The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today condemned the fatal shooting of a 26-year-old Colombian man by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer during an enforcement operation in Biddeford, Maine and called for an independent, transparent and local investigation into the shooting.
The shooting has sparked widespread concern after officials acknowledged the victim was reportedly not the intended target of the operation, while witnesses and public officials have questioned the government’s account of what occurred. Investigations by state and federal authorities are underway.
In a statement, Washington, D.C., based CAIR said:
“We strongly condemn the second fatal shooting by ICE agents in less than a week, and we call for a transparent, independent and local investigation. ICE is completely out of control and cannot be trusted to investigate itself. Every person, regardless of immigration status, is entitled to due process and the protection of the law.”
CAIR’s Texas chapter recently denounced the fatal shooting of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo during an early morning immigration enforcement operation in Houston on Tuesday, July 7th and is demanding an immediate, independent investigation into the actions of the ICE agents involved.
END
CONTACT: CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell, 404-285-9530, [email protected]; CAIR Government Affairs Director Robert McCaw, 202-742-6448, [email protected]; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, [email protected]; CAIR National Communications Manager Ismail Allison, 202-770-6280, [email protected]