ICE Officer's Violent, Racist History Surfaces After Fatal Maine Shooting

Following Monday's fatal shooting of Joan Sebastian Duran Guerrero by an ICE officer during an attempted traffic stop in Biddeford, Maine, the officer's ex-wife, Ashley Brouillette, told NPR she has identified him as David Brouillette and described a pattern of violence, threats, and racist language during their 2007-2009 marriage, including an incident in which she says he pointed a gun at her. A childhood friend told NPR that Brouillette used racial slurs and had "a bad tendency of going out and looking for fights," and a second ex-wife's 2021 court filing accused him of aggression toward a child, resulting in a temporary loss of his firearms. ICE said it would not confirm or deny Brouillette's identity but said the officer involved has "nearly a decade of federal law enforcement experience with required training."

The allegations, reported by NPR through named, on-the-record sources, add to scrutiny of ICE's vetting and hiring practices amid a rapid enforcement-hiring surge; an earlier Associated Press investigation this year found applicants with troubling histories were hired despite incomplete background checks. Rep. Bennie Thompson, the top Democrat on the House Homeland Security Committee, said the case "directly call[s] into question" ICE's vetting and training of recruits.

Brouillette had not responded to NPR's requests for comment, and no charges had been filed as of this writing. The shooting is one of several fatal ICE vehicle-stop incidents this summer that briefly prompted a nationwide stop-suspension order the agency reversed within a day.