A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
To Texas now, where the Venezuelan delivery driver who was shot by an ICE officer this month has been charged with assaulting a federal officer and resisting arrest. Lawyers for Wilber Rafael Garces Perez want him released to get medical care. Here's Mose Buchele from KUT in Austin.
MOSE BUCHELE, BYLINE: The charges cite a criminal complaint from Immigration and Customs Enforcement. It says that after officers identified themselves during a traffic stop, Garces Perez fled in his car, hitting one of them with a side-view mirror. According to the complaint, that led to a chase and ended with one of the agents forcing a stop, then shooting Garces Perez, saying he feared he'd be struck by the car. Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch is Garces Perez's immigration attorney. She says the charges are meant to distract from her client's treatment in custody. Since his detention, he's been moved multiple times with a bullet still lodged in his back. She says she only learned of the criminal charges after her client missed a video conference with her Tuesday morning.
KATE LINCOLN-GOLDFINCH: So I rushed down to the courthouse to see him, and he was in the courtroom, shackled, clearly in a lot of pain.
BUCHELE: She says her client entered the country legally, but ICE said he had a standing deportation order against him for missing an immigration court hearing. The criminal complaint says one of the two agents that first pulled Garces Perez over was wearing a body camera. But the agent turned the camera off after the initial traffic stop before the shooting. The complaint does not specify why.
LINCOLN-GOLDFINCH: And we still don't have that body cam footage, and we don't know what happened in the incident.
BUCHELE: Tuesday, ICE referred NPR to the Department of Justice in response to emailed questions about Garces Perez's criminal charges, medical condition and the body cam footage. According to a statement from the DOJ's Office of Public Affairs, Garces Perez could face a maximum of 20 years in federal prison if found guilty on the charge of assaulting, resisting, interfering and impeding a federal officer. Garces Perez's preliminary detention hearing is scheduled for 1 p.m. today in Austin. A hearing in which Goldfinch had hoped to block his deportation was canceled after the criminal charges were filed. The case has sparked protests and calls for an independent investigation from some local leaders and civil rights groups.
For NPR News, I'm Mose Buchele in Austin. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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