Carlos Mendoza Hernández denies intending to hurt the officers
Carlos Iván Mendoza HernándezDefendant addressing the court during a detention hearing
Mendoza Hernández told the court that he never intended to hurt the officers.
“My intention was never to hurt them. (Translated from Spanish. Original: Mi intención nunca fue lastimarlos.)”
Reporting
Where this statement fits
Were federal immigration officers justified in shooting Carlos Iván Mendoza Hernández?
On April 7, 2026, federal immigration officers shot Carlos Iván Mendoza Hernández several times during a vehicle stop near Interstate 5 in Patterson, California. An FBI affidavit says the four-person team included three ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations officers and one Customs and Border Protection officer. It alleges Mendoza Hernández moved forward and struck an agent, reversed into a government truck, and then accelerated toward two agents, causing them to fire in response to an immediate threat. His attorney said agents fired while the car was stopped and that Mendoza Hernández fled the gunfire in panic. Public dashcam footage shows parts of the vehicle's movement but has no audio and does not establish when the shots were fired. Mendoza Hernández was later indicted on assault and property-damage charges, which remained unresolved as of September 22, 2026. The dispute is whether the vehicle posed an imminent threat when officers fired.
Source and context
Reporting
About this source
The report covers the detention hearing, the assault allegation and Mendoza Hernández’s statement that he did not intend to hurt the officers.
Before the quotation
The court considered video evidence and the government’s claim that Mendoza Hernández assaulted agents with his vehicle.
After the quotation
The judge nevertheless ordered him detained based on flight-risk concerns.
How this statement is classified
The label describes this statement's response within the context above.
Why this label?
He explicitly denies the intent underlying the allegation that he used the vehicle to assault officers, a disputed factual premise for the shooting’s justification.
- Recorded on
- Published here
- People and groups discussed
- U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
More from this case
Read the full caseDare to Struggle Bay Area calls the Mendoza shooting attempted murder
Dare to Struggle Bay Area
“ICE agents tried to murder Carlos Mendoza on April 7th by shooting him seven times. He has been unjustly charged with assault, put in detention, and moved from place to place without proper medical care.”Read statement
Bill Durston says the evidence does not support Lyons’s defense of the shooting
“I believe that the evidence that is publicly available at the time of this writing does not support Lyons’ claims. Instead, as has been the case in multiple other statements issued by Trump administration officials following shootings committed by ICE and Border Patrol officers, I believe that the available evidence strongly suggests that Todd Lyons is lying.”Read statement
Kolasinski says the federal complaint does not match the video or witnesses
“The official narrative in the complaint doesn’t match what we have seen from the video and heard from witnesses”Read statement
Cite this record
- Publisher
- The Dispute Index
- Title
- Carlos Mendoza Hernández denies intending to hurt the officers
- First published
- Last updated
- Permalink
- https://disputeindex.com/events/1470-mendoza-hern%C3%A1ndez-told-the-court-that-he-never
Last updated marks the most recent saved version of this published statement.
The Dispute Index. "Carlos Mendoza Hernández denies intending to hurt the officers". First published: 2026-09-22. Last updated: 2026-10-07. https://disputeindex.com/events/1470-mendoza-hern%C3%A1ndez-told-the-court-that-he-never