Nino-Moncada, who was shot in the arm during his arrest last week, appeared to move out of the courtroom with greater ease than during his last court appearance Monday. He wore short sleeves, and had no visible bandages.
Michael Benson, a federal public defender, mentioned during the brief arraignment that Nino-Moncada had some “new issues with his arm” and the court proceeding forced him to miss a medical appointment.
Federal prosecutors requested a five-day trial set to begin in March. A separate hearing was set for Jan. 21, where Benson will challenge Nino-Moncada’s pre-trial detention.
On Jan. 8, Nino-Moncada allegedly drove a red Toyota Tacoma pickup away from six U.S. Border Patrol agents, according to documents filed in court Monday by the FBI. The federal officers pulled up in four unmarked vehicles as part of an immigration enforcement operation, targeting Nino-Moncada’s passenger, Yorlenys Zambrano-Contreras.
At least one Border Patrol agent told the FBI the driver of the pickup, Nino-Moncada, was “moving fast and striking the Border Patrol vehicle with force like the driver had floored the gas pedal,” court documents allege.
The rental car was unoccupied, but the Border Patrol told the FBI they were “fearful for their safety and for the safety of other Border Patrol agents.” According to the FBI, at least two agents drew their service weapons, one fired shots into the driver’s side window as Nino-Moncada allegedly drove the truck out of Adventist Health’s medical clinic parking lot.
Both Nino-Moncada and Zambrano-Contreras were wounded in the shooting and hospitalized. They were later arrested and placed into federal custody.
After the shooting, the U.S. Department of Justice charged Zambrano-Contreras with illegally entering the United States in 2023, a misdemeanor.
The shooting has drawn national attention, in part, because it came the day after a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer shot and killed Renee Nicole Good, a U.S. Citizen in Minneapolis.
After the shooting in Portland, a spokesperson with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said Nino-Moncada was a member of Tren de Aragua — a gang from Venezuela — and called Zambrano-Contreras an associate.
“Law enforcement continues to investigate the links between these subjects and TdA,” the FBI wrote in a complaint filed Monday in federal court.
Oregon’s federal public defender has called gang connections allegations without evidence.
So far, none of the federal charges are related to any gang connection.
This story comes to you from the Northwest News Network, a collaboration between public media organizations in Oregon and Washington.
