POLITICS — The agency says one thing. The video, the DA and a death certificate say something else. The Guardian reports the story under the headline “ICE Agent Rammed a Houston Construction Worker Chasing a Man Who Died Years Ago, Family Says.”
What's been reported
The Guardian, citing the Associated Press, reports that a federal immigration officer drove a vehicle into Miguel Parra Hernandez, a 48-year-old construction worker, in Houston on Oct. 10, breaking his leg. The advocacy group FIEL says he is hospitalized with multiple leg fractures and needs reconstructive ankle surgery.
What ICE says: officers saw their target, Jose Mendoza-Cervantes, get into a vehicle with Parra Hernandez. What the Harris County DA's office told the AP: Mendoza-Cervantes was not in that vehicle. FIEL says the man in the photo ICE released is actually Jose Hector Jimenez, who, his family says, died years ago while being pursued by immigration authorities. His daughter provided a Mexican death certificate, which has been turned over to the DA. Those are claims from the family and an advocacy group; ICE's own account is that it was pursuing its target.
District Attorney Sean Teare is weighing criminal charges against the officer and has said surveillance video contradicts ICE's claim that Parra Hernandez stepped in front of the vehicle. The video shows a black SUV speeding over a median toward a man running away; the impact itself is blocked from view. Rep. Sylvia Garcia (D-Texas) said ICE appears to be lying. Per the Guardian's report, no charges had been filed yet; the officer has not been charged with anything and is presumed innocent.
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This is a GNN summary, not a reprint. For the full reporting, go to the source: The Guardian: ICE Agent Rammed a Houston Construction Worker Chasing a Man Who Died Years Ago, Family Says.
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