An off-duty employee of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center in Aurora, Colorado, was arrested on Thursday after allegedly shooting a protester. The arrest follows a string of high-profile incidents across the country involving immigration officials firing on members of the public.
Brandon Booth, 42, an employee of the government contractor GEO Group, was allegedly waiting in his vehicle with coworkers near the privately run Aurora ICE Processing Center on Thursday night after protesters impeded their ability to start work at the 1,500-bed detention center.
Two women who had been part of a protest near the facility earlier that evening approached the group, took pictures of their vehicles and engaged in a “verbal confrontation,” according to a statement from the Aurora Police Department.
“At that point, Booth retrieved his personally owned pistol and fired a single shot in their direction, striking one of the women on her lower body,” the department said. “Booth then got into his vehicle and drove out of the area before he was detained.”
He was subsequently arrested on probable cause on suspicion of attempted second-degree murder, first-degree assault, attempted first-degree assault, felony menacing and unlawful carrying of a concealed weapon.
“We are aware that an off-duty Aurora ICE Processing Center employee was involved in a shooting incident,” GEO Group said in a statement to The Independent. “This individual has been placed on unpaid administrative leave, and we will fully cooperate with law enforcement.”
“No ICE personnel were involved in this incident,” the Department of Homeland Security told The Independent in a statement.
Booth was booked into Adams County jail on Friday, records show.
He reportedly briefly appeared in court on Friday but did not speak. His attorney reportedly said he had worked at the ICE facility for about two-and-a-half years, and had previously been convicted twice in the past for driving under the influence, most recently in 2011.
The Independent has requested comment from the Colorado State Public Defender’s Office, which is reportedly representing Booth.
Magistrate Judge Kyle Martelon set Booth’s bond at $500,000.
“To say this is a grave risk to our community would be a vast understatement,” Martelon reportedly said in court.
Booth is expected to return to court on Wednesday for a formal charging hearing.
The Independent has contacted Colorado’s 17th Judicial District Attorney’s Office, which is handling the allegations, for comment.
The protester, identified in court as Emma Landis, 21, is receiving treatment for non-life-threatening injuries to her foot.
“It’s not a joke,” Landis told The Associated Press. “This isn’t a game.”
A GoFundMe page for Landis claims she was retaliated against for taking part in a nonviolent protest against ICE.
“She’s one of the best people I know, with the biggest heart, always fighting for what’s right and good,” a friend of Landis wrote on the page. “That’s what she was doing [Thursday] — fighting for good. And she got shot for it.”
The Independent has requested comment from Landis.
Separately from the shooting, the Aurora ICE facility has been under scrutiny this week for its handling of an alleged case of tuberculosis among detainees.
Last week, the Adams County health department claimed it had confirmed a case of the highly contagious disease within the facility.
GEO reportedly told state officials on Friday there are no active cases at the detention center, but state officials claim the facility and ICE has not allowed health personnel inside to confirm how the case was treated.
“It did not detail how they have determined there is no TB present,” the state health department told 9News on Friday.
The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment “has not been given access to the facility or the information needed to complete the public health investigation,” the agency said.
ICE’s Denver office told The Independent that the Aurora facility “does not have any confirmed active tuberculosis (TB) cases.”
“There was one case of TB on June 25, and the detainee was treated, cleared, and removed,” a spokesperson said.
The facility has “complied with all federal CDC guidelines and policies on communicable disease, as well as with Colorado law, guidelines, and policies on the same,” according to the statement.
ICE has been under heavy scrutiny in recent weeks for a pair of recent fatal shootings against individuals in Texas and Maine who were not the targets of federal immigration operations.
David Brouillette, identified in press reports as the ICE officer who killed 25-year-old Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero in Biddeford, Maine, on Monday, reportedly had a past history of psychiatric issues and violence towards women, according to his ex-wife.
Regarding Brouillette, ICE previously told The Independent, “We will never confirm or deny attempts to dox our law enforcement officers.”
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