ICE Agent Fatally Shoots Driver in Maine, Six Days After Similar Death in Texas

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers shot a driver to death in a coastal town of Maine on Monday, less than a week after an ICE agent in ​Houston, Texas, shot and killed a man in a traffic stop during a deportation crackdown there.

Commenting on Monday’s shooting nearly 12 hours after the fact, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said an ICE ‌officer, “fearing for public safety,” opened fire on the man when he attempted to flee agents trying to stop his vehicle.

The DHS statement made no mention of how the driver might have posed a threat. The encounter occurred around 7 a.m. EDT (1100 GMT) in Biddeford, Maine, about 15 miles (24 km) south of the state’s largest city, Portland.

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According to DHS, “an illegal alien departed the residence ​in a vehicle,” with ICE officers in pursuit. {snip}

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U.S. Senator Angus King of Maine, a political independent who caucuses in the Senate with the Democrats, told reporters that Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin had informed him that the person shot ​dead by ICE was a man in his 20s who had “weaponized” his vehicle against officers.

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One witness, Daniel Boucher, 71, a caregiver and part-time draftsman who lives in downtown Biddeford, told Reuters he was on the second floor of his apartment when he heard what sounded like firecrackers around 7:30 a.m.

He ran to the window and saw a white SUV ram a smaller white car. After running down to the street level, and from a vantage point just 20 feet (6 meters) away, Boucher saw an ICE officer emerge from the SUV, open a door of the car, and pull the driver out, he recalled, adding that the man had blood on his face and head.

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In a ​video clip verified by Reuters, the white car was ⁠seen appearing to meander directionless with two men wearing vests on foot trying to stop it, but it was unclear whether the footage was recorded before or after the shooting.

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