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, the lawyers say that Snow shot Jimenez, an American citizen and his father – three, from behind.
Tricia Mclauglin, spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security, said when Jimenez ‘tried to run by returning directly with them without stopping and “protecting.”
Jimenez, 25, was charged in federal court with assault by a federal officer. A judge released him on bond Friday.
Jimenez’s attorneys gave the announcement of Jimenez’s back story because he was afraid he was shot unnecessarily in the back of his shoulder exactly where the bullet landed. The agent’s actions were “unreasonably aggressive” and a violation of its policies, said her attorney, Robert Simon.
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. Can you please, you know, please wrap this up. And immediately, the busy attorney is throwing out some words,'” said attorney Cynthia Santiago. “(The agent is) also brandishing 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, said he 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 IE, La and Ventura is as if they are going to train reasons, where violence and violence are used against members of the community with or without status.”
The shooting is the second in more than a week in Southern California. Last week, ice marshals shot a man in South Los Angeles after he chased agents away. They accused the 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.
