Democrats call for investigation into ICE officer shooting in Maine after new reports emerge | ICE (US Immigration and Customs Enforcement)
Democratic lawmakers are pushing for a review of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) hiring practices and continuing calls for an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the killing of an immigrant in Maine by one of the agency’s officers after media reported allegations of the officer’s past violent and threatening behavior, according to family members.
Associated Press, Portland Press Reporter and National Public Radio (NPR) all identified the officer in question as David Brouillette, and publications attribute this information to his family. The media also reported allegations that Brouillette had a history of mental health issues and that he subjected his ex-wife to violent, threatening behavior.
The Guardian was unable to independently verify the allegations or confirm Brouillette’s involvement in the July 13 shooting death of Joan Sebastián Durán Guerrero in Biddeford, Maine. The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, did not identify Brouillette. Messages left on his phone numbers were not immediately responded to.
However, Bennie Thompson, a Mississippi congressman and one of the top Democrats on the U.S. House homeland security committee, told the AP that the officer’s alleged history of violence was “directly[s] It calls into question the vetting and training that ICE supposedly puts into its hires.”
The exact circumstances of Guerrero’s killing remained unclear Friday. But the death of the 25-year-old Colombian man sparked new criticism of ICE, in large part because just days earlier another ICE officer had fatally shot Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Texas.
In addition to the killings of Guerrero and Salgado, there were two other ICE-related deaths in the same week, prompting the public and lawmakers to call for an independent investigation into DHS, which is waging the White House’s aggressive anti-immigrant campaign. There have also been several other people shot and killed by federal immigration officers since 2025, the beginning of Donald Trump’s second presidency.
“This senseless tragedy must be investigated and the officer responsible must be removed from our streets and face justice for his actions,” Thompson added in the statement.
In response to AP’s reporting on Brouillette, U.S. Senate top Democrat Chuck Schumer similarly criticized the Trump administration for mass hiring thousands of ICE officers to help accomplish mass deportation goals.
Schumer of New York accused The Trump administration put 12,000 agents “on our streets without making sure they were fit to carry badges and guns.” Schumer continued on
The AP reported that Brouillete received a voicemail in late 2025 in which he allegedly broke up with his ex-wife, Ashley, around the time he joined ICE.
“Do I think you should slit your throat, or should you?” This is what the voicemail, a recording of NPR, says It was published on Friday. “Yes.”
Brouillette was first identified as the alleged gunman in the Guerrero case by the Portland Press Herald. AP and NPR later published their own reports identifying Brouillette.
Brouillette was reportedly a former military and former police officer before he was hired by ICE in 2025. A day after the deadly shooting, The Atlantic reported He said the officer who killed Guerrero had recently been hired by the agency.
“We will never confirm or deny attempts to malign our law enforcement officials,” DHS spokeswoman Lauren Bis told the AP. But Bis claimed the officer in question had nearly a decade of federal law enforcement experience.
Guerrero’s survivors include a three-year-old daughter and the child’s mother and partner.
