Three people at the center of aggressive encounters with Department of Homeland Security immigration agents are set to testify Tuesday at a public forum on Capitol Hill about federal immigration enforcement agents’ use of force during immigration raids.
The brothers and attorney representing the family of Renee Good, a 37-year-old Minnesota woman who was killed when an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent shot into her vehicle, are also expected to speak at the event, which is organized by Democratic lawmakers — Connecticut’s Sen. Richard Blumenthal and California’s Rep. Robert Garcia. No DHS officials are expected to appear at Tuesday’s forum.
CNN has been closely covering President Donald Trump’s immigration offensive across the country since his inauguration a year ago. Catch up on the known details and videos of the DHS encounters that lawmakers, and the nation, will hear more about Tuesday.
Rascon told CNN affiliate KABC that masked CBP agents emerged from unmarked cars and surrounded their truck with weapons drawn, then smashed two windows on the truck he was riding in. He said his father-in-law then accelerated away out of fear for their safety. Gunshots can be heard in videos recorded from inside the truck as the truck is driving away. It is not clear in the footage when the two officers were injured.
Martinez was accused of “aggressively and erratically” chasing and then ramming into a federal law enforcement vehicle. Her defense attorney said it was the agent who sideswiped Martinez. Due to concerns about how the investigation was handled and the government’s “narrative being put forward,” a judge has since dismissed the charges against Martinez.
Good had dropped her 6-year-old son off at school before she was fatally shot inside her car by an ICE officer during an encounter the morning of January 7.
Her death, and the killing of 37-year-old Alex Pretti by two federal officers in Minneapolis several days later, has sparked outrage against federal agents’ continued presence in the Twin Cities and DHS’ aggressive tactics by armed, masked agents — in both immigration enforcement operations and crackdowns on protesters.
Rahman, who says she is autistic and has auditory challenges when many people are talking at once, told CNN that she was confused by conflicting commands that were being shouted at her. DHS released a statement referring to her as an “agitator” who “ignored multiple commands by an officer to move her vehicle away from the scene.”
