The Editorial Board of The Masses received and is republishing the following statement from the comrades of People’s Defense Austin following the shooting of Wilber Rafael Garcia Perez in Austin, Texas, by the forces of the U.S. Old State.
Austin, TX — On Sunday, September 20, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, shot 28-year-old Venezuelan man Wilber Rafael Garcia Perez in the back of the neck, dragged him into custody without appropriate medical treatment, and denied him communication with both his wife and his lawyer.
This is yet another violent, unprovoked, and anti-national minority attack from the thugs that make up ICE. With all its rhetoric about “preventing gang violence” and “protecting our borders,” ICE functions as a militarized arm of the U.S. State, combining raids, detention, surveillance, and coercive force as part of a broader apparatus of domestic repression serving U.S. Imperialism. The United States exploits and destabilizes oppressed nations to kidnap, humiliate, and kill the masses who try to escape the very situations forced upon them by U.S. Imperialism.
Around 1:00 PM, while Perez was delivering for DoorDash, his vehicle was rammed by an unmarked ICE vehicle on Research Blvd. in North Austin. When Perez attempted a U-turn under I-35 to escape, the agent again rammed into his vehicle, this time disabling it. A few moments later, an agent whose identity has yet to be revealed fired two or three shots through the rear passenger-side door, barely missing Perez’s spine.
Perez was then taken to Dell Seton Medical Center at the University of Texas at Austin for treatment. After four hours, his condition was declared stable but still serious. He was removed from the hospital and placed in ICE custody at the Pearsall Detention Center; he was denied a bed and pain medication, despite the bullet still being lodged in his neck. ICE gave no information to Perez’s wife and has barred her from seeing him. Perez’s lawyer, Kate-Lincoln Goldfinch, was only able to get in touch with Perez at 10:30 AM on Monday via phone call.
At first, ICE claimed that the unidentified agent chased Perez on foot, but video of the event quickly proved that to be false. On Twitter (X), the Department of Homeland Security referred to Perez as “the illegal alien” in a statement updating his condition.
A couple of hours after the shooting, an emergency protest was called by revolutionary activists, eventually growing to 200–300 people crowding the intersection of Research Boulevard and Anderson Square. Members of the masses were seen stopping and exiting their cars to verbally harass the ICE agent thugs, startling them into backing up even further behind their yellow police tape. The Austin Police Department, or APD, arrived shortly after the protest began, firing tear gas, pepper spray, and pepper balls into the crowd of protesters. One of the protesters whom APD pepper-sprayed was a 14-year-old boy.
Following this members of the crowd began throwing water bottles and rocks at suspected law enforcement vehicles. One unmarked law enforcement SUV, department unclear, had its front window smashed in with a rock. Two other law enforcement vehicles were also damaged, and several officers sustained minor injuries. APD left the protest around 6 PM, no doubt due to the overall unrelenting and righteous anger of the masses. There remained a lack of police presence until 10 PM, allowing protesters to take up more space and form a rally.
At around 9:30, activists got word that a large wave of Department of Public Safety, or DPS, and APD officers were en route, leading to a disbursement of the majority of activists. Three protesters were arrested, and it is uncertain whether they’ve been released.
The rebellion against the unlawful and unprovoked shooting of Wilber Rafael Garcia Perez demonstrates what is possible when the masses are organized and united against a common foe. Regardless of national background, when the armed agents of the U.S. Old State can terrorize, shoot, and kill members of our communities with impunity, every working person is placed under the threat of State violence. This is why community organizing and neighborhood defense are vital, especially during times of political crisis. Through creating defense organizations by and for the masses, we can protect ourselves and our loved ones from rising fascism. Unorganized, the masses remain vulnerable and fearful of what comes next. But when a community is organized, disciplined, and prepared to defend its rights and dignity, it can confront even the armed forces of the Old State with collective strength.
It is imperative that revolutionary activists and their allies continue the fight for justice for Wilber Perez and his wife, both in Austin and across the country, and for all victims of State terror and national oppression. These attacks will continue so long as the working class remains divided, disorganized, and unable to collectively defend its communities against State repression. The struggle for Perez must therefore be bound together with the broader struggle to organize our class and defend all oppressed peoples. Building durable organizations rooted in neighborhoods, workplaces, schools, tenants’ associations, and people’s defense is the only method by which the masses will not only confront repression and the forces of the Old State, but crush them.
