The two people shot in Portland last week by U.S. Border Patrol face criminal charges, court filings released Monday show. Both have been released from the hospital and into federal custody.
The U.S. Department of Justice charged Luis David Nino-Moncada for aggravated assault on a federal officer with a deadly or dangerous weapon and depredation of federal property. He’s set to appear in federal court on Monday afternoon. His attorney declined to comment.
Yorlenys Betzabeth Zambrano-Contreras was charged in Western District of Texas with illegal entry into the United States. She is being held at Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma, Wash., according to facility records. Her attorney declined to comment.
The charging documents give the first detailed glimpse into the Jan. 8 shooting, which captured national attention for being the second shooting by federal immigration enforcement officers in as many days. A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent shot and killed a U.S. citizen in Minneapolis the day prior.
Officials with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security accused Nino-Moncada and Zambrano-Moncada of being members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua and, quickly after the shooting, claimed they used their vehicle to ram the Border Patrol agents pursuing them.
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi issued a statement Monday morning celebrating the charges.
“Anyone who crosses the red line of assaulting law enforcement will be met with the full force of this Justice Department,” Pondi wrote. “This man – an illegal alien with ties to a foreign terrorist organization – should NEVER have been in our country to begin with, and we will ensure he NEVER walks free in America again.”
While the shooting set off protests in Portland, federal investigators offered almost no details after labeling the people shot as gang members.
Local police said the federal government quickly took over the case but corroborated there was a “nexus” in their records that involved the duo, the Venezuelan gang and a shooting last summer.
After agents commanded they exit the truck, Nino-Moncada put the truck in reverse and collided with an unmarked vehicle “with enough speed and force to cause significant damage,” according to Jeffreys.
Nino-Moncada then put the vehicle in drive and performed several forward-and-reverse maneuvers “striking the Border Patrol vehicle multiple times.”
One Border Patrol agent said they were afraid Nino-Moncada could hit them with the pickup. An agent, identified as BP4 told the FBI they drew their service weapon, but aimed it towards the ground.
Another agent drew and fired at the driver, Jeffreys wrote.
Two of the involved agents told the FBI they heard two gunshots. One said the shots were fired into the driver’s side window.
As the red Toyota drove off, the immigration officers told the FBI they did not know if anyone inside was hit.
Both were shot and minutes later called 911 from Bria apartment complex, where witnesses told OPB that Nino-Moncada and Zambrano-Contreras sometimes stayed.
Portland police and paramedics arrived on the scene. While a tourniquet was being placed around his arm, Nino-Moncada repeatedly said: “‘fuck ICE,’” according to the document.
Later, at the hospital, Nino-Moncada was interviewed by the FBI and “admitted to intentionally ramming the Border Patrol vehicle in an attempt to flee.”
Nino-Moncada has not yet been indicted by a federal grand jury. Instead, evidence and witnesses could testify, and face cross-examination, and a probable cause hearing before a judge. The judge would then determine how the case moves forward.
As of Saturday, the FBI, who is leading the investigation, told a federal judge that agents had interviewed four of the six Border Patrol agents who were on the scene.
Shooting details
On Thursday, federal charging documents show, six Border Patrol agents drove in four unmarked cars when they spotted a red Toyota Tacoma that they believed belonged to Zambrano-Contreras. They initiated a traffic stop and pulled into the parking lot of a medical office in east Portland.
“The Border Patrol agents identified themselves as law enforcement officers to the occupants and were wearing law enforcement markings,” FBI Special Agent Daniel Jeffreys wrote in the complaint.
Nino-Moncada was “anxious and visibly moving around in the driver seat,” one of the Border Patrol agents told federal investigators.
No video
News of the fatal Minneapolis shooting by an ICE officer quickly spread across the country last week, aided by the fact that it was caught on video at multiple angles. Cell phone video taken by bystanders and security camera footage from the area flooded social media. The officer’s
camera footage was published soon after.
Video footage of the shooting in Portland, however, appears harder to come by.
“Investigators have scoured the area and social media in an effort to find surveillance footage, but to no avail,” Jeffreys wrote in the federal charging document. “The fixed surveillance cameras in the area of this parking lot, according to the business, did not capture footage of this event.”
The Border Patrol agents did not wear body cameras, Jeffreys wrote in federal court filings. He noted that investigators are continuing to search for video.
This is a breaking news story and will be updated.
This story comes to you from the Northwest News Network, a collaboration between public media organizations in Oregon and Washington.
