There is a particular kind of gravity that settles over a case when the person who was shot becomes the person who is charged. On September 20, Wilber Rafael Garces Perez, a 28-year-old Venezuelan delivery driver, was shot in the back by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer during a traffic stop in Austin, Texas. Nine days later, federal prosecutors announced that Garces Perez has been charged with assaulting, resisting, and impeding a federal officer—a charge that could send him to prison for up to twenty years.
The government's account, laid out in a nine-page affidavit from a Department of Homeland Security agent, describes a traffic stop that began around noon near a shopping center. Garces Perez was making a DoorDash delivery. Officers ran a database check and found the car registered to him, and that he had a final order of removal. According to the affidavit, Garces Perez provided his driver's license through a crack in the window but refused to step out of the car. About a minute later, he allegedly closed the window and drove off, striking one officer in the torso with his driver's side mirror. A brief chase followed. The government says Garces Perez then attempted to strike the same officer with his car, prompting the officer to fire his pistol.
Garces Perez's account, contained in the same affidavit, tells a different story. He told investigators that a law enforcement SUV struck his car, causing it to spin, and that an agent then fired into his back. He denied ever attempting to hit an officer with his car. His attorney, Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch, has said the bullet remains lodged in his back, that he has a fractured clavicle, and that he is in "extremely bad medical condition," pleading for surgery to remove the bullet. She also said a judge issued a deportation order after Garces Perez missed an immigration court hearing because the notice was sent to a former address. He entered the U.S. in 2024 using CBP One, an asylum-seeker program begun under President Biden and ended by President Trump on his first day in office.
A critical gap in the visual record complicates the case. The officer who shot Garces Perez was not wearing a body camera. The other officer involved in the chase was wearing one, but only caught up after the shooting had occurred, according to the affidavit. The Justice Department released three screenshots from the first officer's body camera—one showing an officer standing in front of the car's side mirror, another showing hands resting on the hood with the mirror close to the officer's abdomen, and a third appearing to show the car driving away.
The shooting has drawn protests in Austin and calls for independent investigation. Austin Mayor Kirk Watson said it would not be appropriate for ICE to investigate on its own. Texas Congressman Greg Casar said that if ICE deports Garces Perez, it would "make the key witness in the shooting disappear." A judge temporarily blocked his deportation last week.
The case unfolds amid a surge in ICE enforcement during Trump's second term, with more than 50,000 monthly arrests reported in July and August. Garces Perez appeared in federal court on Tuesday. His attorneys said they only learned of the court appearance afterward.
AI Image Disclaimer: The images accompanying this article were generated by artificial intelligence and are intended for conceptual illustration only.
Sources: AP News, BBC, NPR, Reuters, Daily Mail, Miami Herald
Published by Banx Network. This article is part of the Banx decentralized media programme, powered by the BXE token on the XRP Ledger.
