Attorneys for man killed by off-duty ICE agent call on California A.G. to investigate
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- Lawyers for the family of Keith Porter Jr. held a news conference Tuesday, calling on the California attorney general to handle the investigation into his killing.
- Porter was shot by an off-duty ICE agent on New Year’s Eve. Federal authorities said the agent was responding to an “active shooter.” Porter’s relatives have said he was shooting a gun into the air, not threatening anyone.
- Lawyers for Porter’s family say witnesses have come forward alleging Porter was walking back to his apartment when he was shot.
Attorneys for a Los Angeles man shot and killed by an off-duty federal agent on New Year’s Eve are asking the California attorney general to take over the case, alleging recent comments by LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell show a bias toward the Trump administration.
In a Tuesday afternoon news conference, attorneys Ben Crump and Jamal Tooson called on Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta to investigate the fatal shooting of Keith Porter Jr. at his San Fernando Valley apartment building.
The request, they said, was based in large part on their lack of confidence in the Los Angeles Police Department and the U.S. Justice Department.
A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security initially said an off-duty Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent who lived at the same apartment complex was responding to a suspected “active shooter” when he opened fire. Porter’s relatives have said they believe he had been firing a gun into the air to ring in the new year.
Tooson said witnesses have come forward saying that Porter, 43, appeared to be walking back to his apartment when he was shot, and was not a threat to anyone. Tooson also pointed out that witnesses didn’t hear the federal officer identifying himself before firing three shots.
“So, forgive us, if we have skepticism of any claims of self-defense,”according to Tooson, who is representing Porter’s mother, Franceola Armstrong.
Federal officials have said the ICE agent was responding to an “active shooter situation” at his apartment complex. A Los Angeles police official said it was “too early to tell” if the man killed was firing a gun into the air on New Year’s Eve.
Crump — who previously represented the families of Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown, among other high-profile civil rights cases — said he is supporting Porter’s family but not acting as their legal counsel.
“The family has not been confident that LAPD, with their close relationships with the ICE officials, that there’s going to be a fair and transparent investigation,” Crump said. “Because them trying to whitewash the investigation into the death of Keith Porter is a nonstarter. We’re not going to allow that to happen.”
A Los Angeles police spokesperson responded to an inquiry about the remarks with a statement Tuesday afternoon that said: “The LAPD’s Robbery Homicide Division-Homicide Special Section continues its investigation into the death of Keith Porter. At this time, there are no additional details available for public release.”
The fatal incident occurred at the Village Pointe Apartments on Roscoe Boulevard around 10:30 p.m. on Dec. 31. Local police have refrained from using the Department of Homeland Security’s characterization of Porter as an “active shooter.” Nobody else was reported injured at the scene.
Tooson and Porter’s relatives have repeatedly said that even if he was shooting a gun into the air — an activity that can bring felony charges and is discouraged as dangerous by city leaders — he was not threatening anyone and contended the agent who opened fire should have waited for the LAPD to respond.
Stacie Halpern, an attorney for the ICE agent, has said there is evidence that Porter shot first. A law enforcement source, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation, echoed those claims to The Times last month.
Halpern didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment left after Tuesday’s news conference.
In a statement, the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office said it was confident that the LAPD was “conducting a thorough and independent investigation.”
“Once the case is presented to our office, we will carefully examine the evidence, review the facts, and apply the law to determine whether criminal charges are appropriate,” the statement read. “This is the same rigorous, impartial process we use in every use-of-force case submitted to the District Attorney’s Office.”
Porter’s death has become a rallying point for activists, who regularly invoke his name at police commission meetings and protests. Hours before the news conference, numerous speakers showed up to the commission’s meeting to demand that the federal agent responsible be arrested.
Last month, The Times identified the officer as Brian Palacios. He lived in an apartment a short distance from where Porter was killed, and was previously accused during a custody dispute of child abuse and making racist remarks about Black and Latino men, according to court records reviewed by The Times. Records provided by Halpern show the child abuse allegations were deemed unfounded by police and the L.A. County Department of Child & Family Services. Halpern also denied her client ever used racist language.
The off-duty federal immigration agent who shot and killed a Los Angeles man on New Year’s Eve was previously accused of child abuse and making racist remarks about Black people and immigrants, court records show. His lawyer denied the allegations and said the agent shot in self-defense.
In a statement issued in late January, a manager for the apartment complex said “the ICE agent is no longer a tenant and has permanently vacated the property.”
In his call for an outside inquiry, Tooson argued McDonnell is too cozy with ICE and other federal agencies to oversee an impartial investigation of Palacios’ conduct.
Despite months of federal immigration raids causing chaos in and around Los Angeles, the chief has largely avoided criticizing the Trump administration, at times boasting about the strength of LAPD’s ties to federal law enforcement. He said last week he would not enforce a new California law — which is already being challenged in court — that bars ICE agents from wearing masks while on duty.
McDonnell has stood by LAPD’s policy of not getting involved in civil immigration enforcement. When he served as L.A. County sheriff during President Trump’s first term, McDonnell was criticized for allowing ICE to access the jails when seeking inmates for deportation. His position on immigration was viewed a factor in the 2018 sheriff’s race, which saw McDonnell lose in an upset to Alex Villanueva.
Addressing reporters on Tuesday, Armstrong, Porter’s mother, said she remained heartbroken by the thought of waking up every day without her son, who was a Compton native and father of two.
“I can’t bring my son back, but I want justice for him. I want justice for my child,” she said.
Times staff writer Richard Winton contributed to this report.
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