A California man shot by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers has been charged with assaulting a federal officer. Carlos Ivan Mendoza Hernandez, 36, was struck by more than six bullets, including in the face, during the incident on 7 April in Patterson, California.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) initially claimed Hernandez was a gang member wanted in connection with a murder in El Salvador, but his attorney, Patrick Kolasinski, has strongly denied these assertions. The Justice Department, which brought the charge, did not repeat the gang allegations in its complaint or press release.
Dash-cam footage from a witness shows Hernandez reversing his vehicle away from officers before driving forward and over a median. Hernandez insists he moved only after being shot, in an attempt to flee. A second witness told reporters that ICE fired the first shot before the car moved.
The FBI complaint states that the vehicle hit an officer, though no injuries are alleged, and notes that the FBI has not interviewed the two agents involved. Kolasinski highlighted the lack of key witness interviews and questioned the original DHS narrative.
Hernandez, who works rehabilitating fire-damaged buildings, was allegedly in the US without legal status. Kolasinski said Hernandez was acquitted of murder in El Salvador and has no ties to the gang mentioned by DHS.
