Federal prosecutors charged Venezuelan asylum seeker Wilber Rafael Garces-Perez with assaulting an ICE officer after alleging he struck one agent with his vehicle’s mirror and later drove toward another during the September encounter in Austin in which an agent shot him in the back.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
Federal prosecutors in Texas have charged a Venezuelan delivery driver with assaulting a federal officer following a September encounter with Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents that ended when an agent shot him in the back.
Wilber Rafael Garces-Perez, 28, is accused of using his vehicle against ICE personnel while attempting to escape an immigration enforcement stop in Austin, according to a federal criminal complaint detailed by the Associated Press.
The allegations have not been proven in court.
Garces-Perez, a Venezuelan national who worked as a delivery driver, had sought asylum in the United States and possessed a valid work permit, according to his immigration attorney, Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch.
Federal authorities, however, say he was also subject to a final deportation order after missing an immigration court hearing. His attorney has said the notice concerning that hearing was sent to an old address.
The confrontation occurred Sept. 20 while Garces-Perez was making deliveries in Austin.
According to the federal complaint, ICE agents stopped his vehicle and requested that he get out.
Garces-Perez provided his driver’s license but did not comply with requests to exit the car, prosecutors allege.
Court documents describe an ensuing conversation conducted in Spanish during which Garces-Perez and an agent discussed moving and parking the vehicle.
The complaint states that the exchange was not aggressive.
Approximately one minute later, however, prosecutors allege Garces-Perez “abruptly” rolled up or closed his window and drove away.
As he left, the driver’s-side mirror of his vehicle allegedly struck an ICE officer in the torso.
Federal authorities say agents then pursued Garces-Perez.
Prosecutors allege that during the subsequent confrontation he attempted to strike an officer with his vehicle, leading an ICE agent to fire at him.
Garces-Perez was struck in the upper back.
The shooting left him hospitalized before he was returned to federal immigration custody.
The criminal complaint represents the government’s most detailed account to date of the events preceding the shooting and differs in significant respects from descriptions offered by Garces-Perez and his supporters.
His legal team has questioned the agents’ actions and the circumstances surrounding the stop, while federal authorities maintain that the use of force followed Garces-Perez’s attempts to flee and drive toward an officer.
The shooting drew demonstrations and calls from Austin officials and members of Congress for an independent investigation and disclosure of available video evidence.
Garces-Perez’s immigration status has also become part of the controversy surrounding the case.
He entered the United States through a process available to migrants seeking asylum and subsequently received authorization to work in the country.
Despite possessing a work permit and pursuing an asylum claim, he became subject to a removal order after failing to appear for an immigration hearing.
Lincoln-Goldfinch has said her client did not intentionally disregard the proceeding and that notice had been sent to an outdated address.
A work permit does not itself prevent an immigration judge from ordering someone removed, and a pending or previously filed asylum claim does not necessarily eliminate separate removal proceedings.
The new criminal prosecution is distinct from Garces-Perez’s immigration case.
Federal prosecutors must establish beyond a reasonable doubt that he committed the charged assault against an officer. The immigration proceedings concern whether he may lawfully remain in the United States.
The government’s case is expected to focus heavily on the sequence of events surrounding his attempt to leave the initial stop.
Prosecutors allege that his vehicle first made physical contact with one officer when the side-view mirror struck the agent and that Garces-Perez later used the vehicle in a manner that threatened another officer.
His defense will have an opportunity to challenge that version of events, including the agents’ actions, Garces-Perez’s knowledge that they were law enforcement officers and the circumstances immediately preceding the shooting.
The case has attracted particular attention because Garces-Perez was shot from behind and because of broader scrutiny surrounding ICE enforcement operations.
The criminal charge does not itself determine whether the officer’s decision to fire was legally justified. Any investigation of the shooting and the prosecution of Garces-Perez involve separate legal questions.
For prosecutors, the immediate issue is whether Garces-Perez assaulted or forcibly interfered with a federal officer while attempting to escape.
For his attorneys, the case now combines three overlapping disputes: the federal assault charge, the circumstances surrounding the ICE shooting and his continuing immigration proceedings.
Garces-Perez remains accused, not convicted, as the criminal case moves forward.
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