BY TODD MAISEL
A federal immigration offi -
cer shot a Mexican immigrant
in the face during an enforcement
raid in Gravesend on Feb.
6 morning, according to police.
The ICE agent was attempting
to arrest the boyfriend
of the victim’s mother
at their West 12th Street home
at around 8:15 am, causing a
bloody scuffl e when the offi cer
fi red one shot that ricocheted
off Eric Diaz’s hand and lodged
into his cheek.
Emergency medical personnel
rushed to the scene between
Quentin Road and Highlawn Avenue
and took 26-year-old Diaz
to Maimonides Medical Center
in stable condition shortly after,
according to police.
Immigration authorities
had arrived on the scene in a
Chevy Suburban with the intention
of arresting 36-year-old
Armando Gaspera Unando, according
COURIER L 26 IFE, FEBRUARY 14-20, 2020
to an eye witness.
“He was right there and the
offi cer pulled a gun, and shot
the guy. It just didn’t look professional.
He wouldn’t tell the guy
why they were arresting him,”
said Avi Zlita, who still had
blood on his sleeve after tending
to Diaz after the shooting.
Following the shooting, the
New York Police Department
took the lead investigating the
incident, and took Unando to
the 62nd Precinct for further investigation.
It is not currently
clear if he will be turned over to
ICE’s custody.
According to another witness,
the ICE offi cers tased and
pepper sprayed Unando “about
20 times” as he ran through the
streets, resisting their attempts
to cuff him.
“They were looking for Armando,
so they tackled him and
he didn’t want to go and they
tried to cuff him and they pepper
sprayed and tased him,”
said Kevin Yanez Cruz, the
wounded victim’s brother. “The
gun was literally right on the
side of my head when it went
off.”
The witnesses suspect that
the ICE agents targeted Unando
because he had recently received
a ticket for driving without
a licence.
Cruz, however, had been living
in the United States legally,
according to his brother.
“My brother was not in trouble
– he is here legally,” he said.
“My brother pays taxes – he’s
been here since he was 18. This
cop aimed for the kill.”
The raid comes just hours
after President Donald Trump
launched a graphic tirade
against New York City’s ‘sanctuary
city’ policies during his
State of the Union Address on
Wednesday.
“Just 29 days ago, a criminal
An ICE agent shot a Mexican immigrant in Gravesend. Photo by Todd Maisel
alien freed by the sanctuary
city of New York was charged
with the brutal rape and murder
of a 92-year-old woman,”
said Trump. “The killer had
been previously arrested for
assault, but under New York’s
sanctuary policies, he was set
free. If the city had honored
ICE’s detainer request, his victim
would be alive today.”
In the aftermath of the
bloody incident, dozens of activists
and elected offi cials gathered
outside Maimonides Medical
Center, waiting hours in the
cold for an update on Diaz’s condition,
and to protest the immigration
enforcement agency’s
tactics in Kings County.
“It’s disgusting that they’ve
gone to these lengths,” said
Flatbush resident Charlie Moran,
a member of the pro-immigrant
Internationalist Group.
“It’s outrageous.”
One community leader
said at 5 pm that ICE agents
remained in the hospital, and
that activists would stay to protect
the victim’s family from
ICE agents when they left the
hospital.
“We’re going to stay here
until ICE leaves and the family
goes home,” said Ravi Ragbir,
the executive director of New
Sanctuary Coalition. “This
hospital should be a sanctuary
place.”
ICE cold
Federal agent shoots immigrant in Gravesend
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