When Adrian Metoyer first heard government officials describing his best friend as an “active shooter” and threat to his community, he was furious.
Keith “Pooter” Porter was a lot of things: a jack of all trades who worked dozens of jobs, a proud “girl dad” to his two daughters, an avid fisherman, a die-hard San Francisco 49ers fan and a “performer” who loved to drive a room to laughter with his “goofy” antics, friends and relatives said.
A handout photo of Keith Porter Jr.
(Courtesy of Project Islamic Hope)
But, they contend, Porter wasn’t the threat Trump administration officials claimed he was after an off-duty U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent shot and killed him in Northridge on New Year’s Eve.
“That is far from the truth. I can’t even fathom that idea of him being looked at in a negative light. Calling the officer a hero, before any investigation had been conducted … this is ridiculous,” Metoyer, 45, said.
In the week that has passed since Porter’s death, his loved ones and community activists have rejected the narrative offered by federal officials to explain his killing, acknowledging he may have been armed but maintaining he was only celebrating the new year — not trying to shoot anyone.
The use of deadly force by immigration agents was back in the national spotlight on Wednesday, after an ICE officer shot and killed a woman in Minneapolis and drew condemnation from the city’s mayor, who called the incident “reckless.”
In a statement issued last week, Tricia McLaughlin, chief spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, claimed Porter was suspected to be an “active shooter,” and said he was killed following an exchange of gunfire with an off-duty ICE agent at the Village Pointe Apartments on Roscoe Boulevard.
McLaughlin said the “brave officer,” who has not been identified, lived at the apartment complex and was “protecting his community.” He reported the incident to authorities after it happened, she said.
McLaughlin did not respond to a detailed list of questions from The Times this week.
Community members gather at a vigil organized by Black Lives Matter-LA to pay tribute to Keith “Pooter” Porter, killed in a New Year’s Eve shooting by an off-duty ICE officer.
(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)
In a statement, the Los Angeles Police Department declined to name Porter or provide any further details, except to confirm that a gun was recovered at the scene.
Early news reports after the incident said that Porter was firing an assault-style rifle. A law enforcement official, speaking on the condition of anonymity in order to discuss an active case, confirmed that detail to The Times this week.
Porter’s loved ones and advocates said they believe he was ringing in the new year by firing a gun into the air — an illegal and dangerous L.A. practice that city officials discourage because the falling bullets can hit bystanders.
Firing a gun into the air in the city can bring felony charges, but Jamal Tooson, an attorney for Porter’s family, said at a news conference earlier this week that the ICE agent overreacted.
“What should have been an arrest and possible citation has turned into a death sentence and potentially cold-blooded murder from an ICE agent who was not equipped to handle the situation,” Tooson said.
Tooson claimed several people at the apartment complex were firing guns in the air and “only one was murdered.” The shooting happened around 10:40 p.m., according to the LAPD, long before fireworks and gunshots mark midnight around the city on New Year’s Eve.
Tooson did not dispute that his client was in possession of a rifle. On Wednesday, he said he’d interviewed several witnesses at the scene, including one person who heard someone demanding that Porter “put down the rifle” more than once.
Tooson said that witness then described hearing three shots fired, which ended the conflict. At no point did that person hear anyone identify themselves as law enforcement, according to Tooson.
Tooson said he did not “believe there was any exchange of gunfire” between Porter and the agent.
Clarity on how the shooting transpired may not come any time soon.
Community members gather at a vigil organized by Black Lives Matter-LA to pay tribute to Keith “Pooter” Porter.
(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)
The Los Angeles County district attorney’s office is reviewing Porter’s killing, though it sometimes takes years for the agency to determine if a deadly use of force constitutes a crime.
Although city policies require the LAPD to identify officers in serious use-of-force cases, there is nothing that would compel the Department of Homeland Security — the federal agency that includes ICE — to do so.
Since the officer was off-duty, there is no body camera footage. None of the building’s security cameras captured the shooting either, according to a message from the property management company.
The Times reviewed a video filmed by a neighbor that showed LAPD units responding to the scene after Porter had been shot, lights flashing on their squad cars.
One officer can be heard calling out: “Come out or shelter in place.”
Several residents who lived in units closest to the scene of the shooting said last week they didn’t witness the fatal incident, though one woman said several rounds struck her home.
An LAPD official said it was expected to take days before detectives would be able to interview the ICE agent responsible for Porter’s death. An LAPD officer who was involved in an off-duty shooting could be compelled to speak with investigators under threat of discipline, but the department has no such leverage over a federal agent.
Caleb Mason, a former federal prosecutor who is now a partner with Werksman Jackson & Quinn in Los Angeles, said the local investigators are limited in this case, and do not “have the ability to compel a federal agent to answer questions, nor to grant some kind of immunity.”
“They could convene a grand jury and subpoena the person to come to the grand jury, that person could then invoke their 5th Amendment rights,” Mason said.
Tooson said the shooting was a “microcosm” of federal law enforcement under the Trump administration “overstepping boundaries and, in many instances, using deadly force when it was not required.”
Other recent instances in which ICE and Border Patrol agents claimed they used force in self-defense have come under withering scrutiny.
On Wednesday in Minneapolis, an ICE officer shot and killed a 37-year-old woman. Federal officials said the officer opened fire on her car after she attempted to run over agents in “an act of domestic terrorism.”
Videos circulating online showed the woman seemingly attempting to drive away, as one masked agent is seen trying to open the vehicle’s door while another blocks her path.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey told reporters he had reviewed footage of the incident, which led him to believe “the narrative that this was done in self-defense is a garbage narrative.”
In October, federal officials insisted an ICE agent opened fire in fear for his life after a popular TikTok streamer tried to ram agents attempting to arrest him in South L.A. Assault charges against the man, Carlitos Ricardo Parias, were recently dismissed by a judge.
Video obtained by The Times last month shows Parias with his hands up at the moment the agent’s gun goes off. Both Parias and a deputy U.S. marshal were injured by the ICE agent’s gunfire.
A Times analysis also found nearly a third of all cases involving an alleged assault against a federal officer in Los Angeles last year ended with prosecutors dropping charges or losing at trial.
Metoyer, who has been friends with Porter for nearly 30 years, said the pair grew up in Compton, where ringing in the New Year with “celebratory fire” was common. He said his friend had become interested in guns in recent years and was excited that he’d recently gotten the necessary paperwork under state law by obtaining a firearm safety certificate.
“Within the last couple of years, he was super anxious and excited because he ended up getting his permit,” Metoyer said. “He felt like it was a badge of expression to be able to own a firearm.”
Porter’s mother, Franceola Armstrong, said her son meant no harm.
“He was not a threat … anyone who comes in contact with my baby has nothing to say but love,” she said.
Activist Najee Ali embraces Keith Porter Jr.’s mother, Franceola Armstrong, after she speaks to the media on Monday in Studio City.
(Juliana Yamada / Los Angeles Times)
Armstrong said she and her son were incredibly close, living together until about a year ago. Relatives said Porter moved to the San Fernando Valley to be closer to his girlfriend.
Porter worked a plethora of jobs, Metoyer said. He was a waiter, a tow truck driver and an aide to students with special needs. He’d tried to complete the Compton Fire Academy and recently got a job at a nearby Home Depot in Northridge. Whatever job he took, friends said, Porter had an eye toward a better life for his two daughters, who are 10 and 20.
“We had gotten together for games and drinks and stuff, and at the end of the night, we had a serious heart to heart … about him getting ready to move out here and his priorities,” Jsané Tyler, a distant relative, said at a vigil last week.
Metoyer said he and Porter first met at Verbum Dei High School, an all-boys Catholic institution in Watts, where they bonded over a shared love of football and basketball.
“He was a performer. He would always go out the way to make people laugh,” Metoyer said. “He was a very, very kind person, gracious, compassionate. Loyal. Understanding, he was younger than me so I felt like I had to look out for him because he was my little brother.”
Tamara Cedre, Metoyer’s partner, said the shooting was especially painful because of everything Porter had to overcome in his life. Cedre said Porter’s father was heavily involved with Compton gangs, but his mother worked tirelessly to help her son avoid that lifestyle — only for his life to end in gunfire anyway.
“That’s what is really heartbreaking about all this,” she said. “You can try to fly straight and get an apartment and move out of the hood … and you still find yourself in this situation.”