Human Rights Watch Demands Probe of Fatal ICE Shooting Near Chicago as Video Undermines DHS Claims

Human Rights Watch on Tuesday called for an independent probe into US Immigration and Customs Enforcement's fatal shooting of a Mexican immigrant outside Chicago on Friday, as new video evidence seems to undermine the government's claims about what led to the shooting.

On Friday, as part of President Donald Trump's "Operation Midway Blitz," an ICE agent shot and killed Silverio Villegas-Gonzalez, a 38-year-old Mexican immigrant, during what the agency called "targeted law enforcement activity."

Villegas-Gonzalez was pronounced dead at the hospital, where the agent who shot him was also taken to be treated for severe injuries. On a GoFundMe page set up after his shooting, Villegas-Gonzalez's family revealed that he was killed "shortly after he dropped off his sons at school."

In a statement released after the shooting, the Department of Homeland Security said that Villegas-Gonzalez "refused to follow law enforcement's commands and drove his car at law enforcement officers. One of the ICE officers was hit by the car and dragged a significant distance. Fearing for his own life, the officer fired his weapon." They described Villegas-Gonzalez as "a criminal illegal alien with a history of reckless driving."

According to a report on Tuesday from the Chicago Sun-Times, the ICE agents at the scene were not wearing body cameras after Trump scrapped a policy requiring them. CCTV footage from local businesses has captured some of the events leading up to the shooting.

Human Rights Watch said that the publicly available footage contradicts DHS's version of events.

(Video: CBS News Chicago)

Belkis Wille, the associate director of the Human Rights Watch's crisis, conflict, and arms division, described the discrepancy:

The CCTV footage that has emerged does not show Villegas-Gonzalez’s car driving at or hitting law enforcement officers. In the footage, two officers stand on either side of Villegas-Gonzalez’ vehicle as he reverses away from the officers. One of the officers appears to hold onto the window frame on the driver's side, moving backward with the vehicle, and then forward as the vehicle drives out of frame of the CCTV camera. It is unclear why the ICE officer moves with the vehicle or whether he is being dragged.

"Law enforcement officers," Wille noted, "can only use lethal force when an individual poses an imminent danger of death or serious physical injury to the officer or another person."

As protests erupted around the Chicagoland area, numerous public officials called for ICE to release more information about the shooting of Villegas-Gonzalez. According to Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D), ICE, the Department of Homeland Security, and the FBI have all refused to clarify who is investigating the incident.

"We’ve asked ICE for all of the information around it," Pritzker said Monday. "They have given very little."

He added that "if this were the Chicago Police Department, if this were the sheriff’s office in Cook County, if this were Illinois State Police, you would have had a lot more information already released."

Human Rights Watch said that instead of an internal investigation, there must be an independent probe that is not controlled by the Trump administration.

"As ICE ramps up its violent and discriminatory campaign of raids and detention against migrants and their communities, injuries and deaths will likely continue to rise," Wille said.

As of late August, ICE had deported more than 200,000 people since Trump returned to office. But while the Trump administration says they are going after "the worst of the worst," ICE data from early September shows that 71% held in ICE detention have no criminal convictions, while most of those who do have only minor offenses.

Only about 12% of those deported have been convicted of a crime that was violent or potentially violent. The Marshall Project reports that as of August, over 1,800 people with traffic violations, like Villegas-Gonzalez, had been deported.

At least 14 people, not including Villegas-Gonzalez, have died while in ICE custody since Trump retook office, a significant uptick from recent years.

"In the face of these developments and this fatal incident, transparent investigations into the causes of deaths and injuries during ICE actions are more critical than ever," Wille said. "Those responsible for violations of US law, as well as international human rights standards, should be held to account."