Protests erupt at Senator Susan Collins' office after second fatal ICE shooting in a week

Protests erupted outside GOP Senator Susan Collins' office in Biddeford, Maine, on Monday after Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) shot and killed a man in the city. The incident unfolded a week after the immigration enforcement agency killed 52-year-old Mexican national Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Houston. Demonstrators raised slogans of "vote her out" outside the office of Collins, who is seeking to retain her seat in the upcoming midterm elections. Collins had voted in favor of $70 billion in new funding for ICE earlier this year.

Videos of ICE reprimanding the now-deceased immigrant have gone viral on social media. In one video, the victim was seen being taken out of his vehicle, dropped to the floor, and handcuffed. This was before the shooting unfolded. Another video shows footage from a Ring camera inside a house in Biddeford. Sounds of multiple shots being fired were heard. The incident has taken the state by storm, with demonstrators coming out to make their dissatisfaction known at the scene of the crime. 

The man gunned down was a 26-year-old Colombian who "attempted to flee in a vehicle in the direction of the officer," the office of the Maine attorney general was quoted by The Guardian as saying. Senator Angus King said he spoke with Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Markwayne Mullin about the matter and asked local and state officials to be involved in the investigations led by the FBI. King also raised concerns about the agents not wearing any body cameras, much like the ones who killed Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Houston last week.

"The question is, what did he do with his vehicle?" King said, as per the Associated Press. "Were officers threatened? Were the threats rising to the level that justified deadly force? That's what this investigation is all about, and I certainly intend to stay after it to do everything I can to be sure the investigation is as transparent and thorough as possible," he added.

Daniel Bouchar, a 71-year-old ‌caregiver and part-time drafter, was quoted by the publication as saying that he witnessed the events immediately after the shots were fired. Bouchar said that he heard the victim saying, "But I tried to stop," and claimed that an officer, who allegedly fired the bullet, seemed "very distraught, almost in shock." "I'll be very honest with you, I am not pro-ICE at all; and I am a Democrat. But regardless of that, what I'm telling you is what I experienced today," he said.