Biddeford Mayor LaFountain tells a House Democrats' hearing that deadly-force safeguards were weakest on July 13 and asks for accountability
Liam LaFountainMayor of Biddeford, Maine
Biddeford Mayor Liam LaFountain said a federal force exercised deadly force in his city and left its consequences to the family and community. He said the safeguards around deadly force should be the strongest but were the weakest on the morning of July 13, and he asked for justice for Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero's family and accountability for those responsible.
“A federal force came into my city, exercised one of the most extraordinary powers the government possesses, the use of deadly force, and left the consequences for Johan's family and our small community to carry. An arrest can be challenged. A removal order can be reviewed. A death, however, cannot be reversed, not by Congress, not by a court, not by this Committee. That is why the safeguards around deadly force should be the strongest we have. And yet in Biddeford on the morning of July 13, they were the weakest. Justice for the life that was taken, for the family left behind, and for those responsible to be held accountable.”
Official statement
Official statement
Where this statement fits
Was the ICE officer justified in fatally shooting Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero?
On July 13, 2026, a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer fatally shot Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero during an attempted vehicle stop at Pool and Hill streets in Biddeford, Maine. ICE said Guerrero's vehicle attempted to flee and that the officer fired because he feared for public safety; Maine's initial account said the vehicle moved in the officer's direction. A nearby resident said he heard Guerrero say he had tried to stop and heard the officer say Guerrero tried to hit him. Security cameras recorded gunfire and portions of the aftermath but do not continuously show the vehicle's path at the moment of firing, and the agents reportedly lacked activated body cameras. The Associated Press and relatives identified the shooter as David Brouillette, though DHS has not confirmed his identity. In late September 2026, the Maine attorney general's office declined to comment on its investigation and had announced no finding. The dispute is whether Guerrero's vehicle posed an imminent threat when the officer fired.
Source and context
Official statement
About this source
The City of Biddeford's news page collecting Mayor LaFountain's statements on the shooting from July 13, 2026 onward, including his August 17 remarks to the congressional field hearing.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Official statement
About this source
Official congressional release summarizing the August 17 Biddeford hearing and quoting participants. The statements express the speakers' positions; they do not resolve the state investigation or the disputed vehicle movement.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Before the quotation
LaFountain gave the statement at a hearing in Biddeford titled "Seeking Justice in Biddeford: Oversight of ICE's Use of Force in the Death of Johan Sebastian Duran Guerrero". Representatives Pingree, Thompson, Clark and Carter hosted it, and their release calls it a Democratic shadow hearing. He addressed Ranking Member Thompson and Representatives Clark and Pingree.
After the quotation
In the same statement LaFountain asked Congress to tell Biddeford who fired the shots and how that agent was vetted, trained and supervised, and to require federal agents to use body cameras and visible identification and not to wear masks.
How this statement is classified
The label describes this statement's response within the context above.
Why this label?
The case asks whether the ICE officer was justified in fatally shooting Guerrero. LaFountain said the safeguards around deadly force should be the strongest and that on the morning of July 13 in Biddeford they were the weakest, and he asked for justice for the life taken and for those responsible to be held accountable. That criticizes the use of deadly force in this shooting and does not accept that it was justified, so we labeled it Condemned.
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- U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
More from this case
Read the full caseBlumenthal co-signs letter citing Durán Guerrero's death as showing inadequate ICE use-of-force training
“On July 13, 2026, an ICE officer in Biddeford, Maine fatally shot Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero, a 25-year-old father, in his car after agents rammed his vehicle and fired multiple rounds through it while executing a warrant for someone else. Mr. Durán Guerrero was not the target of the operation and was authorized to work in the United States. ... These killings, combined with the whistleblower's account of corners cut on both vetting and training, make clear that officers hired during the surge did not receive adequate instruction in de-escalation, use-of-force standards, and vehicle-stop protocols before being sent into communities with the authority to use deadly force.”Read statement
Pingree criticizes body-camera failures after Duran Guerrero's killing
“Our demands are simple: Every immigration enforcement officer must have a working body camera, must be properly trained on how to use it, and be held accountable when that camera isn’t used.”Read statement
Richard Blumenthal says Durán Guerrero was murdered
“State and local authorities have been stymied and stopped in their effort to investigate. ICE has withheld and concealed evidence. The failure to investigate is obvious and deeply wrong and shameful for the federal government. On July 7, Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a father and husband, was shot and killed by ICE agents while on his way to work in Houston. And just five days later, Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero was murdered in Maine, leaving behind a wife and three-year-old daughter.”Read statement
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- Biddeford Mayor LaFountain tells a House Democrats' hearing that deadly-force safeguards were weakest on July 13 and asks for accountability
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The Dispute Index. "Biddeford Mayor LaFountain tells a House Democrats' hearing that deadly-force safeguards were weakest on July 13 and asks for accountability". First published: 2026-09-26. Last updated: 2026-09-26. https://disputeindex.com/events/2859-biddeford-mayor-liam-lafountain-said-a-federal-force