3 min read
Gov. Janet Mills leaves Biddeford City Hall after addressing the media on Wednesday. (Daryn Slover/Staff Photographer)

Angry protesters on Wednesday shooed Gov. Janet Mills from a memorial for Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero at the intersection where he was killed this week by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent.

Video posted by the Boston Globe showed a crowd yelling at Mills, who was in Biddeford to meet with local leaders and pay respects to Guerrero. Mills had called for ICE to take certain measures or be abolished at a press conference earlier in the day.

“Do something!” one person shouted. “You had never cared about us!”

“That’s another dead body!” yelled another. “Don’t come back up here unless you got results!”

“The governor understands and shares the anger and pain many people feel about the death of Mr. Guerrero,” Anna Parker, a spokesperson for Mills, said in a statement to the Portland Press Herald.

Parker referenced Mills’ critiques of ICE in the wake of the killing, including at a news conference in Biddeford on Wednesday afternoon.

Advertisement

Mills started the news conference on Wednesday by explaining her reason for being in Biddeford in the first place.

“I wanted to come here and express my condolences to the city, to the community, to the members of the Legislature who are here, who are extremely concerned, rightly so, about the safety of people who live here,” Mills said at the conference at city hall.

In a letter to Maine’s congressional delegation earlier Wednesday, Mills urged Congress “not simply to share our grief, to express concerns or offer condolences, but to act now to require ICE to respect the rule of law and honor our collective security.”

Mills referenced the letter throughout the news conference Wednesday afternoon, and said that ICE’s pause on some traffic stops is “not even a half-measure towards what should be happening to meet this moment.”

“I’ve been asking for months for Congress to impose certain measures of accountability surrounding ICE reforms,” she said. “If they can’t do that, as I’ve said in my letter, then it should be abolished.”

Mills said she has repeatedly asked federal officials to “rein in” ICE, such as requiring more training and ensuring the agency is held accountable for its violent actions.

Advertisement

“We’d like to see more aggressive action on the part of Congress to protect the lives of people across this country,” Mills said. “Not just in Biddeford, not just in Maine, but everywhere.”

Mills noted that LD 1971, which limits the ability of local law enforcement to collaborate with federal immigration authorities, is set to take effect next week.

But the governor allowed it to pass without her signature. She was asked if she regretted that decision on Wednesday.

“No, I stand by my position,” Mills said. “Look, it has been adopted by all the serious agencies across the state, including the state police, and they’ve been complying with the policy and letter of the law whether it’s actually in effect or not.

“So, no, it’s been in effect, and I don’t regret putting it off until the right time.”

Mills was also asked about cooperation between state and federal agencies on the investigation into the ICE agent’s killing of Guerrero.

“We’ve all asked for a transparent and effective investigation,” she said. “I believe that’s what is happening. I believe there is a level of cooperation and I want to see that continue.”

Mills said she trusts Attorney General Aaron Frey and his office are “doing their job.”

“We expect that to continue, and we remain informed,” she said.

Drew is the night reporter for the Portland Press Herald. He previously covered South Portland, Scarborough and Cape Elizabeth for the Sentry, Leader and Southern Forecaster. Though he is from Massachusetts,...

Dylan Tusinski is an investigative reporter with the Maine Trust for Local News quick strike team, where he focuses on telling the stories that impact Maine most through hard-hitting reporting, narrative...

Comments are not available on this story. Read more about why we allow commenting on some stories and not on others.