Man’s Death in ICE Custody Set to Be Ruled a Homicide

ICE reportedly choked a 55-year-old Cuban immigrant to death in a Texas detention center.

A medical examiner told the family of Geraldo Lunas Campos that unless a toxicology report provides something, he would likely rule his death a homicide, according to a registration examined by The Washington Post. But the Department of Homeland Security says Lunas Campos died by suicide.

“Campos violently resisted security personnel and continued to attempt suicide… During the ensuing struggle, Campos stopped breathing and lost consciousness,” a DHS spokesperson said. saidusing very passive language. “Medical personnel were immediately called and responded. After repeated attempts to resuscitate him, paramedics pronounced him deceased at the scene.”

Witnesses told the Job a very different story.

Fellow inmate Santos Jesus Flores saw at least five guards struggling with Lunas Campos after Campos refused to enter his unit, complaining that he did not have the medication he needed. Flores then said he saw the guards choking Lunas Campos while he said, “I can’t breatheover and over again, Spanish for “I can’t breathe.” Doctors tried to resuscitate him for an hour before removing his body.

“He said, ‘I can’t breathe, I can’t breathe.’ After that we don’t hear his voice anymore and that’s it,” Flores said.

If what Flores says is true, then McLaughlin’s previous explanation — that Campos simply “stopped breathing and lost consciousness” — is almost malpractice. It is unclear whether anyone will face retaliation for killing this man, given the complete lack of accountability from ICE agents. An estimated 280 people have died in ICE custody since 2004, and four have already died this year. A just society would not allow this murder to go without trial. But based on these murders, from Campos to Keith Porter Jr. has Renee Bonne…we are far from this being a reality.

“I know it’s a homicide,” said Jeanette Pagan Lopez, the mother of two of Campos’ three children. “The people who physically harmed him should be held accountable.”