New surveillance footage reveals the chaotic moments federal law enforcement vehicles chased a Venezuelan migrant over the weekend in Austin, shortly before he was shot by an immigration officer.
The video shows at least two vehicles with sirens blaring, pursuing a speeding car driven by 28-year-old Wilber Rafael Garces Perez. The Department of Homeland Security confirmed the authenticity of the footage to Fox News.
Garces Perez, who was shot by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer, was subsequently arrested and placed in detention.
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According to Garces Perez’s attorney, Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch, officers in an unmarked vehicle attempted to run her client off the road while he was working as a DoorDash driver. She stated that Garces Perez was chased, sideswiped, shot in the back of the neck and pulled from his car.
However, the account is contested by local law enforcement evidence. Surveillance footage shows no apparent damage to Garces Perez’s car. Additionally, bodycam video from Austin police officers who responded shows officers assisting him out of the vehicle rather than pulling him out, contradicting Goldfinch’s claim.
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In a statement posted to Facebook on Wednesday, LIncoln-Goldfinch reported that her client is being held in isolation in an ICE detention center infirmary, remaining “gravely ill” with a bullet still lodged in his body.
“Our immediate demands are clear: restore Wilber’s communication privileges and take him back to the hospital. He needs access to appropriate medical care,” she wrote.
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The incident has drawn sharp criticism from Democratic lawmakers. Critics have labeled ICE a “rogue” organization accused of “terrorizing our cities and threatening the safety of our residents.”
U.S. Representative Greg Casar, D-Texas, visited the ICE detention center on Wednesday to meet with Garces Perez. In a video posted to X, Casar criticized the agency’s handling of the situation.
“ICE has been trying to blame all of this on him without releasing any of the video footage, any of the evidence,” Casar said.
