ICE officer in Maine fatal shooting had anti-immigrant views, sister says
A makeshift memorial is seen a day after a man was fatally shot by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, on July 14, 2026 in Biddeford, Maine. The victim has been identified as Joan Sebastian Guerrero, a 26-year-old man from Colombia. (Ryan Murphy/Getty Images)
The Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer accused of fatally shooting a Colombian national in July made what his sister considers anti-immigrant statements more than five years earlier, a copy of the emails shared with ABC News shows.
Relatives have previously identified David Brouillette as the ICE officer who fatally shot Johan Sebastián Duran Guerrero during an immigration enforcement operation in Biddeford, Maine, on July 13.
In an email dated Jan. 5, 2021, Elizabeth Emen, Brouillette’s sister, invited him to record a video wishing her child a happy birthday.
Two days later, Brouillette responded, “you said that ‘[REDACTED] doesn’t need a racist uncle in his life.'”
“Now you would like me to send your son a video for his birthday to be a part of that memory. YOUR choices affects YOUR kids,” Brouillette added, according to one of the emails shared with ABC News.
Emen said Brouillette was referring to previous comments he had allegedly made about her former partner, a Colombian national, who was living in the country legally and with whom she has two children. The partner was a graduate student pursuing a Ph.D and at the time and had been dating Emen for five years, Emen said.
Emen shared the emails with ABC News. Names are redacted and they contain several typos. The emails were first reported by the New York Times.
According to one email, Emen responded that Brouillette had made “racist/xenophobic” comments about her partner “not being a citizen.”
In a response dated Jan. 11, 2021, Brouillette said that the partner “can takes his non citizen ass back to his country and enjoy his third world luxuries.”
“He does not emulate what it means to be an American..rather he emulates what it’s like to be entitled and think he has a seat at a table that has no room for his (or your ignorance),” Brouillette wrote, according to the email.
Brouillette added that the partner’s “bloodline knows nothing about what it takes to earn and then CHERISH the freedom America offers. He sure doesn’t have a problem with freeloading off of our country, not claiming to be part of it..and then criticizing it,” according to the email provided by Emen.
A friend of Emen’s told ABC News they recalled speaking to her about her brother’s comments soon after the exchange.
ABC News has been unable to reach David Brouillette for comment. A number belonging to him appears to have been disconnected. He did not respond to a request for comment sent to his last known email address.
Emen said that exchange ended her relationship with her brother.
“That was a very overt and excessive expression of his beliefs,” she told ABC News in an interview. “When I saw his actions on July 13, I just couldn’t believe that it had been allowed to get to that point. I can’t believe that he was onboarded into a federal agency and provided a weapon.”
At the time of the shooting, an ICE spokesperson said the agency was in Biddeford “conducting targeted surveillance on the last known address of an illegal alien with a final order of removal,” and when an “illegal alien departed the residence in a vehicle,” ICE agents “attempted to conduct a vehicle stop.”
“The vehicle attempted to flee the scene and fearing for public safety an officer discharged his weapon,” ICE said.
Maine Sen. Angus King told reporters Duran Guerrero was not the target of the operation.
Emen, a licensed therapist, said she grew up with her brother until she moved away to college. Most of their adult relationship was long distance through phone and video calls up until 2021, she said.
She first learned her brother was an ICE agent when she recognized him from a photo in an article about the shooting, she said. She’s now calling the agency’s hiring practices into question.
“If it was rigorous, I imagine they might have talked to the people close to him about his behavior, about his motivation to join, and whether or not he could do what was asked of him and use the least amount of force possible in his role,” she said.
The Maine Attorney General’s Office is investigating the shooting. Brouillette has not been charged with a crime.
In a social media post earlier Wednesday, Democratic lawmakers on the House Homeland Security said they will investigate the emails.
“Democrats will investigate who approved this hire and why ICE ignored the serious red flags,” the lawmakers said.
DHS has not identified the officer. A spokesperson said the agency “will never confirm or deny attempts to dox our law enforcement officers.”
In a statement, a DHS spokesperson did not identify the officer and defended the agency’s hiring practices.
“Incoming ICE officers, many already with years of law enforcement experience, are onboarded in accordance with applicable policies and standards. Any claims of substandard training or vetting are FALSE. This administration is preserving ICE’s reputation as one of the most elite law enforcement agencies not only in the U.S., but the entire world,” the spokesperson said.
The spokesperson did not comment on Brouillette’s alleged remarks.
In a statement, an attorney representing Duran Guerrero’s family said his death was the result of the “government’s failure to properly screen” ICE agents.
“David Brouillette is the poster child for what happens when our government chooses to recruit agents to carry out a campaign of hate against immigrants, hires those agents without adequate screening and places them on the street without basic training,” attorney Sean P. Murphy said.
Emen says she’s now coming forward about her brother in an attempt to seek justice and support for Duran Guerrero’s family.
“I’ve watched their speaking out after learning about my brother’s actions and repeatedly my thoughts and prayers have been with them and I’ll do what I can to support an investigation,” she said.
Police in Jackson, Mississippi, investigate a triple homicide on Saturday, June 28, 2026. (Jackson Police Department)
(JACKSON, Miss) — Police in Mississippi are searching for a suspect after two woman and a toddler were shot and killed on Saturday.
The women, aged 26 and 20, were found dead alongside a 2-year-old, Jackson Police Department Chief RaShall Brackney told reporters early on Sunday.
Police had responded to a call for an aggravated assault on the 300 block of Queen Alexandria Lane at about 10:10 p.m. on Saturday, Brackney said, adding, “And what they found was something horrifying.”
All three victims had “multiple” gunshot wounds, she said.
Police early on Sunday said they were searching for a Red Mitsubishi Mirage that “was taken.” Brackney did not say whether police had identified a suspect, but said that the person who had taken the vehicle was thought to be “armed and dangerous and is related to this triple homicide that we have here.”
In an update later on Sunday, police said they had found the vehicle in North Jackson, but it was “unoccupied at the time it was located.”
Jackson Mayor John Horhn said in a statement that the city would begin deploying additional resources to combat gun violence.
“Our city is hurting. In recent days, we have seen a troubling rise in gun-related violence, shootings, and senseless loss of life,” he said. “No family should have to face the pain of losing a loved one to violence. Violence against the innocent is intolerable, and as your Mayor, I will not accept this as the norm for our community.”
Leon Black, chairman and chief executive officer of Apollo Global Management LLC, attends the annual Milken Institute Global Conference in Beverly Hills, Calif., April 27, 2015. (Patrick T. Fallon/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., said he had issued two subpoenas to Leon Black after Comer said the private equity billionaire refused to answer some of the committee’s questions about convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein during Black’s closed-door appearance before the panel Friday.
Black, who was appearing before the panel as part of its ongoing probe into the government’s investigation of Epstein, walked out of his transcribed interview during questioning.
Comer told reporters that the two subpoenas compel Black to appear for a deposition on July 16 as well as produce purported nondisclosure agreements that he was questioned about.
“During today’s voluntary transcribed interview, Mr. Black stated he wouldn’t answer questions about NDAs. Answers about the terms and substance of these NDAs are critical to our investigation,” Comer said. “We owe it to the American people to provide transparency and ensure accountability for survivors.”
“NDAs are between him and other women. We want to know, was Jeffrey Epstein involved in the NDAs? Was he involved in writing? Was he involved in awarding funds to the women for the NDAs? What was the reason for the NDA? We don’t know everything about the NDAs, so that’s very important to our investigation, so the subpoenas were issued. We expect to see back here in a few weeks,” Comer said.
“This is very important for our investigation, Comer said. “We knew for a long time there were NDAs out there by various people. Obviously, they’re very hard to obtain, and with this subpoena, we expect to get those NDAs in hand.”
Asked about Black’s responses during the interview, Comer said, “his response was that he wasn’t allowed to discuss the terms of the NDAs.”
Ranking committee member Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., said he agreed with Comer’s decision to issue the subpoenas.
“The NDAs are central to us understanding what actually happened. There are real accusations, and there are survivors who have accused Mr. Black of horrific things,” Garcia told reporters.
Black’s attorney, Susan Estrich, claimed to reporters that the decision to serve Black with the subpoenas during the interview was “a premeditated political decision” and claimed that Epstein “had no involvement” with the purported nondisclosure agreements.
“They made a premeditated political decision to serve him with subpoenas after less than an hour of questioning, and before they even asked a single question about his legitimate payments to Epstein,” she said. “This was nothing more than a planned political stunt. Mr. Epstein had no involvement with any NDAs, whether they exist or not.”
The latest in a series of rich and powerful people questioned about their relationship with Epstein as part of the Oversight panel’s probe, Black maintained a social relationship with Epstein since the mid-1990s and eventually paid him more than $170 million for “tax and estate planning advice,” according to the Senate Finance Committee.
Black has denied wrongdoing or knowledge of Epstein’s crimes, though his financial payments to Epstein served as a lifeline to the convicted sex offender in the years after Epstein’s 2008 prison sentence for soliciting a minor for prostitution.
Rep. Suhas Subramanyam, D-Va., told reporters after Black’s appearance, “this is the first time” a witness during this probe has walked out in the middle of an interview.
“It’s because we had very important questions about Leon Black’s past with Jeffrey Epstein,” he said. “This is also the first time I heard someone gush poetically about how smart and how great Jeffrey Epstein was.”
“He was smug,” Rep. Yassamin Ansari, D-Az., said of Black’s appearance. “He refused to answer the questions but at the same time was emphasizing how he was being transparent because this was voluntary. But when pressed on critical questions about his own sexual abuse and the allegations against him and non-disclosure agreements, he absolutely refused to answer these questions,” she said.
Ansari said Black was “speaking fondly of Epstein while also claiming they were not close.”
‘Bona fide advice’
In his appearance before the committee Friday, Black said he was unaware of Epstein’s “demonic life” and that the money he paid Epstein was for legitimate services and “bona fide advice,” according to a copy of his opening remarks reviewed by ABC News.
Black’s prepared remarks during his closed-door interview cast him as the victim of “ugly and vicious” narratives around Epstein, saying he has been the subject of baseless allegations and conspiracy theories about Epstein and that “extraordinary damage has been done to me and my family.”
“I wish I had never met Epstein. I regret ever doing business with him. My association with him, the frivolous but destructive litigation, the endless rumor mill, have created a toxic environment for my wife and family, which I deeply regret,” the prepared remarks said.
Addressing the massive amount of money he paid Epstein, Black, in his remarks, said those were legitimate payments and that he was never blackmailed by Epstein.
“Let me state unequivocally that I have never abused a woman. I have never been with an underage woman. I have never engaged in sex trafficking. I have never paid Epstein for access to women. I was never blackmailed by Epstein. I was not involved with, and had no knowledge of, any of Epstein’s heinous conduct,” his prepared remarks said.
According to Black, Epstein lived a “Jekyll and Hyde” existence and that he, at first, only saw the positive side, including his “unrivaled network of relationships with individuals in finance, academia, science, politics.” Black, in his remarks, said his relationship with Epstein began as personal but grew overtime to helping manage his family investment office.
“With hindsight, I now see that Epstein exaggerated, embellished, manipulated, and outright lied — prolifically and without concern for me or my family. And I now see that his deceit was not limited to me but also extended to numerous highly sophisticated individuals,” Black’s prepared remarks said.
While Black said that Epstein “took credit for other people’s ideas” and made false claims about investments, Black also argued Epstein was able to resolve “a massive estate problem” for him that “would have destroyed enormous value.” According to Black’s remarks, he originally thought he was paying Epstein $95 million in net fees, though that was actually $158 million because Epstein lied about the tax deductibility of the payment.
Black also said in his prepared remarks that he was aware of Epstein’s 2008 conviction for soliciting a minor for prostitution, but that Epstein lied about the nature of the crime.
“Epstein told me that it was an isolated incident resulting from a fake ID. Five years after his conviction, I gave Epstein a second chance, as did many others. I wish I had not,” he said, according to his prepared remarks.
According to Black, he cut ties with Epstein in 2018 after Epstein failed to repay most of a $30 million loan. Black said he grew “tired of his relentless pursuit of more and more money from me for professional services.”
While Black, according to his remarks, said that he was “glad” to answer the committee’s questions, he noted that he will “not speak about the personal lives of adult women” that he believes should not be connected to Epstein.
“I am here to voluntarily answer questions about the work that Epstein did for me and for the services for which I paid him. I am not here to answer questions about my personal life which would be hurtful to my wife, children and family. And I will not speak about the personal lives of adult women who have not chosen, and do not deserve, to be connected, by me or anyone else, to Epstein,” Black said, per his remarks.
‘The most groundbreaking deposition’
Comer told reporters before Friday’s proceedings that this “could be a pretty significant” interview.
“So, of all the witnesses that have come thus far, this one has the potential to be the most groundbreaking deposition, in my opinion,” Comer said.
“There’s a lot of concerning things in the documents. There are a lot of statements from the survivors that are very concerning as well, with respect to Mr. Black,” Comer said.
The chairman said the committee would ask Black “hundreds and hundreds of questions about financial transactions, about bank violations, about emails, documents, pictures, and communication with survivors.”
Comer said the committee’s investigation is “on a timeline.”
“This Congress will expire the end of this year, so we want to certainly get done as quickly as possible, said Comer, who added that “we hope” acting Attorney General Todd Blanche will sit for an interview.
“I’ll remind everyone the purpose of our investigation to get the truth to the American people and determine how the government failed the survivors by not prosecuting Epstein,” Comer said.
Garcia told reporters prior to Black’s appearance that Epstein “would not have been able to commit the horrific crimes without the support of Mr. Black.”
Rep. Suhas Subramanyam, D-Va., said, “We want him to answer the tough questions about what he knew about Jeffrey Epstein and whether he was involved with some of the crimes himself.”
“Leon Black was one of Jeffrey Epstein’s primary sources of income, flooding him with cash at a time when he was already a registered sex offender. Black has not yet offered a compelling explanation regarding the origination and execution of Epstein’s extraordinary compensation scheme for alleged tax advice,” Sen. Ron Wyden, the ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, wrote in a letter to the House Oversight Committee earlier this month. The Senate Finance Committee is leading its own investigation of Epstein’s finances.
Black has long been scrutinized over his relationship with the disgraced financier — describing it as a “horrible mistake” — and was forced out of his firm Apollo Global Management following an external investigation that revealed payments to Epstein totaling at least $158 million.
“Knowing all that I have learned in the past two years about Epstein’s reprehensible and despicable conduct, I deeply regret having had any involvement with him,” Black said during a 2020 Apollo earnings call. “With the benefit of hindsight, working with him was a horrible mistake on my part. I am not seeking to excuse that decision, but I do believe it may be helpful to convey some relevant facts.”
While the investigation concluded that Black and others were aware of Epstein’s 2008 conviction, a report summarizing its findings said that Black was not “involved in any way with Epstein’s criminal activities at any time” or aware of the “scope and details” of Epstein’s sex trafficking. Black has never been charged with a crime.
“When Black first retained Epstein, he believed that Epstein had served his time for the originally charged offenses and believed that it was not inappropriate to give Epstein a second chance, as many other prominent figures in business, science, politics and academia had done,” the report said.
‘Saving you from yourself’
The release of the Department of Justice’s Epstein files earlier this year cast more scrutiny on Black, whose name appears in the files more than 8,000 times. Epstein at one point appeared to serve as a middleman to pay $100,000 to a woman with whom Black allegedly had an affair, according to emails included in the files, and routinely served as a fixer for issues involving his finances.
“Leon, as you are well aware, there is little I won’t do for you or at least try to do as a friend, and a great deal that I have already done (both known and some things that will need to remain unknown),” Epstein wrote to Black in a 2014 email. In another email in 2017, Epstein described his relationship with Black as “saving you from yourself.”
In a statement to ABC News, Black’s attorney Susan Estrich pointed to the external investigation conducted for Apollo that found Black “had no awareness of the criminal activities that led to Epstein’s arrest in 2019” and noted that Black has called for an independent investigation of his relationship with Epstein.
Wyden of the Senate Finance Committee has called on the House Oversight members to scrutinize the $170 million that Black paid Epstein between 2012 and 2017 for purported tax and estate planning. According to Wyden, those payments are sixty times more than what Epstein paid his other tax and estate professionals during the same timeframe.
“Black is a well-advised businessman with access to sophisticated attorneys, yet it appears Epstein was able to shake him down for money that he wasn’t legally owed. This suggests that Epstein may have extorted Black or performed other unseemly tasks on his behalf,” Wyden wrote earlier this month.
Attorneys for Black have pushed back against Wyden’s accusations, accusing him of harassment and saying that the billionaire has cooperated “voluntarily and without compulsion.”
“We are aware of no other private citizen subjected to more written requests from you over the same period,” Black’s attorneys wrote in an April 2026 letter to Wyden. “Your continued attempts to invade into matters pertaining to Mr. Black’s personal life — without the support of any legitimate legislative purpose — appear targeted to unfairly harass Mr. Black in a manner that completely disregards the proper scope of Congress’s investigative powers.”
According to the 2021 external report, Epstein was paid proportionally to the amount of money he saved Black and that Epstein “provided advice that conferred more than $1 billion and as much as $2 billion or more in value to Black”; however, the report also acknowledged that Epstein’s advice was often not useful and that he was “generally a disruptive and caustic force.”
The external report said investigators found “no evidence suggesting that Black ever compensated Epstein for any service other than Epstein’s legitimate advice on trust and estate planning” and other issues.
