King Shares Remarks with Maine Press Corps on ICE Involved Shooting in Biddeford

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senator Angus King (I-ME) spoke to the Maine press corps and share remarks on the reported shooting in Biddeford by a member of Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE):

Opening Remarks

Senator King: "About 20 minutes ago, I talked to Secretary Markwayne Mullen of the Department of Homeland Security about the incident in Biddeford. Here's what I learned, and here's what I conveyed to him. The individual who has been killed is a male in his 20s. That's all I know about him. He had been given an order to leave the country. He was in a vehicle--pulled out in the vehicle, and the term the secretary used was "weaponized" the vehicle and was shot by an ICE agent. What I said to the Secretary was, we want a full, transparent and open investigation of this matter. And one of the problems is apparently-and again, everything I'm saying is what I know now, certain facts may come out-but apparently there are no cameras. Body cameras were not on the agents. So we have no video evidence of what occurred in this case. State and local officials, of course, are attending to it. The FBI will be leading the investigation because it was a federal operation, but my belief is that our state local officials should also be kept informed and engaged in the investigations. I also talked just five minutes, ten minutes ago to Mayor LaFountain of Biddeford and he is also anxious to see that state and local officials are not frozen out of this investigation. It's a tragedy whenever there's a loss of life. We don't know the circumstances at this point, but my statement to Secretary Mullen, I said, "I'm going to say that you have committed to me that this investigation will be full, fair and transparent. Can I say that? He said, "Yes, absolutely." So that's the status of this matter right now. Of course, we'll be following it over the next several days. But as I say, I reached out to the Secretary less than a half hour ago, talked to Mayor LaFountain less than 15 minutes ago, and we're going to stay on this and determine exactly what happened. That's my statement at this point. Let me go ahead and take a few questions before I board the flight to Washington."

Q+A (audio of questions unavailable)

Response 1

Senator King: "And that's why I was so explicit with the secretary. I know him from working with him in the Senate before he became secretary. I have no reason to think that he's not telling me the truth. But my motto, as with Ronald Reagan, is trust but verify. And I intend to stay on this. And to be sure that we can verify what happened and also whether the investigation is proceeding in a full, comprehensive and transparent way."

Response 2

Senator King: "That's my understanding from the Secretary, was that he was given an order to be to leave the country. He had been through his various processes, and so his status was that he was the person who was shot, was the target of the end of the arrest warrant based upon his immigration status. That's about all I can tell you right now. I don't know the details of the status, but he wasn't a bystander or inadvertently, it was the person they were searching for. And the question is, what did he do with his vehicle? Were officers threatened? Was this were the threats rising to the level that justified deadly force? That's what this investigation is all about. And I certainly intend to, stay after it, to do everything I can to be sure the investigation is as transparent and thorough as possible, and that our state and local officials aren't frozen out from the involvement with this project, with this investigation. The FBI will lead it because it was a federal, project. But, to be given what's happened around the country, we need to verify that this investigation will be thorough and transparent and talking about."

Response 3

Senator King: "I think the community has every right to ask questions and to bring pressure to bear on, on the federal government for straight answers and honest answers. And whatever evidence there is should be made public and should be made public soon. And, I think the role of the community is to express concern."

Response 4

Senator King: "We don't yet really know what happened, but to, ensure that we find out what happened and that if there were actions that were unjustified, that those who committed those actions will be held accountable."

Response 5

Senator King: "We've been told that body cameras would be widely distributed. Secretary told me that they're on order, that they have been distributed widely across the country, but not everywhere, and apparently not in Biddeford Maine."

Response 6

Senator King: "My concern was the in the initial surge, they arrested something like 200 people and 20 of them had criminal records. The rest didn't. So this idea that they were going after the worst of the worst is just nonsense. And, it just doesn't pass the straight face test in terms of the actual data. So I want to understand if they're doing this again, and if so, how are they proceeding? What are the targets? Are they in fact going after people with criminal records? I would want to know whether this individual had a criminal record."

Response 7

Senator King: "That's not what I believe. That's the fact that, you know, an investigation involving federal agents. It's the FBI that follows through. I presume it will be the FBI office here in Maine. But I believe, as I said, that it should be coordinated with and, the information should be shared with local and, and state officials, with the attorney general's office, with the governor's office. Because I believe that given what's happened over the past year, we can't just stand back and say, oh, it's a federal investigation. Everything's on the up and up. I hate to say that, but again, given the experience of the past year, I think we have to trust but verify."

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