About a dozen demonstrators gathered at the ICE Phoenix field office to protest the wounding of a man after a traffic stop on Interstate 17.<\/p>\n
Poder in Action, a Phoenix-based nonprofit, mounted the protest on the evening of Oct. 29 at the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office, near Central Avenue and McDowell Road, after a man described by officials as being from Honduras was shot.<\/p>\n
“I’m infuriated. Yeah, I’m angry. I am concerned. So, it’s a lot of feelings, but so many questions about how this even happened,” said Phoenix City Councilmember Anna Hernandez, who joined others on site.<\/p>\n
Some of the demonstrators held white votive candles and others carried signs. “Amor Eterno,” a popular Mexican ballad about the mourning of a loved one, played from a stereo as Hernandez spoke with The Arizona Republic. The former Democratic Arizona state senator lost her brother, Alejandro Hernandez, 26, in a Phoenix police shooting<\/a> in 2019.<\/p>\n Jose Garcia-Sorto, from Honduras, was stopped about 4 a.m. Oct. 29 on Interstate 17 near Dove Valley Road by ICE officers, according to Yasmeen Pitts O’Keefe, a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson. As the officers approached him, he began to pull away, according to Pitts O’Keefe.<\/p>\n “As the vehicle abruptly began speeding away, an officer was in the path of the vehicle,” Pitts O’Keefe said in an email. “Fearing for his life, the officer defensively discharged his service weapon two times, striking Garcia-Sorto\u2019s vehicle.”<\/p>\n The officer, who was not identified, was taken to a hospital for evaluation. Garcia-Sorto was taken to a hospital for treatment of a wound and was in stable condition, according to O’Keefe’s email.<\/p>\n The email did not say whether the ICE officer was struck by the vehicle and did not say if Garcia-Sorto was shot and wounded by the officer. Pitts O’Keefe told The Republic that information was not available.<\/p>\n The FBI was leading the investigation of the officer shooting.<\/p>\n Zach Searfoss, 17, of Phoenix, is part of the Youth Poder, a Poder in Action subgroup. He hoped the gathering would provoke a conversation on the issue.<\/p>\n “It is literally just trying to bring more community involved, so stuff like this doesn’t happen,” Searfoss said of the protest.<\/p>\n Demonstrator Tyler McGrady wore a green shirt with the words, “Immigrants make our communities stronger.”<\/p>\n The 36-year-old Chandler resident cast doubt on the official account given. “During the Black Lives Matter movements, there’s evidence of officers saying one thing, and then when you get video accounts, you get autopsy reports and other evidence. Their stories don’t always pan out 100% of the time,” McGrady said.<\/p>\n Republic editor Michelle Cruz contributed to this article. <\/p>\n No longer in charge: <\/strong>Head of ICE office in Phoenix moved out of Arizona as part of a nationwide shake-up<\/a><\/p>\n