CONFRONTATION

ICE Officer Shoots and Kills Man Who Rammed Officers With Car: DHS

The Chicago-area man resisted arrest and dragged an officer with his vehicle before being shot, the agency said.

An Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer fatally shot a man who resisted arrest and rammed his car into ICE officers Friday morning.

The Department of Homeland Security said the confrontation in the Chicago area was with Silverio Villegas-Gonzales, who did not have legal immigration status. Villegas-Gonzales dragged the officer who ended up shooting him “a significant distance” with his car, according to the DHS.

“We are praying for the speedy recovery of our law enforcement officer,” Tricia McLaughlin, the DHS assistant secretary for public affairs, said in a statement. “Viral social media videos and activists encouraging illegal aliens to resist law enforcement not only spread misinformation but also undermine public safety, as well as the safety of our officers and those being apprehended.”

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The officer, whose identity wasn’t immediately known, suffered multiple injuries but was in stable condition, DHS said.

While the DHS described the shooting as occurring in Chicago, photographs of the crime scene show a fire truck from the suburb of Franklin Park, which is near Chicago O’Hare International Airport.

The Franklin Park police department referred the Daily Beast to the FBI, which confirmed the shooting took place in that town.

The incident comes days after the Trump administration launched Operation Midway Blitz in the Chicago area in an effort to ramp up immigration enforcement.

“This operation will target the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens in Chicago,” McLaughlin said in a press release at the time, taking aim at Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, a Democrat who has spoken out against the administration’s hard-line immigration policy.

“For years, Governor Pritzker and his fellow sanctuary politicians released Tren de Aragua gang members, rapists, kidnappers, and drug traffickers on Chicago’s streets—putting American lives at risk and making Chicago a magnet for criminals," McLaughlin added.

“President Trump and Secretary Noem have a clear message: no city is a safe haven for criminal illegal aliens. If you come to our country illegally and break our laws, we will hunt you down, arrest you, deport you, and you will never return.”

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