At a 26-year-old Colombian man's death at the hands of a federal immigration agent in Biddeford, Maine, Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) went public with demands for accountability, questioning whether the officer had legal justification to open fire, according to the Los Angeles Times.
According to King, Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin described the shooting to him as a response to the driver trying to weaponize his car against ICE personnel on the scene. The senator pressed the issue publicly, telling CNN: "Did this young man actually try to run over an ICE agent or was he in danger of running over other people in the street? Was there a reasonable expectation of bodily harm or deadly force to justify this shooting?"
Mullin also apparently corrected the record with King on a key point: the agents had come to Biddeford seeking someone else entirely, and initial reports that the man who died had been the focus of the enforcement action were wrong, King said, according to the Los Angeles Times.
DHS issued a statement saying the shooting occurred when a vehicle tried to flee and an officer fired out of concern for bystander safety. The agents involved did not have body cameras, King said.
Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine said she also heard from Mullin, who informed her that the DHS inspector general's office has opened an inquiry alongside the FBI, according to the Los Angeles Times. A parallel investigation is underway through Maine's attorney general, and the agent who fired the fatal shot has been placed on leave.
By Monday evening, crowds numbering in the hundreds had assembled near the shooting scene to voice opposition to ICE, while a contingent of pro-ICE demonstrators gathered on the opposite side of the street. Tallied against prior incidents, the Biddeford killing represents at least the ninth fatality tied to federal immigration operations since President Donald Trump launched his deportation drive, according to the Los Angeles Times.
More on this story: ICE agent fatally shoots man in Biddeford, Maine during immigration operation