Family and friends of a Los Angeles man who was killed by an off-duty US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer over the holidays are urging local officials to arrest and prosecute the federal agent.
Keith Porter Jr, a 43-year-old father of two, was fatally shot by an ICE officer on New Year’s Eve outside his apartment complex, according to LA and federal officials. An LA police department (LAPD) spokesperson said after the incident that Porter had fired gunshots into the air. A US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spokesperson said the off-duty immigration officer was “forced to defensively use his weapon” while responding to an “active shooter”.
Much about the incident remains unclear. There’s no footage of the shooting. Porter’s family and local activists have argued that, contrary to the DHS’s portrayal of the events, Porter was not threatening anyone and was celebrating the new year. Jamal Tooson, an LA attorney representing Porter’s family, said Porter’s actions possibly merited arrest or citation by the LAPD, but the ICE agent, who was not charged with local law enforcement duties, instead subjected him to “a death sentence”.
Activists, local politicians and some celebrities have rallied around Porter’s killing, with many of them voicing increasing concerns about ICE’s aggressive raids and violent tactics in cities across the country. And the DHS’s track record of making false and distorted claims about people they have accused of crimes and violence has fueled concerns that the government cannot be trusted to provide a truthful account of Porter’s death.
Those fears have only intensified in the wake of an ICE officer’s fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis last week. Good’s killing sparked nationwide protests, with the DHS calling her a “domestic terrorist” without evidence and Donald Trump insisting the officer, Jonathan Ross, fired in self-defense as Good “ran him over” with her car. Footage, however, showed her car was turning away from the officer when he shot her, and that he did not lose his footing or appear to be injured during the encounter.
Organizers against police brutality, including Black Lives Matter Los Angeles, mobilized community members to testify at an LA police commission meeting on Tuesday, demanding the LAPD disclose the name of the ICE officer who shot Porter and pursue criminal charges.
“I’m heartbroken and I know that ache will never go away,” Wanda Turner, a longtime friend of Porter’s family, who considered herself to be a second mother to him, said in an interview. “The officer needs to surrender and do what’s right. I want him charged. Even if he thought Keith was doing something wrong, it wasn’t his place to just shoot and kill him.”
The shooting of Porter, who leaves behind daughters aged 10 and 20, was not caught on camera, and local and federal authorities have disclosed very few details about the ongoing investigation or what they believe happened between the two men.
The LAPD said in a statement that its officers responded to 911 calls to the complex in LA’s Northridge neighborhood at about 10.40pm and found Porter “on the ground”, and he was soon after declared dead. The LAPD said the ICE officer had “confronted” Porter, but declined to answer further questions about the incident.
ICE said in a statement that its officer lived at the complex and had “exchanged gunfire” with Porter. “Fortunately, our brave officer was not injured while protecting his community,” the statement said.
Tooson, the family lawyer, has said Porter may have fired “celebratory” gunshots to ring in the new year, telling the LA Times he believed several people were firing guns into the air. He also said a witness said they didn’t hear the ICE agent identify himself as an officer.
Tooson told reporters he did not believe there was “any exchange of gunfire” between Porter and the agent and suggested there was a “lack of corroborating witnesses and evidence, such as shell casings indicating Porter fired toward the agent”.
The outrage around Porter’s killing has swelled in recent days, with protesters holding signs with his and Good’s faces, saying “Murdered by ICE”, and celebrities at the Golden Globe awards on Sunday wearing “ICE Out” and “Be Good” pins to honor them.
In LA, longtime community activists and Porter’s family have organized several vigils and protests. At the LA police commission’s weekly meeting on Tuesday, speakers one by one condemned Porter’s killing and called on LA leaders to take swift action.
“When are we going to press charges on this murderer? When is he going to be named? When is he going to be arrested?” said Jsané Tyler, Porter’s cousin. She questioned whether the ICE officer had been given a sobriety test or forced to turn over his service weapon and whether he took any steps to render aid. In Good’s shooting, witness videos showed agents blocking bystanders who attempted to provide medical aid.
“This is systemic. When is there going to be value placed on our lives?” continued Tyler, who is part of Black Lives Matter LA. “As an organizer, I never thought I would be standing here for one of my family members … I urge you guys, regardless of federal intervention, to really help us, help his family, help our community get justice.”
Dr Melina Abdullah, a co-founder of Black Lives Matter LA who has been supporting Porter’s family, said that in addition to seeking the ICE agent’s arrest and prosecution, “We’re demanding an end to the character assassination of Keith. He’s the victim, not the suspect … It’s disgusting the way DHS is talking about him.”
‘A wonderful soul’
US law enforcement agencies have long faced backlash for demonizing and spreading misinformation about people killed by officers. LA activists argued the DHS was particularly unreliable, pointing to its account of Good’s killing, which Minneapolis’s mayor called “bullshit” and the state’s governor said was “propaganda”. The DHS has also come under scrutiny for claiming ICE officers have been widely subjected to “assaults”. Court records reviewed by the LA Times last year revealed many cases of alleged attacks involved no injury to the officer, and prosecutions have repeatedly ended in dismissals and acquittals.
“We cannot trust what is being shared with us by entities representing ICE agents, because they have not been truthful,” said Eunisses Hernandez, an LA city council member, who has been supporting Porter’s family. “When protests happened last year … the federal government said Los Angeles was burning to the ground. That was not happening.”
Hernandez called for more transparency: “We need to know who these people are in our neighborhoods taking people’s lives. This federal agent could still be participating in raids happening in my district.”
The DHS did not respond to detailed questions about the case and advocates’ criticisms.
Greg Risling, a spokesperson for the LA district attorney, said in an email that his office responded to the scene and was investigating the case, and prosecutors would “review all evidence disclosed by the investigation to determine whether or not the law enforcement officer acted lawfully”.
Hernandez brought Porter’s mother, Franceola Armstrong, to a city council meeting last week, where Armstrong recalled how her son had called her every morning to say “I love you”. “Keith Porter was a wonderful soul. His heart was big,” the mother said.
Turner, the longtime friend of Porter’s family, said it was painful to see officials “sully his reputation” and that he should be remembered for his joyful attitude: “He loved to make you smile.”
Adrian Metoyer III, a Los Angeles film-maker, said he and Porter, nicknamed “Pooter”, had been best friends since they met as teenagers in 1996, bonding over sports: “Pooter was hilarious, a joker, the life of the party.” Metoyer, now 45, served as a foster parent to teenage boys when he was in his 20s and recalled Porter’s support: “He was my second in command, my go-to guy to assist me in caretaking. He was always there to help people.”
Porter more recently held multiple jobs, at one point serving as an aide to students with special needs while employed at Home Depot, Metoyer said.
And he was a proud “girl dad”, Metoyer added; he shared footage of an interview he filmed with Porter in 2022 reflecting on his life. “I got two beautiful young girls and I’m going to raise them the way I’m supposed to,” Porter says in the footage while wearing a Dodgers shirt. “I pray. I talk to God. I talk to family. Because at the end of the day, that’s all I really got. But I feel rich … It’s gonna be hard to break me, because I have a strong spirit and I grew up with a whole lot of love.”
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