An illegal immigrant who was wounded in a shooting initiated by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in California on Tuesday denied he was affiliated with any gang, according to his attorney.
ICE officers engaged Carlos Ivan Mendoza Hernandez as a suspect after stopping his vehicle on a road in Patterson, California. Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons described him as “an 18th Street Gang member wanted in El Salvador for questioning in connection to a murder.”
Explaining his client’s situation on a livestreamed call with reporters, Patrick Kolasinski said he has “no idea what the ICE director is talking about.”
“Only he knows what goes through his head,” Kolasinski said of Lyons. “If he wants to explain to me what he’s talking about, I’d be very happy to tell you whether or not it’s the same crime.”
Mendoza Hernandez was charged with murder in El Salvador, but he was ultimately acquitted in October 2019. After his name was cleared in court, he then moved to the United States. He does not have legal status as a U.S. citizen, according to his lawyer.
Kolasinski relayed information from Mendoza Hernandez, who told him that he was not a gang member in El Salvador or Los Angeles. He allegedly never even stayed long in the California city apart from a few visits with his fiancée.
Kolasinski rebutted ICE’s statement when he claimed his client started driving away from the federal officers after they shot at him. The agency previously maintained that “officers fired defensive shots to protect themselves, their fellow agents, and the public,” but the Salvadoran national’s account apparently paints a different picture.
“It’s not that his movement of the vehicle triggered the shooting but quite the other way around. And he fled in a panic because he was being fired on,” Kolasinski said.
“He really wanted to stress that he was not trying to hurt anybody,” the lawyer added. “He was trying to get away because he’d already been shot at, and he was just scared that he was going to die.”
Kolasinski noted Mendoza Hernandez has not been able to speak clearly due to his injuries, but assured that certain bits of information are “very clear.”
The shooting placed Mendoza Hernandez in critical condition. He underwent three major surgeries for at least six gunshot wounds. On Thursday, his family saw him in the hospital for the first time since the non-fatal shooting.
The Department of Justice says Mendoza Hernandez is not being detained as a suspect and not under arrest while he undergoes medical treatment, Kolasinski also shared with the media.
ICE SHOOTS ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT IN NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
“I do want to shout out the DOJ,” he said. “They have been very professional once we were able to actually establish contact and have been very helpful. So I want to kind of recognize them for the work that they’re doing in this and the way they’re facilitating everything.”
The FBI is leading the investigation into the shooting, and ICE is currently not involved in the case. Kolasinski said that is standard practice for a criminal investigation, although he noted ICE may intervene again if the case warrants it.
