Nov. 11 (UPI) — The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent who fatally shot a man in Maine this summer had a troubling history of hostility toward immigrants, revealed in several emails, according to a new report.
The New York Times reported Wednesday that David Brouillette, the rookie officer who fatally shot Johan Sebastian Guerrero during a traffic stop in Biddeford, Maine, had a documented history of “deep-seated anti-immigrant hatred, particularly against Colombians.” Guerrero was a Colombian migrant.
Previous reports have documented Brouillette’s history of domestic violence, abuse claims, as well as workplace issues. In the new report, the Times reported excerpts from a 2021 thread in which Brouillette criticized her sister and other relatives for her long-term relationship with a Colombian man — a graduate student working on a doctorate in education and who was legally in the United States.
“He is not imitating what it means to be American,” but “what it is to have an entitlement and to think he has a place” at a table “that has no room for his (or your) ignorance,” Brouillette wrote. He said that “the other man’s bloodline knows nothing about what it takes to earn and then CHERISH the freedom that America offers.”
Elizabeth Emen, Brouillette’s sister, shared the emails with the Times. They were confirmed by other people involved.
“David had no reason to say that my partner was undocumented,” Emen told the Times. “It was about how he viewed it based on his race.”
In response to the Times report, Rep. Chellie Pingree, Democrat of Maine, issued a statement saying Guerrero “should be alive today.”
“ICE gave David Brouillette a gun and sent him into Maine communities before anyone in the agency had done a background check on him,” Pingree said. “The agency restricted his access to certain computer systems because he had not been completely exonerated, but apparently saw no problem in giving him the power to kill someone. This is an unconscionable betrayal of the public trust.”
Democrats on the House Homeland Security Committee said in a statement that they would “investigate who approved this hiring and why ICE ignored these serious red flags.”
“The Trump admin rushed (Brouillette) through checks, handed him a gun and now his father is dead,” the statement said.
Brouillette shot Guerrero four times in the face and neck, a lawyer for his family told the Times. Brouillette’s family confirmed that he was the one who fired the bullets.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said Guerrero’s vehicle “attempted to flee” and the officer, “fearing for public safety,” fired his weapon. She provided no evidence. The department also initially said Guerrero entered the United States illegally, but later recanted its statement, the Times said. His family said he was authorized to work in the United States.
White House border official Tom Homan said after the July shooting, after allegations about Brouillette’s background came to light, that ICE’s vetting process was under review.
Gn headline
