Fearing for Public Safety

July 14, 2026

This statement was posted on Twitter/X by Homeland Security at 10:40 p.m. on July 13:

On July 13, 2026, at approximately 7:00 AM ET, ICE was conducting targeted surveillance on the last known address of an illegal alien with a final order of removal. An illegal alien departed the residence in a vehicle. ICE law enforcement attempted to conduct a vehicle stop. The vehicle attempted to flee the scene and, fearing for public safety, an officer discharged his weapon.

The driver of the vehicle was struck, and emergency services were immediately contacted. He passed away from his injuries.

The Biddeford Police Department and FBI responded to the scene. DHS OIG has been notified and like all discharge of firearms this will be investigated. This is a developing situation, and we will update the public when more information is available.

This differs from initial reports in which Markwayne Mullin, Secretary of Homeland Security, told Senator Angus King that the victim “weaponized his vehicle” and drove toward the officer, which is becoming the default story for shootings by ICE officers. Let’s look at the official statement, because I have questions.

First, the officers were watching the “last known address” of their target, whom they describe as an “illegal alien.” When they saw an individual leave the residence, they somehow determined that the individual was an “illegal alien.” As it turns out, they were wrong. Their victim was in the U.S. legally, and he was not even the individual they were looking for. Sound familiar? Yeah, just like what happened in Houston.

So on what basis did the officers determine that the individual was an “illegal alien”? Did they have information besides the last known address? Did they have a photograph? Did they know whether the target individual had a vehicle, and if so, did they have the make, model, color, and license plate number of the vehicle?

Now here’s what really enrages me: when ICE tried to stop the vehicle, the “vehicle attempted to flee the scene and, fearing for public safety, an officer discharged his weapon.” Why do ICE officers keep shooting at moving vehicles? How does that reduce or eliminate a threat to public safety or to the officer’s safety? If you shoot the driver, the driver is going to lose control of the vehicle, as we saw in Minneapolis, and as videos in this case show. Even shooting to disable the vehicle could cause the driver to lose control of it. Shooting at a moving vehicle is just stupid. It creates a greater danger.

“The driver of the vehicle was struck, and emergency services were immediately contacted.” Do ICE officers receive training of any kind to help injured victims: first aid, CPR, bleeding from bullet wounds? What if the wounded driver had struck a pedestrian or another occupied vehicle? Could the ICE officers have done anything to help?

At the very least, ICE officers need to be taken off the streets to receive better training. They are more dangerous than the so-called “illegal aliens” they seek. And the quotas must end. The pressure to meet daily quotas just adds to the problem.

And before new officers are even hired there must be better vetting, for common sense and intelligence (if a vehicle is coming toward you, don’t shoot at it, get the heck out of the way), as well as psychological assessments to determine whether they are even fit for this kind of work.

ICE, under the Trump administration, keeps us all fearing for public safety.


DHS comment on Twitter/X: https://x.com/DHSgov/status/2076798878595342620

AP article and videos: https://apnews.com/article/ice-shooting-maine-immigration-dhs-f26f8c2256aa6f0748582ea4adbb515c

Video from driver of another vehicle: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/iicxhLRsGmY

Article: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/dhs-says-ice-officer-who-fatally-shot-driver-in-maine-was-fearing-for-public-safety

Article with witness statements: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/maine-ice-shooting-second-in-a-week-houston-lorenzo-salgado-araujo_n_6a5546a2e4b0107f0db7b946?origin=article-related-nonlife

Article with X comment and reactions: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/critics-react-ice-shooting-maine_n_6a558cc8e4b0107f0db7e439?origin=home-whats-happening-unit