The Trump administration is reviewing its process for vetting U.S. immigration officers after reports that a man allegedly involved in the fatal shooting of an immigrant in Maine had a history of violent outbursts, a senior White House official said Sunday.
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In an interview with The Washington Post earlier this month, Ashley Brouillette, said her former spouse, David Brouillette, told her in a phone call that he was the Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer who shot and killed Colombian immigrant Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero, in Biddeford, Maine, on July 13.
Ashley Brouillette said her ex-husband had a pattern of violent outbursts, including throwing boiling hot water on her while she was holding their young daughter.
“If this person had that type of history, it would have been a vetting issue, and it should have been brought to the attention of those who makes those decisions,” White House border czar Tom Homan told CNN’s “State of the Union.”
Homan did not confirm that David Brouillette shot Durán, but he said that the Department of Homeland Security is now investigating whether the vetting process failed.
“When they hire somebody, they put them through a vetting process and look at all that stuff, so I know based on that information, that that’s part of the ongoing investigation,” Homan said.
“Was that information not available? Did they not know? So there’s a separate administrative investigation on what happened here,” he added.
The Department of Homeland Security has not publicly released the name of the officer who allegedly shot and killed Durán, a 25-year-old whose shooting led to mass protests in Maine.
Ashley Brouillette identified David Brouillette as the officer seen on video footage of the scene in Biddeford. The video does not show the shooting itself, but it does show two officers in the moments afterward.
She accused of her ex-husband of pointing a gun at her and threatening her, among other instances of violence. Ashley Brouillette also told The Post that he was diagnosed with several mental health disorders as a young adult. The Post could not independently verify those claims.
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David Brouillette’s other ex-wife, Lucinda Brouillette, has also described a pattern of physical and mental abuse in court filings. In some filings, she said that Brouillette had been medically discharged from the military in 2015 because of post-traumatic stress. The Post has not independently verified that claim.
In a statement to The Post, Lucinda Brouillette said that throughout her marriage, “and in the years that followed, I have feared for a long time that his anger, aggression, and escalating behavior would eventually result in severe, life threatening violence.”
Ashley Brouillette said David Brouillette was hired into ICE in November, as the federal agency was rushing to put thousands of new officers on the streets. Former Department of Homeland Security officials have publicly questioned whether those new hires were properly vetted.
In the CNN interview, Homan said ICE is also reviewing agent training, and that agents are now undergoing additional training.
“I know this specific case, as far as the vetting, is under review by internal affairs section, so we’ll see where it lies,” he said.
Durán, who had a work permit issued by the Trump administration, was shot shortly after leaving for work on July 13.
ICE has said that officers were in the area surveilling an address associated with an individual who has a final order of removal when they saw Durán leave and attempted to stop his vehicle. The agency has alleged that Durán tried to flee the officers, and that an officer fired because he feared for public safety.
Following the shooting, the office of Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey said that the officer would be placed on leave. Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) said at a news conference following the shooting that none of the officers involved in the fatal shooting were wearing body cameras.
A spokesperson for King said Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin told the senator that Durán was not the target of the ICE operation.
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