Francisco Longoria, a San Bernardino man who was driving his truck when a masked U.S. Customs and Border Safety officer shot at it, has been arrested and charged by federal authorities. They allege he assaulted immigration officers in the course of the incident.
In a press release, Longoria’s attorneys stated Homeland Safety Investigations brokers arrived on the Longoria family at 4:18 a.m. Thursday, with an armored personnel service, a sort of navy automobile, and deployed greater than a dozen “absolutely armed and armored” brokers to swarm the house, breaking the locks on his gate. An agent referred to as out to Longoria to come back out, utilizing a bullhorn, as brokers stood at every door and pointed their rifles on the door and on the occupants inside, the attorneys stated.
“These are the kind of ways reserved for harmful criminals comparable to violent gang members, drug lords and terrorists,” the attorneys stated. “It was clearly supposed to intimidate and punish Mr. Longoria and his household for daring to talk out about their tried homicide by [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] and CBP brokers on August sixteenth.”
On that day, federal immigration officers stopped Longoria in San Bernardino. Throughout the encounter, Longoria, who was in his truck along with his 18-year-old son and 23-year-old son-in-law, feared for his security and drove off after masked officers shattered his automobile window, his attorneys stated.
Division of Homeland Safety officers have stated officers had been injured in the course of the encounter when Longoria tried to “run them down.” Longoria’s attorneys dispute their shopper injured the officers or tried to hit them, and earlier this week they referred to as for an investigation of the capturing.
On Friday morning, the U.S. lawyer’s workplace confirmed that Homeland Safety Investigations brokers arrested Longoria the day earlier than. Phrase of his arrest was earlier reported by the San Bernardino Solar.
Ciaran McEvoy, spokesman for the U.S. lawyer’s workplace in Los Angeles, stated Longoria made an preliminary look earlier than a U.S. District Courtroom decide in Riverside, and is ready to be arraigned on Sept. 30. The federal Justice of the Peace decide ordered him launched on a $5,000 bond.
Longoria was being held on the San Bernardino County Jail, in custody of the U.S. Marshals Service, as of Thursday afternoon, McEvoy stated in an e mail.
“Since Longoria is an unlawful alien, ICE has a detainer on him,” he stated. Longoria’s attorneys stated their shopper was transferred into ICE custody as of Friday.
An unnamed Division of Homeland Safety spokesperson confirmed federal brokers arrested Longoria at his dwelling.
“CBP and ICE stay dedicated to imposing the regulation, defending officers, and conserving harmful criminals off America’s streets — at the same time as native officers in California undermine these efforts,” the official stated.
Based on a prison criticism submitted by a Homeland Safety Investigations agent, whose identify is redacted, Longoria is going through a cost of assault on a federal officer with a lethal/harmful weapon.
Within the criticism, the agent, who interviewed the officers who stopped Longoria, stated the officers had stopped Longoria’s GMC pickup truck to conduct “an immigration verify.” Two of them had been ICE officers and the opposite two had been CBP officers.
The criticism states that the officers had been identifiable by their seen clothes marked with “police.”
After they stopped Longoria’s truck, the criticism states, he refused to adjust to the calls for to show off his automobile and roll down the window. One of many CBP officers, recognized as J.C., determined to interrupt the window after Longoria refused the instructions, and was allegedly struck by the motive force’s door on his left elbow and left calf. The passenger-side window was additionally shattered by officers in the course of the encounter.
One other CBP officer was allegedly struck by the entrance bumper/fender of the truck on his proper leg. “The Truck saved pushing Officer S.T., and Officer S.T. shot on the Truck, afraid for his life,” in accordance with the criticism.
Longoria’s attorneys had beforehand launched surveillance video of the incident, which seems to dispute a key declare by Homeland Safety — that Longoria drove his truck towards officers and injured them.
Within the surveillance video, the second Longoria drives away, officers on either side of the truck stay in sight of the video, they usually then pile into their autos and pursue Longoria’s truck down a aspect road.
After Longoria drove off, the household referred to as 911. Whereas San Bernardino police had been questioning Longoria, the immigration officers arrived, and members of the family recognized the one they believed had shot on the truck.
On the preliminary court docket look, the decide questioned the assistant U.S. lawyer prosecuting the case, Cory Burleson, in regards to the authorities’s declare that it was conducting an “immigration verify,” a time period he couldn’t make clear when requested by the court docket, in accordance with Longoria’s attorneys.
Burleson additionally claimed Longoria was stopped due to a visitors violation, however couldn’t establish the violation, his attorneys stated. When the decide requested Burleson to establish the alleged accidents of the officers, Burleson stated he was “not conscious of any accidents,” Longoria’s attorneys stated.
Longoria’s attorneys stated their shopper was granted bond, however due to the ICE maintain, has since been transferred into ICE custody, which they consider is the “true function of this false and baseless cost.”
“No affordable prosecutor may consider {that a} conviction can be secured towards Mr. Longoria for the August sixteenth cease, when each video helps Mr. Longoria’s model of occasions and instantly contradicts DHS’ story,” his attorneys stated. “But [the Department of Justice] is not going to drop the fees; it has been their observe throughout this administration to pursue costs based mostly on unsubstantiated and false affidavits as a way to arrest people after which flip them over to ICE.”
His attorneys stated they intend to proceed advocating for Longoria, his son and son-in-law.
“We’re involved with native and state authorities and are encouraging a state investigation and prison costs towards the ICE/CBP brokers,” the attorneys stated.
Javier Hernandez, govt director of the Inland Coalition for Immigrant Justice, stated he believes the officers had racially profiled Longoria after they stopped his truck. Initially from Mexico, Longoria migrated to the U.S. 23 years in the past and had no prison document and was not in deportation proceedings earlier than the incident. Southern California has been Longoria’s dwelling ever since he migrated, Hernandez stated.
Though Longoria was not detained after the preliminary cease, Hernandez stated he had warned the household that the federal government would proceed to pursue a case towards him and use Longoria for example to push the bounds of what they’ll get away with. The federal government, he stated, is “now escalating their ways in a conflict towards immigrants.”
“It’s a political arrest at this level,” Hernandez stated. “We all know that the federal authorities needs to make a degree and instill concern in immigrant communities, and that is one among their many ways in doing that.”
This text is a part of The Instances’ fairness reporting initiative, funded by the James Irvine Basis, exploring the challenges going through low-income employees and the efforts being made to handle California’s financial divide.
