A person died after being hit by a truck while trying to flee during an operation by federal immigration authorities in Florida, US. The incident occurred near St. Augustine on July 14, when the 28-year-old Mexican citizen ran into heavy traffic and was struck by a moving truck.
Sergeant Dylan Bryan of the Florida Highway Patrol stated that the incident began around 7 a.m. in the parking lot of a gas station and convenience store. A vehicle carrying three other passengers encountered teams from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Department of Homeland Security Investigations unit. After contact with federal agents, the occupants got out of the vehicle and attempted to flee.
The Department of Homeland Security confirmed that an operation was underway in the area and stated that the Florida Highway Patrol and the department's investigative unit were examining the incident that resulted in the Mexican citizen's death. The department did not respond to questions about the fate of the other three people in the vehicle. The truck driver stopped and attempted to help the injured person.
Florida House Democratic Representative Angie Nixon described the events as the result of "an agency out of control." Nixon said, "When ICE agents shoot a father on the streets of Houston, fire at a teenager in Maine, or conduct operations in northeast Florida that end in fatal accidents, the result is always the same: fear, chaos, and people dying."
This incident marks at least the tenth death linked to ICE operations since President Donald Trump launched a sweeping deportation campaign last year. Previously, similar cases saw people trying to flee agents die after being run over by vehicles.
Last summer in Southern California, 52-year-old Guatemalan Roberto Carlos Montoya Valdes died after being struck by an SUV while trying to cross a highway while fleeing immigration officers near a Home Depot store. The Department of Homeland Security had argued at the time that agents were not pursuing Valdes.
In October, in Norfolk, Virginia, 24-year-old Honduran gardener Josue Castro Rivera died after being run over by a pickup truck while trying to flee during a traffic stop. Authorities stated that the vehicle was stopped as part of "an intelligence-driven targeted operation" but that Rivera "showed serious resistance and attempted to flee."
On July 14, the Mexican government appealed to state attorneys general in the US, requesting an investigation for possible criminal prosecution regarding migrants who died while in ICE custody or during raids.
