Wilber Rafael Garces Perez, the Venezuelan man who was shot by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer during a traffic stop in Austin, Texas, had a bullet removed from his back Thursday, nearly two weeks after the shooting.
asserted
bullet → shoot → shooting
“Good news: Wilber Garces Perez finally had surgery to remove the bullet that was in his back for 11 days,” Rep. Greg Casar (D-TX) wrote in a social media post.
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Casar → have → post
“It took far too long, and it’s more proof of ICE cruelty.
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it → take → cruelty
But we kept up the pressure, and Wilber got the care he needed,” Casar added.
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Casar → keep → care
Garces Perez, 28, was shot in the back by an ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations officer Sept. 20 during a traffic stop while he was making DoorDash deliveries.
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he → shoot → deliveries
This week, the Justice Department announced that Garces Perez had been charged with assaulting, resisting, interfering with, or impeding a federal officer.
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Perez → announce → officer
According to a criminal complaint, ICE officers ordered Garces Perez to put his vehicle in park and get out after pulling him over.
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officers → accord → him
After receiving additional instructions in Spanish, Garces Perez allegedly closed his window and drove away.
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Perez → receive → window
The complaint alleged that Garces Perez’s vehicle struck one of the ICE officers in the torso with the driver’s-side mirror as he drove away.
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he → allege → mirror
Body-camera footage from one of the officers captured the initial encounter, according to prosecutors.
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footage → capture → prosecutors
A federal judge ruled Thursday that the case against Garces Perez should proceed after prosecutors presented the body-cam footage in court.
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prosecutors → rule → court
His attorneys have said he was in severe pain and urgently needed surgery.
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he → say → surgery
Garces Perez was being held at an ICE detention facility in Texas.
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Perez → hold → Texas
The defense has disputed the government’s account of the shooting and the allegation that Garces Perez struck an officer with his vehicle.
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Perez → dispute → vehicle
The defense argued that federal investigators could not confirm whether the officer was hit by the mirror because investigators had not interviewed the officer directly.
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investigators → argue → officer
Attorneys also questioned why the officer allegedly struck by the mirror was not wearing a body camera.
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officer → question → camera
Garces Perez’s immigration attorney, Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch, accused ICE of denying him necessary medical treatment for his wound.
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attorney → accuse → wound
“ICE’s conduct has been so egregious that physicians, nurses, medical ethicists, and health advocates have come together to demand his release,” Lincoln-Goldfinch said outside court following the hearing.
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Goldfinch → come → hearing
The Department of Homeland Security has disputed claims that Garces Perez was denied appropriate medical care, saying in a fact sheet released shortly after the shooting that ICE does not determine whether a bullet should be surgically removed.
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bullet → dispute → shooting
Lincoln-Goldfinch has also disputed the circumstances surrounding Garces Perez’s immigration case.
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Goldfinch → dispute → case
She said he entered the United States legally in 2024 through a Biden-era immigration program that President Donald Trump ended after taking office.
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Trump → say → office
“The immigration court sent a notice for a hearing to an old address,” Lincoln-Goldfinch said shortly after the shooting.
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Goldfinch → send → shooting
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