The July 13 shooting of Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero in Biddeford triggered and amplified an already deepening political divide in America — and here in Maine
By RANDY SEAVER | Editor
A letter from state lawmakers sent Wednesday to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin gives the appearance that the entire Maine Legislature is expressing harsh criticisms about the fatal shooting of Johan Sebastian Guerrero by federal agents in Biddeford on July 13.
A copy of the July 29 letter –printed on Maine Legislature stationery — was immediately distributed to Maine media outlets by Victoria Foley, communications director for Democrat House Speaker Ryan Fecteau.
Although the sharply critical letter contains the signatures of more than 90 Maine state lawmakers, there was one thing missing. Not a single Republican legislator — in either the House or state senate — signed the letter.
According to John Bott, communications director for House Republicans, the letter was never sent to Republican leadership for their consideration.
Bott declined to speculate on why House and Senate Democrats chose to send the letter to Secretary Mullin without even attempting a bipartisan message about the shooting.
The July 29 letter is simply the latest in a series of overtly political protests by policy leaders who are inherently motivated by political interests.
And few subjects underscore the tension between Democrats and Republicans more than the subject of immigration enforcement.
Immigration enforcement has long been a political flashpoint in policy discussions at the federal and state level, especially since President Donald Trump seized upon the issue as a core plank of his 2024 presidential campaign.
Democrats are largely opposed to many enforcement efforts by the Immigration & Customs Enforcement Agency while Republicans generally defend the agency, despite several high-profile fatal shootings that have taken place over the last few months.
Are all politics local?
Earlier this year, the Maine Legislature – along strict party lines — passed LD 1971, a law that prohibits local law enforcement agencies from cooperating or assisting with ICE enforcement activities.
Gov. Janet Mills – then in the midst of a bid for the Democratic nomination to take on Republican Senator Susan Collins – took significant criticism from her own party for refusing to sign LD 1971 and instead letting it move toward enactment without her signature.
Exactly five months before Guerrero was shot and killed near the intersection of Hill and Pool Streets, Fecteau published an op-ed in the Biddeford Gazette, calling for an end to ICE activities in Maine.
RELATED | OPINION: ICE Activity Does Not Match Maine Values
Despite the existing tensions and political rhetoric, Guerrero’s July 13 death ignited a political firestorm that seemed to need only a spark before consuming the city of Biddeford.
Just minutes after the shooting, the political rhetoric was hard to miss.
Democrat State Senator Henry Ingwersen of Arundel was one of the first local politicians to arrive in Mechanics Park and told the Gazette that Guerrero’s death was likely the direct result of “the cruel and inhumane policies of the federal government.”
But it wasn’t just politicians linking the issue to a political debate.
As the crowd of angry protestors in Mechanics Park swelled, there was plenty of talk and angry finger pointing directed at both President Trump and Senator Collins.
Shortly after noon, many of the protestors paraded along Main Street and swarmed the entryway of Senator Collins’ Biddeford office. The crowd was clearly agitated, angrily shouting and demanding justice, accountability – but mostly their passionate desire to see Collins removed from the U.S. Senate.
That protest was largely symbolic. Collins was in Washington D.C., hundreds of miles from Biddeford.
A few hours later, Fecteau seized upon the crowd’s palpable anger when he took to the stage in Mechanics Park.
Fecteau – full of indignation, outrage and grief – screamed into the crowd, urging them to join in his defiant anger to show support for Biddeford’s immigrant community and calling for an end to ICE enforcement operations in Maine.
Meanwhile, a group of men carrying a Trump banner and dressed in red, white and blue were defiantly yelling at a multitude of anti-ICE protestors. “We love ICE,” they chanted. “ICE them out! ICE them out!”
On the very next day — less than 30 hours after Guerrero was shot — Dr. Nirav Shah –a Democrat who was then hoping to be chosen as his party’s nominee to face Collins — staged a small press conference in front of the senator’s Biddeford office – complete with several of his campaign volunteers and highly visible campaign signs.
Guerrero’s death at the hands of federal agents also triggered an almost overwhelming and endless eruption of insults, finger pointing and fiery rhetoric on local community social media pages.
Most of the online commentary followed predictable political talking points along strictly partisan lines.
Consensus and any hope for bipartisanship seemed virtually impossible while pundits, spectators and everyday residents from both sides of the debate seemed more than eager and ready for a political battle, engaging in virtual screaming matches full of self-righteous vitriol and rhetoric.
Now — a little more than two weeks after Guerreo was killed — the tension remains palatable in a small Maine city that was reluctantly thrust into a raging national debate.
Outrage and demands for change in tactics and policy
Maine Democrats clearly want their constituents to know that they are angry. This week’s letter to Mullin likely landed in Maine newsrooms long before it hit the DHS Secretary’s desk and seemed mostly symbolic.
Given the hyper-partisan battle lines, the Democrats’ letter to Mullin will likely have little impact on an embattled Trump-appointed secretary.
Whether the letter’s intent was symbolic or a long-shot reach for actual reform, Democrats didn’t attempt to hide their unmistakable outrage about the federal agency that is now facing increasing public scrutiny.
“ICE has ramped up enforcement operations in recent weeks, conducted with what appears to be little or no regard for public safety or human life,” reads one part of the July 29 letter.
Lawmakers also criticized the federal agency for not providing its agents with body cameras. “This blatant disregard for congressional direction to acquire and distribute body-worn cameras as a way to increase public trust is disgusting and, indeed, shameful.”
The letter from Democrat lawmakers closes with a reminder that their call for reform and accountability from the federal government are not at odds with their support of removing “dangerous, convicted criminals” from the nation’s streets in a manner that follows due process and other provisions of the U.S. Constitution.
VIEW or DOWNLOAD the July 29 letter to Secretary Mullin
The Republican Perspective
Republican state lawmakers have been largely silent about the July 13 shooting in Biddeford but did issue a formal statement roughly 24 hours after the incident.
“We will avoid politicizing this event by remaining calm and trusting those investigating to be thorough and fair in the face of chaos,” wrote State GOP Chairman Jim Deyermond. ““We all can agree that it is always a tragedy when a life is lost. The government and our law enforcement system are not perfect, just like people aren’t perfect, and we will always mourn the effects of this. We live in a broken world.”
For her part, Collins released her own statement, saying it is clear ICE needs to improve its performance and wrote “it is important to remember that the work ICE does to protect our country goes far beyond immigration enforcement.”
“ICE is tasked with combating cartels, human smuggling, child exploitation, forced labor, and more,” Collins added. “Eliminating ICE would make our country less safe and endanger the lives and welfare of countless individuals.”
As the outdoor protests begin to die down and the city again turns its focus to tackling more mundane issues, only one thing seems abundantly clear.
Debates about ICE and immigration will likely dominate public policy discussions in Biddeford and throughout Maine well beyond the November election, when voters will choose a U.S. senator, governor and 186 state lawmakers.
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