ICE agent accused of child abuse, racist remarks in L.A. court filings
A court filing made public this week allegedly reveals the identity of the off-duty federal immigration officer who shot and killed a man in Los Angeles on New Year’s Eve, including allegations that the law enforcement officer had whipped his sons with a belt and made racist and homophobic remarks in the past, according to documents obtained by The Times.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Officer Brian Palacios shot Keith Porter Jr. at a Northridge apartment complex late Dec. 31, according to an affidavit filed by attorney Michelle Diaz in a custody dispute between Palacios’ girlfriend and her ex-husband that was made public Thursday. The document alleges Palacios was the shooter “based on information and belief,” citing records and statements identifying him as an ICE agent living at the complex.
A review of court transcripts, service papers and petitions related to the custody battle shows Palacios is an ICE agent and confirms he was living in a unit at the Village Pointe Apartments. The unit number reflects an apartment located just a short distance from where neighbors said Porter was killed.
Lawyers for Palacios and his girlfriend did not immediately respond to a request for comment. No one answered the door to the apartment on Friday.
Friends and advocates say Porter, a 43-year-old Compton native and father of two, fired a gun into the air to celebrate the New Year on the night he died.
Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary for public affairs for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, initially said a suspected “active shooter” was killed following a gunfight with an off-duty ICE agent. McLaughlin said in the statement that the agent “bravely responded to an active shooter situation at the apartment complex.”
McLaughlin did not immediately respond to questions about the identity of the agent and the allegations against him in response to an inquiry from The Times.
Los Angeles police said no one else was injured in the incident. An LAPD spokesman declined to comment.
Porter’s family’s attorney, Jamal Tooson, said in a statement: “If this person is confirmed to be the person responsible for Keith’s death, based on his deeply disturbing past allegations, it is unimaginable that any person of conscience in this world would regard him as a hero.”
A spokesman for the L.A. District Attorney’s Office declined to confirm or deny that Palacios was the off-duty agent responsible for the shooting and said the incident was being investigated by the Justice System Integrity Section, which investigates homicides committed by law enforcement.
Last week’s meeting of the Los Angeles Police Commission was packed with angry activists and residents; many of them called on authorities to release the ICE agent’s name. Although the names of LAPD officers involved in deadly force incidents are normally made public within weeks, there is no such rule for federal agencies.
Court records filed last year in the custody dispute repeatedly describe Palacios as an “ICE officer” and a “federal law enforcement officer.” According to the court document, Palacios’ girlfriend’s lawyer said they were living together. The woman’s home address listed in court records matches the address of the Village Pointe complex.
The document filed this week sought to temporarily prevent Palacios from seeing his girlfriend’s daughter from his first marriage because of the potential danger posed by the ICE agent’s alleged involvement in the shooting.
In the petition submitted by Diaz, who represents the ex-husband of Palacios’ girlfriend, it was stated that “Due to his abusive behavior, Palacios is currently prohibited by Court Order from being in the presence of the parties’ minor children.” “There is a very valid concern that the stress and ongoing process of shooting and killing another man on 12/31/2025 will materially and significantly impair Mother’s mental health and impact her ability to provide a safe and stable parenting schedule for her youngest children.”
Diaz said in an email to The Times that he had no direct knowledge that Palacios killed Porter but reached that conclusion based on evidence laid out in court filings, including his living arrangements and his work as an ICE agent. Palacios’ girlfriend’s attorney also confirmed at a hearing in February 2025 that they were living together and that she was an ICE agent, according to court records.
In emails added to the file, Diaz asked his client’s ex-wife if Palacios was the attacker, and the woman referred Diaz to a criminal defense attorney.
The deadly New Year’s Eve incident follows several other incidents in recent weeks in which ICE agents used deadly force against U.S. citizens.
Last week, ICE agent Jonathan Ross shot and killed 37-year-old Minneapolis woman Renee Nicole Good. President Trump and other federal officials accused Good of obstructing immigration efforts and said he tried to hit Ross with his car, but cellphone video from the scene shows Good trying to drive away and Ross shooting at him through the driver’s side window. The murder sparked widespread condemnation and protests; Trump administration officials staunchly defended the agent and accused Good of weaponizing his tool through “an act of domestic terrorism.”
Unlike the Minnesota incident, which was captured on multiple videos, no footage has emerged of the confrontation that led to Porter’s killing.
It remains unclear exactly what happened in Northridge around 10:40 p.m. on New Year’s Eve. Palacios was off duty, so there is no body camera video. None of the building’s security cameras recorded the attack, according to a message from the property management company.
Porter was found with a rifle, two law enforcement officials who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation told The Times. One of those officials said investigators also found evidence of two gunshot wounds behind where the agent was standing at the time of the shooting; This would support federal authorities’ claims that he was shot at by Porter. The official also said the agent identified himself as a law enforcement officer before opening fire.
Porter’s friends and family claimed he fired a gun into the air to celebrate the new year. Los Angeles police officials have been warning people against this practice for years, and doing so is a felony. Still, Porter’s supporters argue that the agent overreacted and should have waited for the LAPD to respond.
A Los Angeles County judge last year barred Palacios from being with his girlfriend’s children from a previous marriage following allegations that he whipped their biological son with a belt, according to a transcript of a 2025 hearing.
The children also accused Palacios, through an attorney, of using homophobic slurs and racist remarks about Blacks and Latinos, according to the court document. Palacios also called the children’s biological father an “illegal alien,” according to allegations in court records.
Omar Escorcia, the ex-husband of Palacios’ girlfriend, told The Times that Palacios routinely made derogatory remarks about Latinos and referred to them as “backwards” before and after custody hearings. Attempts to contact Palacios were unsuccessful, and his attorney did not respond to questions about the allegations of racist comments.
Escorcia also described an incident in which Palacios allegedly showed up to a youth football game with a gun, which was visible to other parents and left many upset and concerned about their children’s safety.
“What gun-safety-conscious law enforcement officer would show up to a children’s sporting event with a gun that wasn’t holstered but tucked into his waist belt and a toddler in his hand?” “There are all kinds of red flags here,” Diaz, Escorcia’s attorney, asked, according to transcripts of a hearing in 2025.
Palacios threatened Escorcia’s son with violence, the minors’ attorney alleges in multiple filings.
According to the minutes of the custody hearing in 2025, the child’s lawyer said to Escorcia’s son, “If you were my son, I would punch you in the chest the same way” after hitting one of his own children.
The L.A. County Department of Children and Family Services launched an investigation, according to court records, but it was unclear what the results were. A DCFS spokesman said he is prohibited by state law from answering questions about the incident.
