Photo: AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura, File
U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Texas Aaron Reitz and Immigration and Customs Enforcement are pushing back against a Harris County indictment of an ICE officer, with Reitz saying no federal charges will be brought, according to The Center Square.
Democratic Harris County District Attorney Sean Teare announced Friday that ICE officer Mario Alberto Morales had been indicted in Houston on second-degree felony charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon for allegedly hitting and injuring a Mexican national living in the country illegally.
The case stems from an Oct. 10 traffic stop. According to ICE records, Morales tried to stop a vehicle driven by Miguel Parra-Hernandez, a Mexican national who has lived illegally in the U.S. for 30 years. ICE said Parra-Hernandez drove away to avoid arrest, and the Harris County Sheriff’s Office told local outlets he drove the wrong way into traffic on Highway 6 before bailing out and running through a shopping area.
Teare showed video of Parra-Hernandez and another man fleeing on foot, along with bodycam and other footage of Morales’ vehicle appearing to hit Parra-Hernandez in a parking lot. He also shared audio of Morales calling 911 for an ambulance. Parra-Hernandez was treated for a broken leg and is in a rehabilitation facility. “An ICE badge does not give you a free reign to injure, kill, or violate the constitutional rights of anyone,” Teare said.
ICE has said the target of the operation was Jose Mendoza-Cervantes, whom DHS described as illegally in the U.S. with four prior arrests and a previous deportation. The New York Times reported that his family said he died nine years ago. Morales is on administrative leave and has not been taken into custody.
Reitz said Teare was “pursuing what looks like a political prosecution of an ICE agent for doing his job,” and that his office “was not consulted or even notified” before the indictment. After a preliminary review, Reitz said, “I see no basis for federal charges at this time,” adding that federal agents “should not be turned into political trophies.”
ICE called the indictment a “political stunt” and said allegations that it struck Parra-Hernandez intentionally are “RECKLESS and FALSE.” Morales’ attorney, David Lindenmuth, said his client committed no crime and called the incident “so clearly just an accident,” KBTX 3 News reported.
The Center Square noted that the indictment comes as assaults on ICE officers have risen by more than 1,700 percent under the Trump administration compared with the Biden administration.
