AUSTIN, TX — Federal prosecutors in Texas have charged a Venezuelan delivery driver who was shot by an immigration agent in Austin with assaulting a federal officer. The complaint says Wilber Rafael Garces Perez, 28, struck an officer with his vehicle’s side mirror while trying to drive away.
Garces Perez made an initial appearance Tuesday in federal court in Austin, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas. His lawyer said he remains in severe pain with a bullet still lodged in his back from the Sept. 20 shooting.
The case is the latest flashpoint in the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown and has already drawn protests and sharp criticism from Democrats. A federal affidavit now provides the government’s most detailed public account of what led up to the shooting.
Complaint says a mirror struck the officer during the traffic stop
According to the criminal complaint and affidavit, federal agents first saw Garces Perez’s car parked outside a restaurant with its emergency flashers on. After a database check showed the car was registered to him and that he had a final order of removal from the United States, agents decided to stop him…