Democratic officials in Austin, Texas, rushed to hold a press conference blasting ICE after an officer shot a man during an immigration enforcement operation, drawing fierce backlash from law enforcement, local attorneys, and online critics who called the snap judgment "disqualifying."
The shooting happened on a Sunday in Austin. An ICE officer shot Wilber Rafael Garces Perez during what the Department of Homeland Security described as a law enforcement operation. Within hours, before Garces Perez had been publicly identified, and before any investigation had produced findings, Rep. Greg Casar, Austin Mayor Kirk Watson, and City Councilman Mike Siegel stood before cameras and aimed their fire at federal immigration agents.
DHS confirmed to Fox News that Garces Perez is an illegal immigrant from Venezuela who had a final order of removal and entered the United States under the Biden administration. His attorney disputes that account. But none of those details stopped Austin's Democratic leaders from treating the shooting as a settled indictment of federal enforcement before the basic facts were in.
Casar, a member of the progressive Squad caucus, framed the shooting in sweeping terms at the Sunday press conference.
"It is awful that this war has come to our doorstep."
He went further, claiming that he and others had warned weeks earlier that ICE needed to leave Austin "before someone was shot like in Minneapolis or like in Corpus Christi or like in Chicago." His conclusion: "For Austin to be safe, ICE should end its surge here in our community."
Dennis Farris, president of the Austin Police Retired Officers Association, told Fox News Digital that Casar's performance was predictable, but Watson's reaction was not.
"I've known the mayor a long time, consider the mayor a friend, I was really shocked at how visceral his reaction was, he's usually a lot more measured. I can understand being upset but the way he reacted, I think, raised the temperature in Austin because he is the one that he is, the leader, right? He is the city leader. He's the mayor. He's the one supposed to be trying to keep things calm and I think his reaction yesterday made it worse."
Farris did not spare Casar, either. He called the congressman "a bomb thrower" who has been "a reactionary known for shooting his mouth off before he has all the facts," adding that Casar followed the same pattern during the Mike Ramos shooting when he served on the Austin city council.
On the broader framing of ICE activity as a sudden "surge," Farris pushed back directly. Federal immigration authorities, he said, "have been conducting deportations in Austin for decades without any fanfare." The political reaction, in his view, was driven by opposition to the Trump administration rather than by the facts of the case.
The political rhetoric preceded street violence. Hundreds of people took to the streets in Austin following the shooting, throwing rocks, bottles, and pieces of concrete at police officers. Austin Police reported three arrests, several damaged police vehicles, and two officers injured in the unrest.
The pattern is not new. ICE enforcement operations have produced similar protests and Democratic calls for independent probes in recent months, and the political playbook, condemn first, investigate later, has repeated itself in city after city.
Watson's social media post about the shooting was, in the words of the Fox News report, "ratioed", meaning it drew far more critical replies than supportive ones. Prominent Austin attorney Adam Loewy posted his own response on X.
"Honestly shocking Mayor @KirkPWatson would issue this sort of statement knowing full well the investigation has barely started, Hope he's not about to make an Adler-esque 2nd term turn"
Loewy's reference was to former Austin Mayor Steve Adler, who presided over the city during the 2020 George Floyd rioting.
The facts of the shooting itself are still disputed. DHS says Garces Perez was shot during a law enforcement operation and that he had a final order of removal. Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch, the attorney representing Garces Perez, offered a sharply different version: she claims an unmarked truck sideswiped him, chased him, and struck his car again before an ICE officer shot him in the back of the neck. She says he was driving for DoorDash at the time.
Lincoln-Goldfinch also contested DHS's characterization of Garces Perez's immigration status. On Monday, she posted on X that he had entered the country through CBPOne, the Biden-era app that allowed migrants to schedule asylum appointments at ports of entry, and was "inspected and entered lawfully." She said he held a valid work permit and that his deportation order resulted from a missed hearing notice sent to a wrong address.
DHS, by contrast, stated flatly that Garces Perez "illegally entered the United States under the Biden administration." That direct conflict, lawful entry through a port versus illegal entry, has not been resolved by any official finding. The gap between DHS accounts and witness claims in enforcement shootings has become a recurring flashpoint.
No official use-of-force account explaining why the ICE officer discharged his weapon has been released. Garces Perez's current medical condition was not reported.
The Democratic rush to condemn ICE drew sharp responses well beyond Austin. Texas Republican State Rep. Andy Hopper posted on X:
"This sort of rhetoric should be disqualifying for any elected official. You cannot faithfully take the oath of office and be for open borders."
Tricia McLaughlin, a former assistant secretary of Homeland Security for public affairs, pointed to a contrast she found telling. She asked where Casar's outcry had been "last fall when an illegal alien in Texas used a machete to behead a man in front of his spouse and child," adding that the perpetrator had reportedly "kicked the head of the victim 'around like a soccer ball.'"
The White House Rapid Response account on X highlighted a clip of Casar's press conference, amplifying the congressman's remarks to a national audience. Townhall's Amy Curtis posted bluntly: "The Democrats want no immigration laws. They want to destroy this nation. Remember this in November."
The Minneapolis shooting Casar referenced in his remarks has itself become a major legal story. An ICE officer in that case pleaded not guilty to federal charges of lying about the incident, and a federal judge blocked Minnesota's attempt to extradite the agent from Texas. Casar cited Minneapolis as proof that ICE enforcement is dangerous, but the legal proceedings in that case are far from over, and the facts remain contested.
Fox News Digital reached out to the offices of Casar, Watson, and Siegel for comment. No responses were noted.
Some Democratic officials have gone further than condemning individual shootings, using the incidents as a platform to call for dismantling ICE altogether, a position that polls poorly with the broader electorate but plays well with the progressive base these officials depend on.
Farris offered what may be the most direct diagnosis of the entire episode. The retired officer told Fox News Digital that the political firestorm was not really about the shooting at all.
"They've been arresting people that were in the country illegally and I think what we're seeing here is that the reaction to it is because of Trump, it's the Trump administration doing it and it's just another way to dislike the president for whatever reason you want to dislike him for."
An investigation into the shooting has barely started. The man's immigration status is disputed between his own attorney and the federal government. The circumstances of the use of force remain unclear. And yet Austin's Democratic leaders held a press conference, assigned blame, and called for ICE to leave, all on the same day, all before the man had been publicly identified.
When elected officials decide the verdict before the investigation begins, they are not leading. They are performing, and the people who pay the price are the officers dodging rocks and the residents left to wonder whether anyone in charge cares about the facts at all.
