By Sara Lindsay, Deputy Editor
With the release of body camera footage, the official story around the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent who killed Silverio Villegas González has unraveled.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) initially defended the ICE agent after Villegas González died during an incident in Franklin Park on September 12. Officials prayed for the “speedy recovery” of their “law enforcement officer” and maintained that he “sustained multiple injuries” and was in “stable condition.”
But the footage released by Franklin Park police shows the community had every right to be angry. In the video, the ICE agent who shot Villegas González describes his injuries as “nothing major,” merely a sore knee and some “lacerations.” That directly contradicts DHS’s initial statement.
DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told the press, “One of the ICE officers was hit by the car and dragged a significant distance.” However, the footage includes a truck driver who was hit by Villegas González’s car. The driver recalls, “They had pulled him over. They cut him off. They were trying to get him, but he reversed.”
Also, the driver suggests to Franklin police, Villegas González must have been shot before he tried to flee. “Because why else would he crash into the trailer?”
The difference between what DHS told the public and what is in that video is hard to ignore. It raises real questions about whether the government is more interested in protecting ICE’s image than in telling the truth about what happened to Villegas González, a 38-year-old father from Mexico.
Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker has said there must be a “full, factual accounting.” Congressman Jesús “Chuy” García reminded everyone that Villegas González’s family and the public deserve answers.
Still, ICE’s acting head of enforcement and removal operations, Marcos Charles, defended the officer and said he had visited him in the hospital. (Note: The FBI is now in charge of any further investigation.)
On Friday, September 19, the First United Methodist Church in Franklin Park held a memorial service for Villegas González. About 120 people attended, including church leaders, neighbors, and community members from all walks of life. (There was also a mass and procession on Wednesday, September 24.)
I was at the September 19 memorial service. Reverend Roberto Moreno urged us to use our voices and privilege to stand up for those who are oppressed, and others spoke about justice and the dignity of every human.
After the service, we carried candles and walked together to the spot on Grand Avenue where Villegas González was killed. It was a quiet and powerful way of showing that his life mattered and that we won’t let his story be erased.
Yet even that space of remembrance has been under attack. The Franklin Park Resource Action Neighborhood Council (FRANC), the village’s first grassroots community group, has reported late-night vandalism.
Rocks with hateful messages were left behind, candles broken, and signs torn down. Even a lighted cross with Villegas González’s name was stolen just days after it was placed.
These acts are not random. They are attempts to scare and intimidate people and to force a community to move on from this tragedy.
Villegas González’s killing is more than one tragic event. His death is part of a bigger pattern. ICE is operating with secrecy and violence, ripping families apart and leaving communities fearful. The agency rarely faces consequences and too often the government’s version of events go unchallenged.
The fact that DHS put out a press release saying one thing while video evidence shows something else should alarm us all. If they’ll stretch the truth here, how many other times has it happened? And if a simple memorial cannot even stand without being vandalized, what does that say about those who feel entitled to silence?
FRANC has asked neighbors to step up. Bring banners to help keep the memorial visible, print and share flyers in your windows or at local businesses, and show up when there are vigils or gatherings.
We can also push our elected officials from Pritzker to members of Congress to release the full unedited footage and make sure that this case is investigated fairly.
Beyond that, support immigrant rights groups in Illinois, whether by donating, volunteering, or even just spreading the word.It helps us to build the kind of community, where tragedies like this will not happen again.
Silverio Villegas-González was more than a headline. We can’t let another death be explained away, another family’s grief ignored, another memorial destroyed. Silverio’s memory deserves better and so do we.
The fight for accountability, and also the fight for the kind of community where everyone belongs, is crucial. Because no one should live in fear.
Humanizing Through Story has taken some remarkable photographs of grassroots actions and memorial services since ICE moved into the Chicagoland area and Silverio Villegas-González was killed. You can see more of their photos here.