Biddeford Mayor Liam LaFountain demanded a permanent end to ICE traffic stops and questioned why ICE agents were not wearing body cameras during the fatal Monday shooting of Joan Sebastian Guerrero, 26, of Colombia, in a new Wednesday statement.
[RELATED: Trump Reverses Course on Ending ICE Traffic Stops in Truth Social Post Praising the Agency…]
“A central issue in this incident has become the lack of body cameras on those agents. That is totally unacceptable. I know both Senator Collins and Senator King are forcefully pressing this issue with DHS Secretary Mullin,” said LaFountain.
“In Biddeford, our police officers are fully equipped with body cameras. The department’s annual budget is less than $10 million, and they’ve had these cameras in the field for almost a decade. The fact that ICE is swimming in billions of taxpayer dollars and can’t perform a basic function like properly equipping their people is a severe indictment,” he added.
In the new statement, LaFountain said that the city has been providing assistance to the family of Guerrero and that he had personally visited their neighbors.
He said he was told by Sen. Susan Collins that ICE was halting traffic stops, and he expressed a hope that the halt would be permanent.
That portion of LaFountain’s statement was already outdated when it was released, because President Donald Trump reinstated ICE’s ability to stop vehicles on Wednesday morning.
He demanded a transparent investigation with involvement from state law enforcement, and asked for more details on the agent who shot Guerrero.
He also highlighted the city’s new partnership with the Saco-based Sweetser to provide mental health assistance to Guerrero’s family and friends.
LaFountain’s statement did not include any new details on the shooting itself or any information on the status of the investigation.
Unlike many agitators on the left, LaFountain’s initial statement on the shooting was a measured recognition of the loss of life while calling on people to be patient in waiting for details on the shooting.
“In Biddeford, our police officers are fully equipped with body cameras. The department’s annual budget is less than $10 million, and they’ve had these cameras in the field for almost a decade.
If the mayor truly believes this, someone should audit the books of his city!
Maybe things are different in Biddeford, but elsewhere in the public sector, one can only spend money from various budget lines for things authorized for that line item to be spent on, e.g. pay for pay and equipment for equipment.
If the Dems hadn’t twice shut down DHS procurement last year, THEY WOULD’VE HAD THOSE CAMERAS.
And if Joan Sebastian Guerrero had stopped for the police as opposed to trying to run them over, he’d be alive today like Brittany Wood is BECAUSE SHE STOPPED FOR THE POLICE RATHER THAN TRYING TO RUN AN OFFICER OVER…..
Don’t try to kill cops and you won’t wind up dead…..