four gunshots.

Local media said authorities closed a road and local law enforcement were joined by FBI officials at a crime scene in Biddeford, a city of more than ‌21,000 people that is about 15 miles south of Portland and 90 miles north of Boston.



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