A San Bernardino man whose truck was shot at by a Border Patrol agent has been arrested by federal officials, despite his family and immigration advocates insisting he did nothing wrong.
Francisco Longoria was driving to work on August 16 when he was stopped by agents with Homeland Security Investigations and Border Patrol. Agents broke his windows when he refused to comply.
In their affidavit, the U.S. Attorney’s office claims agents with Homeland Security were assaulted when Longoria refused to comply with commands, broke free from officers reaching inside the truck, and accelerated toward them.
“Officer S.T. heard the engine of the Truck revving, tires squealing, and the wheels pointed towards him…was struck by the front right bumper/fender of the Truck on his right leg…The Truck kept pushing Officer S.T., and Officer S.T. shot at the Truck, afraid for his life,” the affidavit states.
Longoria’s private attorneys said at a press conference last week that video evidence shows their client was acting out of concern for his safety and was wrongfully targeted by federal immigration agents.
Javier Hernandez with the Inland Coalition for Immigrant Justice (IC4IJ) reiterated those claims outside the federal courthouse on Thursday, pointing to the video evidence as absolving Longoria of wrongdoing.
“What we are seeing [in the video] is that Mr. Longoria’s only issue was that he was frightened,” Hernandez said. “What we saw was an interaction that lasted about 30 seconds, going from a possible detention to officials shooting at a vehicle three times. That is unacceptable and it should worry us as a community and as a nation.”
Hernandez said the family believes his case is worth fighting for and that he should be allowed to remain in the country while doing so, but expressed concern that Longoria will be detained by ICE.
“The judge himself mentioned this as well. He does have an ICE hold,” Hernandez said. “That is something that most likely will happen. And so that then starts the immigration case for Mr. Longoria, most likely a deportation case, that he now needs to fight.”
A spokesperson with the U.S. Attorney’s office said Longoria was released on a $5,000 bond and remains in the custody of the U.S. Marshals. The spokesperson added that Longoria is expected to be turned over to ICE sometime on Friday morning.
DHS did not confirm if Longoria has been placed in ICE custody.
