Not to pile on, but while we’re tallying transgressions against ex-U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who was fired by President Trump last week, we should not forget the often-overlooked death of another American citizen who was killed by an ICE agent under her watch.
Every time news articles or commentators mention the number of American citizens shot and killed by ICE agents in recent months, the death toll stops at two.
But their math is wrong.
Weeks before Renee Good and Alex Pretti were gunned down by federal immigration officers in separate incidents in Minnesota, a Los Angeles man, Keith Porter Jr., was shot and killed by an off-duty U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent under dubious circumstances.
Authorities said Porter was shot outside his apartment complex on New Year’s Eve after he fired several gunshots into the air.
Relatives and local activists said Porter, a 43-year-old father of two, was not threatening anyone, and was simply shooting into the air to ring in the new year.
A Homeland Security representative said the off-duty immigration officer was “forced to defensively use his weapon” while responding to an “active shooter.”
An attorney for the family, Jamal Tooson, conceded that the victim’s actions possibly merited arrest or a citation by the Los Angeles Police Department.
But the ICE agent, who was not charged with local law enforcement duties, instead subjected Porter to “a death sentence,” Tooson said.
“Forgive us, if we have skepticism of any claims of self-defense,” Tooson said a few weeks after the shooting.
The ICE agent in Los Angeles has not been charged with any crime, and police there said the shooting is still under investigation.
While the Porter case is not as cut and dried as the Minnesota shootings, it raises strong concerns about the role and presence of federal immigration officers in American cities, and is another ugly stain on Noem’s tenure at Homeland Security.
Authorities said Porter legally owned the gun he used in his celebration, but that still gave him no right to recklessly fire it in the air.
Likewise, the agent had no right to exceed his authority, especially if, as witnesses said, Porter wasn’t posing a threat.
Neighbors said the agent, who lived in the same building, went inside, put on his tactical gear, grabbed his ICE-issued firearm and stepped back outside before ending Porter’s life.
It sounds like he had time to call 911 instead of handling the situation himself.
The agent, identified as Brian Palacios, has been accused of making racist remarks about Black people and Latinos, court records show.
Unlike the Minnesota cases, there is no video of the shooting, which means less evidence to scrutinize Palacios’ actions.
When ICE agent Jonathan Ross gunned down Good, a 37-year-old mother of three, in her car, video challenged the claim that she was trying to run over officers.
On Jan. 24, when agents wrestled Pretti to the ground and shot him, video showed that Pretti, who was carrying a licensed gun, had already been disarmed,
Why Porter isn’t included in the ICE body count is anybody’s guess. Advocates tend to like their causes wrapped in neat little packages.
Truth be told, George Floyd and Rodney King were not ideal torch bearers. Neither was Claudette Colvin, a 15-year-old Black girl who refused to give up her seat on a Montgomery, Alabama, bus months before Rosa Parks.
Porter need not be martyred like Good and Pretti.
He just needs to be remembered — and acknowledged.