Federal Agent Fatally Shoots Motorist in Biddeford, Maine; Victim Was Not Target of Operation

A federal immigration agent fatally shot a motorist during an enforcement operation in Biddeford, Maine, on Monday. Security camera footage recorded the shooting just south of Portland. Officials said the victim was not the target of the operation.

Agents were not wearing body cameras at the time. The shooting was the second time in a week that Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents used deadly force on U.S. soil. It was at least the ninth death since President Donald Trump began the current immigration crackdown.

An ICE agent fatally shot a man in Houston earlier this month after he attempted to evade arrest in a vehicle. In January, two people were killed by federal officers in Minnesota within days of each other. Democratic candidates and activists gathered outside an office for Republican Sen.

Susan Collins and near an ICE facility in Scarborough the following day. Several called for an end to vehicle stops and for changes to the agency’s funding and leadership. The former director of the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention, a Democratic candidate, said Collins had given the agency a blank check and called for abolishing ICE and replacing officials who oversee it.

A spokesperson for the Senate Appropriations Committee said Collins had secured $20 million for body cameras, $2 million for de-escalation training, and $20 million for oversight of detention facilities in a spending bill signed in April. Senate Democrats had sought additional requirements, including mandatory body cameras and limits on enforcement near schools and hospitals, but those measures were rejected.

Collins said she spoke with the DHS secretary the night of the shooting and urged a halt to non-urgent vehicle stops while the investigation continues.

Massachusetts Sen. Ed Markey called the shooting murder and said ICE must be abolished. An AP-NORC poll earlier this year found that about 6 in 10 U.S. adults said Trump has gone too far in sending federal immigration agents into American cities.