SYDNEY — Protesters have gathered in Austin, Texas, where local officials said a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent shot and wounded a man in the Texas capital.The man was in a serious but stable condition at a hospital after being shot once in the torso on the city’s north side on Sunday afternoon, Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis said at a news conference with the local mayor and other city officials.An immigration attorney representing the man’s family identified him as Wilber Rafael Garces Perez, a 28-year-old Venezuelan.The shooting occurred just before 1300 local time, although details remain scarce. Dozens of protesters, some waving the flags of Mexico and Guatemala, have since gathered at the scene carrying signs demanding that ICE leave Austin.Local television outlets showed the demonstrators gathering across the street from a blue Toyota Corolla that sustained damage to the passenger-side door, as ICE agents stood nearby, Reuters news agency reported.Local officials are seeking answers from federal authorities and could not say whether he was a target of ICE. The mayor and police have demanded an independent probe, with this shooting coming months after a man in Houston, Texas was shot dead by an ICE officer.Lawyer Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch said in a video posted to her Instagram account that she believed he had no criminal history and no final order of removal from the US, but she later told the Associated Press news agency that she did not know his current immigration status.The man’s family has struggled to get any information from the hospital about his status or location, the lawyer said.Lincoln-Goldfinch told CBS that Garces Perez called his wife while “yelling in pain” in hospital. Austin police officers were not involved in the operation or the shooting, which occurred after a traffic stop, Davis told reporters.The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, did not participate in the news conference and didn’t immediately respond to requests for details.Austin Mayor Kirk Watson, a Democrat, said he wants the city’s police department to be involved in the investigation so it can provide “clear, third-party eyes” in the process. Watson said he does not think it would be appropriate for ICE to conduct an investigation on its own.Austin residents have “a right to feel safe in their city”, Watson said. A proper investigation will only enhance credibility, he added.Asked if Austin authorities knew where the involved federal agent is, given that agents have left states after previous shootings nationwide, the mayor said: “We do not know that. But my hope would be that an agent that’s involved in an officer-involved shooting would not leave the city. Certainly not leave the state.”A large law enforcement presence was at the location of the shooting, along with a crowd of about 100 protesters. Some demonstrators cursed at police officers holding riot shields, while others yelled out as passing cars honked in support of the protest. One man held a sign saying “Nobody is safe” and, on the other side, “ICE Nazi”.US Representative Greg Casar, a Democrat representing parts of Austin, called for transparency as the shooting is investigated.“It is awful that this horror has come to our doorstep,” Casar told reporters. “For Austin to be safe, ICE should end its surge here.”The shooting comes as ICE surged enforcement across the US this summer, producing more than 50,000 arrests a month for the first time in its history in July and August.In July, an ICE officer fatally shot 52-year-old Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, of Houston, after federal agents driving unmarked vehicles pursued him while he was taking his construction crew to a job site.The Trump administration has ramped up immigration enforcement efforts and arrests during Trump’s second term, which sparked unrest across several US cities.The administration has defended its policies and the agency’s controversial tactics as necessary for public safety and to carry out Trump’s mass deportations mandate.But rights activists say that the administration has violated free speech and due process rights and Democrats have demanded reforms at the agency, including requiring immigration enforcement agents to wear body cameras and barring them from concealing their faces during operations.Earlier this month, the US Department of Justice charged an ICE agent with lying about the non-fatal shooting of a Venezuelan migrant in Minnesota – a rare instance in which the current Justice Department accused a federal agent of breaking the law on the job.Earlier this week, Florida lawmaker Maria Elvira Salazar, a Republican who has spoken out against the immigration crackdown, released an advert criticising the targeting and detaining of individuals who have no criminal record.Salazar appeared on the CBS program Face the Nation on Sunday and said that she has since spoken to the president and believes he will keep the country on the right track.SYDNEY — Protesters have gathered in Austin, Texas, where local officials said a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent shot and wounded a man in the Texas capital.The man was in a serious but stable condition at a hospital after being shot once in the torso on the city’s north side on Sunday afternoon, Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis said at a news conference with the local mayor and other city officials.An immigration attorney representing the man’s family identified him as Wilber Rafael Garces Perez, a 28-year-old Venezuelan.The shooting occurred just before 1300 local time, although details remain scarce. Dozens of protesters, some waving the flags of Mexico and Guatemala, have since gathered at the scene carrying signs demanding that ICE leave Austin.Local television outlets showed the demonstrators gathering across the street from a blue Toyota Corolla that sustained damage to the passenger-side door, as ICE agents stood nearby, Reuters news agency reported.Local officials are seeking answers from federal authorities and could not say whether he was a target of ICE. The mayor and police have demanded an independent probe, with this shooting coming months after a man in Houston, Texas was shot dead by an ICE officer.Lawyer Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch said in a video posted to her Instagram account that she believed he had no criminal history and no final order of removal from the US, but she later told the Associated Press news agency that she did not know his current immigration status.The man’s family has struggled to get any information from the hospital about his status or location, the lawyer said.Lincoln-Goldfinch told CBS that Garces Perez called his wife while “yelling in pain” in hospital. Austin police officers were not involved in the operation or the shooting, which occurred after a traffic stop, Davis told reporters.The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, did not participate in the news conference and didn’t immediately respond to requests for details.Austin Mayor Kirk Watson, a Democrat, said he wants the city’s police department to be involved in the investigation so it can provide “clear, third-party eyes” in the process. Watson said he does not think it would be appropriate for ICE to conduct an investigation on its own.Austin residents have “a right to feel safe in their city”, Watson said. A proper investigation will only enhance credibility, he added.Asked if Austin authorities knew where the involved federal agent is, given that agents have left states after previous shootings nationwide, the mayor said: “We do not know that. But my hope would be that an agent that’s involved in an officer-involved shooting would not leave the city. Certainly not leave the state.”A large law enforcement presence was at the location of the shooting, along with a crowd of about 100 protesters. Some demonstrators cursed at police officers holding riot shields, while others yelled out as passing cars honked in support of the protest. One man held a sign saying “Nobody is safe” and, on the other side, “ICE Nazi”.US Representative Greg Casar, a Democrat representing parts of Austin, called for transparency as the shooting is investigated.“It is awful that this horror has come to our doorstep,” Casar told reporters. “For Austin to be safe, ICE should end its surge here.”The shooting comes as ICE surged enforcement across the US this summer, producing more than 50,000 arrests a month for the first time in its history in July and August.In July, an ICE officer fatally shot 52-year-old Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, of Houston, after federal agents driving unmarked vehicles pursued him while he was taking his construction crew to a job site.The Trump administration has ramped up immigration enforcement efforts and arrests during Trump’s second term, which sparked unrest across several US cities.The administration has defended its policies and the agency’s controversial tactics as necessary for public safety and to carry out Trump’s mass deportations mandate.But rights activists say that the administration has violated free speech and due process rights and Democrats have demanded reforms at the agency, including requiring immigration enforcement agents to wear body cameras and barring them from concealing their faces during operations.Earlier this month, the US Department of Justice charged an ICE agent with lying about the non-fatal shooting of a Venezuelan migrant in Minnesota – a rare instance in which the current Justice Department accused a federal agent of breaking the law on the job.Earlier this week, Florida lawmaker Maria Elvira Salazar, a Republican who has spoken out against the immigration crackdown, released an advert criticising the targeting and detaining of individuals who have no criminal record.Salazar appeared on the CBS program Face the Nation on Sunday and said that she has since spoken to the president and believes he will keep the country on the right track.
Locals demand answers as ICE agent shoots and wounds man in Texas
