US citizens shot in the back as they alerted Ice Agents about children gathering at bus stop, lawyers say
Leaving his home in Ontario to work at a food bank Thursday morning, Carlos Jimenez pulled over to warn a group of federal agents that he had to turn the car around immediately because his school children were gathering there to catch the bus, his lawyers said Sunday.
In the next moment, lawyers say Snow shot Jimenez, a US citizen and father of three, in the back.
Tricia Mclauglin, spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security, said that Jimenez ‘tried to run by returning directly to them without stopping “and that the gun” was self-defense. “
Jimenez, 25, was charged in federal court with the police officer. A judge released him on bond Friday.
Jimenez’s attorneys offered a counter-narrative. They said Jimenez turned back because he was afraid, and was shot behind his right shoulder, where the bullet lodged. The agent’s actions were “unreasonably aggressive” and a violation of their policies, attorney Robert Simoni said.
Jimenez, who lives in a mobile home park on the same side of the road, went to the officers to “tell them there were kids out there waiting for the bus,” according to his attorneys.
“He was telling them, ‘Excuse me. Would you, you know, please wrap this up.’ And immediately, the busy agent pulls a gun and exchanges other words,” said attorney Cynthia Santiago. “[The agent is] And shaking his pepper spray. “
“He’s scared, and he’s trying to get out of this situation,” she said. Agents and their vehicles blocked one lane of Nine at high speed and were focused on the second lane.
Simon said: “He should have gone back far,” said Simon.
“Then there was a shot from the side, back through the passenger window, of the car,” Santiago said. “The use of deadly force should be used as a last resort. Going out into communities with guns drawn is counterintuitive.”
So far, no video of this incident has been made public.
Federal authorities have painted a different picture of what happened. According to the complaint filed in the Central District of California on Friday, Jimenez pulled up to three immigration officials, two from the border and another type of Ice and “prayed.
The ice agent, identified as EO, approached Jimenez in his Lexus and told him to leave. The agent then “tightened” his fire arm and pulled out his pepper spray, according to the complaint. Jimenez pulled his car forward to the left.
“The Lexus then stopped, turned its wheels, and sped back toward” the Border Patrol agent, identified in the complaint as “Officer NJ” and the Honda occupants.
Immigration agents were heavily involved in violent confrontations with suspects and protesters.
McLaglin called it at the time “another example of the threat Ice faces every day as they put their lives on the line to enforce the law and arrest criminals.”
But advocates and advocates say that serious tactics are being deployed in dangerous situations in the neighborhood.
“Our communities are not prisons, they are places where children and families should be safe and able to go about their day,” said Santiago. “What we see in communities like [the Inland Empire]La and Ventura are as if they will train the reasons, where violence and violence are used against members of society with or without condition. “
The shooting is the second in more than a week in Southern California. Last week, officers chased a man in South Los Angeles after agents ransacked his car. They accused pariahs of trying to block users’ cars.
In September and October, there were two shootings, in the snow and on the Border, in cars in Chicago, one person. And in August, federal agents shot at a car in San Bernardino during an immigration raid.
Brittny MeJia contributed to this report.
