ICE officer in Maine fatal shooting had anti-immigrant views, sister says

The Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer accused of fatally shooting a Colombian national in July made what his sister considers anti-immigrant statements more than five years earlier, a copy of the emails shared with News shows. 

Relatives have previously identified David Brouillette as the ICE officer who fatally shot Johan Sebastián Duran Guerrero during an immigration enforcement operation in Biddeford, Maine, on July 13.

In an email dated Jan. 5, 2021, Elizabeth Emen, Brouillette’s sister, invited him to record a video wishing her child a happy birthday. 

Two days later, Brouillette responded, “you said that ‘[REDACTED] doesn’t need a racist uncle in his life.'” 

“Now you would like me to send your son a video for his birthday to be a part of that memory. YOUR choices affects YOUR kids,” Brouillette added, according to one of the emails shared with News. 

Emen said Brouillette was referring to previous comments he had allegedly made about her former partner, a Colombian national, who was living in the country legally and with whom she has two children. The partner was a graduate student pursuing a Ph.D and at the time and had been dating Emen for five years, Emen said. 

Emen shared the emails with News. Names are redacted and they contain several typos. The emails were first reported by the New York Times. 

According to one email, Emen responded that Brouillette had made “racist/xenophobic” comments about her partner “not being a citizen.” 

In a response dated Jan. 11, 2021, Brouillette said that the partner “can takes his non citizen ass back to his country and enjoy his third world luxuries.” 

“He does not emulate what it means to be an American..rather he emulates what it’s like to be entitled and think he has a seat at a table that has no room for his (or your ignorance),” Brouillette wrote, according to the email. 

Brouillette added that the partner’s “bloodline knows nothing about what it takes to earn and then CHERISH the freedom America offers. He sure doesn’t have a problem with freeloading off of our country, not claiming to be part of it..and then criticizing it,” according to the email provided by Emen. 

A friend of Emen’s told News they recalled speaking to her about her brother’s comments soon after the exchange.

News has been unable to reach David Brouillette for comment. A number belonging to him appears to have been disconnected. He did not respond to a request for comment sent to his last known email address. 

Emen said that exchange ended her relationship with her brother.

“That was a very overt and excessive expression of his beliefs,” she told News in an interview. “When I saw his actions on July 13, I just couldn’t believe that it had been allowed to get to that point. I can’t believe that he was onboarded into a federal agency and provided a weapon.” 

At the time of the shooting, an ICE spokesperson said the agency was in Biddeford “conducting targeted surveillance on the last known address of an illegal alien with a final order of removal,” and when an “illegal alien departed the residence in a vehicle,” ICE agents “attempted to conduct a vehicle stop.”

 “The vehicle attempted to flee the scene and fearing for public safety an officer discharged his weapon,” ICE said.

Maine Sen. Angus King told reporters Duran Guerrero was not the target of the operation.

Emen, a licensed therapist, said she grew up with her brother until she moved away to college. Most of their adult relationship was long distance through phone and video calls up until 2021, she said. 

She first learned her brother was an ICE agent when she recognized him from a photo in an article about the shooting, she said. She’s now calling the agency’s hiring practices into question. 

“If it was rigorous, I imagine they might have talked to the people close to him about his behavior, about his motivation to join, and whether or not he could do what was asked of him and use the least amount of force possible in his role,” she said. 

The Maine Attorney General’s Office is investigating the shooting. Brouillette has not been charged with a crime. 

In a social media post earlier Wednesday, Democratic lawmakers on the House Homeland Security said they will investigate the emails. 

“Democrats will investigate who approved this hire and why ICE ignored the serious red flags,” the lawmakers said.

DHS has not identified the officer. A spokesperson said the agency “will never confirm or deny attempts to dox our law enforcement officers.” 

In a statement, a DHS spokesperson did not identify the officer and defended the agency’s hiring practices. 

“Incoming ICE officers, many already with years of law enforcement experience, are onboarded in accordance with applicable policies and standards. Any claims of substandard training or vetting are FALSE. This administration is preserving ICE’s reputation as one of the most elite law enforcement agencies not only in the U.S., but the entire world,” the spokesperson said.

The spokesperson did not comment on Brouillette’s alleged remarks. 

In a statement, an attorney representing Duran Guerrero’s family said his death was the result of the “government’s failure to properly screen” ICE agents.

“David Brouillette is the poster child for what happens when our government chooses to recruit agents to carry out a campaign of hate against immigrants, hires those agents without adequate screening and places them on the street without basic training,” attorney Sean P. Murphy said.

Emen says she’s now coming forward about her brother in an attempt to seek justice and support for Duran Guerrero’s family. 

“I’ve watched their speaking out after learning about my brother’s actions and repeatedly my thoughts and prayers have been with them and I’ll do what I can to support an investigation,” she said.