LOS ANGELES — A federal agent fired at a moving vehicle in Southern California after the driver refused to roll down his window during an immigration stop and sped off, the Department of Homeland Security said.
A DHS statement said the driver struck two U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agents as he drove away Saturday, prompting one agent to fire his weapon “in self-defense.” No one was hit by the bullets.
The department provided no other details about how or where the vehicle struck the agents and whether they were injured.
DHS said the agents were conducting a “targeted enforcement operation” but provided no details about why they were targeting the unidentified man. The incident occurred just before 9 a.m. in San Bernardino County, east of Los Angeles.
Javier Hernandez, executive director of the Inland Coalition for Immigrant Justice, spoke to the man’s family and provided their account of the incident, a portion of which was captured on video by the driver’s son and son-in-law who were in the vehicle.
Hernandez did not disclose the 43-year-old driver’s name, and DHS did not identify him. Hernandez said the man is from Mexico, has been in the U.S. for 23 years and does not have legal status. The 18-year-old son and 23-year-old son-in-law are U.S. citizens, Hernandez said.
On the videos, the uniformed officers are wearing masks and have “police” written on vests. At least one is wearing a hat labeled CBP, for Customs and Border Protection. They approach the vehicle and tell the driver to roll down his window. The driver refuses and one of the others in the vehicle says, “What do you want?”
The agents then smash windows on both sides. The driver immediately drove away, and three shots can be heard in the video. The video doesn’t show either officer being struck by the vehicle.
The driver called the San Bernardino Police Department and reported that masked men had pulled him over, broke his car window and shot at him, the police department said in a statement.
Police officers went to the family’s home and spoke with the driver. They left without taking him into custody because California law prohibits local police agencies from assisting federal officials with immigration enforcement, the department said.
Federal agents later arrived at the man’s home, but the family did not allow them to enter because they didn’t have a warrant, Hernandez said. DHS did not respond to questions about whether they had a warrant and were still seeking the man’s arrest.
A crowd gathered outside the family’s home in response to the presence of federal agents. The San Bernardino police returned to assist with crowd control, the department said.
The man and his family declined an interview request from The Associated Press.
DHS criticized the police department for not arresting the man.
“This reckless decision came despite the subject’s outright refusal to comply and his wounding of two federal officers,” DHS said in a statement. “It is yet another tragic example of California’s pro-sanctuary policies that shield criminals instead of protecting communities.”
There is no clear definition of sanctuary jurisdictions, but the term is generally applied to state and local governments that limit cooperation with federal immigration authorities.
The Trump administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration has spread across Southern California, where local officials say federal actions are spreading fear in immigrant communities. Raids in the Los Angeles region spurred protests and the deployment of the National Guard and Marines in the city for nearly two months.
After an appeals court upheld a temporary order by a district court judge banning indiscriminate immigration stops and arrests, the administration has asked the Supreme Court to lift the restrictions in an emergency petition.