The air was charged in Biddeford High School’s Little Theater on Tuesday night as Mayor Liam LaFountain delivered a proclamation demanding justice and accountability in the fatal shooting of Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero by a federal immigration officer last week. 

Following a moment of silence to honor Guerrero, LaFountain delivered remarks in a solemn tone. He met with Guerrero’s family on Monday, the one-week anniversary of Guerrero’s death. 

Guerrero’s partner, Karolina Rojas Alvarez, asked for only one thing, LaFountain said: justice. 

“We are here because Johan was a member of this community, our community,” LaFountain said Tuesday. “When one of us is taken like this, we do not look away. We do not stay quiet.” 

Guerrero, a 25-year old father from Colombia, was killed by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent at the intersection of Pool and Hill streets in Biddeford early in the morning of July 13. He was working in the U.S. legally, and held a Social Security card. He was also not the intended target of the ICE operation that morning.

The Department of Homeland Security has not identified the agent, but one of his ex-wives has identified him as David Brouillette.

Brouillette’s actions that resulted in the loss of Guerrero’s life were “violent and senseless,” LaFountain said, and have caused “immeasurable grief” for Guerrero’s partner, the couple’s young daughter and their family. 

In his proclamation, LaFountain said he resolves “to do everything within the city’s lawful authority and available resources to support Alvarez and her daughter Dulce during this time of profound grief, despair, uncertainty and need.”

“Johan’s life was not so different from yours or mine,” LaFountain said. “He lived here. He and his daughter played in the parks you and your children play in. He shopped in the same stores we shop in. He walked the same streets that we do every day. He was, by every account, a devoted father.” 

Immigrants are an important part of Biddeford’s past, present and future, LaFountain acknowledged. 

“To our immigrant neighbors, you belong here. You are part of who Biddeford is, and you should not have to carry that weight alone,” LaFountain said. “You are not alone.”

While LaFountain’s remarks were met with applause, residents said they are “not enough.” 

CALLS FOR ACTION

About 40 community members attended Tuesday’s meeting, calling for reform and action from the city. 

“Statements and ceremony will not make us safe,” resident Sam Pecor said. “It doesn’t answer the question: What will this council and this mayor do?” 

Pecor, who ran for City Council last year, said the city has known about the potential harm from ICE since at least January. 

The danger facing the Biddeford community demands leadership, Pecor said. 

The call for action from the local government was loud at Tuesday’s meeting. 

Tophe Thorne, from Presente! Maine, asked the council to stand with community members in action, not just in statements. 

“No piece of paper determines whether a person gets to live or die,” he said. “Please, protect this community, because until you do, we are not truly safe.” 

Sam Bullock, who was Guerrero’s neighbor, said the attack on Monday was a tragic inevitability. 

ICE has been present in Biddeford since December, Bullock said, and the local government has done nothing to drive federal immigration agents out of the city. 

Bullock has several bus stops near her house, she said, and ICE has been surveilling them for months.

“I’ve seen my immigrant neighbors be pulled out of cars by ICE. It’s been horrific,” Bullock said. “I feel so very let down by my elected officials that this was allowed to happen for so long.” 

Many speakers delivered remarks through tears and shaking hands on Tuesday. Community members shared their sadness, anger and discontent, but most of all, they demanded action from the city. 

“I’m exhausted,” said Mufalo Chitam, director of Maine Immigrants’ Rights Coalition. “When something this big happens and it happens on your watch as a leader, history is going to remember you. What did you do?”

SEEKING UNITY OVER DIVISION

Anger and outrage at Guerrero’s death was not restricted to the audience Tuesday night. Councilors also spoke out through tears and emotions, and called for unity rather than division in the Biddeford community.

“Someone was executed by the federal government in our city,” Councilor David Kurtz said. “This happened a block away from where my mother goes to synagogue, and if you don’t think the Jews are talking about it, you’re (expletive) crazy. This is the same thing.”

The loss of Guerrero’s life is an “irreversible tragedy,” Councilor Brad Cote added.

“The next step is important: What can we do right?” he asked. “This is not a left or right moment, it’s a wrong or right moment.”

Councilor Abigail Woods, who lives only a couple of blocks from where last week’s shooting occurred, said she heard residents’ concerns loud and clear, and pledged to take the actions requested by community members.

“There have been responses happening in the background, and I think it’s time for them not to be in the background,” Woods said, receiving resounding applause from the audience. “I hear you, and let’s all act together. This takes all of us.”