Key facts
- Wilber Rafael Garces Perez, 28, was charged with assaulting, resisting, interfering with, and impeding a federal officer.
- The charges stem from an incident on September 20 in Austin, Texas, where Garces Perez was shot by an ICE officer.
- According to the complaint, Garces Perez drove away when asked to step out of his car, striking an officer with his side mirror.
- The officer alleges Garces Perez then tried to drive into him, prompting the officer to fire his pistol.
- Garces Perez told investigators that an officer drove an SUV into his car, spinning it around, before he was shot.
- Garces Perez's attorney stated he still has the bullet in his body and a fractured clavicle, requiring surgery.
A Venezuelan national, Wilber Rafael Garces Perez, 28, has been charged with assaulting, resisting, interfering with, and impeding a federal officer following an incident on September 20 in Austin, Texas, where he was shot by a federal immigration agent. Garces Perez appeared in federal court on Tuesday to face these charges.
The complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, alleges that when ICE officers attempted to pull Garces Perez over and asked him to exit his vehicle, he drove away, striking one officer with his car's side mirror. The officer, who was not wearing a body camera, pursued Garces Perez and, according to the complaint, fired his pistol when Garces Perez allegedly attempted to drive into him.
Publicly available videos of the incident do not show the shooting itself but do show Garces Perez injured in his car afterward. Garces Perez reportedly told a DHS investigator that he was shot after an officer drove an SUV into his car, causing it to spin. His attorney, Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch, stated in an Instagram post that her client still has the bullet lodged in his body and a fractured clavicle, expressing concern about potential sepsis and permanent damage if he does not receive surgery soon. The Department of Homeland Security has stated that Garces Perez is receiving adequate medical care.
Separately, Garces Perez is scheduled to appear before a federal immigration judge on Wednesday for a hearing regarding his status in the country. A Reuters review of federal court records in July found that 31% of completed cases involving charges of attacking or impeding federal officers under the Trump administration ended in dismissal, compared to an overall federal criminal case dismissal rate of 8%.