Chicago area residents are mourning a man who was shot and killed by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent during a traffic stop on Friday.
According to the Department of Homeland Security, Silverio Villegas-Gonzalez fled a traffic stop by an ICE agent in the village of Franklin Park. The agency reports that the 38-year-old dragged the ICE agent “a significant distance” with his car. The agent shot Villegas-Gonzalez, whom the DHS called “an illegal criminal alien” in a statement on Friday. ICE claimed Villegas-Gonzalez had “a history of reckless driving” and that he “refused to follow law enforcement’s commands.”
Rudy Repa, a resident of the suburban Chicago enclave, expressed anger and frustration over the shooting.
“I’m incredibly mad and I want justice for our community,” Repa said in an interview with Reuters.
Marco Villalobos, 45, blamed the increased ICE presence in Chicago for the shooting.
“It’s a terrible thing. They’re trying to hunt people down,” he said.
Speaking at a vigil on Saturday, area resident Alexandra Calleja, 34, defended Vilegas-Gonzalez.
“I think he might have gotten scared,” Calleja said. “He might have wanted to leave because it crossed his mind that, ‘If I get taken away, I’ll never see my kids again.'”
Rep. Delia Ramirez, D-Ill., called the DHS response “unacceptable” and blamed President Donald Trump‘s “anti-immigration agenda” for leading to the shooting.
Start your day with essential news from Salon.
Sign up for our free morning newsletter, Crash Course.
“We have long warned that the militarized tactics used by DHS and the deployment of ICE agents, with no transparency or oversight, undermine the rule of law and create fear and chaos in our communities,” Ramirez wrote in a statement.”Our community deserves answers and accountability, not the scapegoating of our most vulnerable.”
On Monday, the DHS said in a statement on X that the unnamed agent “used appropriate force, and properly enforced the law,” and blamed immigration activists for the incident.
“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,” the agency said.
