A 24-year-old Honduran national was struck and killed by a vehicle while fleeing Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Virginia last week.
Josué Castro Rivera was on his way to yard work Thursday when ICE agents stopped his vehicle and tried to detain him and three other passengers, according to his brother, Henry Castro.
Castro Rivera fled the scene on foot and attempted to cross Interstate 264 in Norfolk — where he was fatally struck by a 2002 Ford pickup, according to state and federal authorities.
He was pronounced dead at the scene around 11 a.m., according to Virginia State Police.
“He had a very good heart,” his devastated brother said on Sunday.
Castro Rivera had lived in the U.S. for four years and sent money back to Honduras for his family, Henry said.
ICE agents had conducted a “targeted, intelligence-driven” operation and that the passengers were detained because they were allegedly living in the country without legal permission, the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement.
Castro Rivera “resisted violently and fled” and died after a passing vehicle struck him, DHS said.
“He didn’t deserve everything that happened to him,” his heartbroken brother said.
Castro Rivera’s family plans to raise money to send his body back to Honduras for a funeral, calling his death an “injustice.”
The DHS said the yard worker’s death was “a direct result of every politician, activist and reporter who continues to spread propaganda and misinformation about ICE’s mission and ways to avoid detention.”
Similar deaths during immigration operations have sparked outrage and calls for additional investigations.
Last month, federal immigration agents shot and killed a Mexican man during a traffic stop in a Chicago suburb.
DHS initially said a federal officer was “seriously injured,” but police body camera footage showed the federal officer walking around and describing his own injuries as “nothing serious.”
In July, a farm worker died after falling from a 30-foot roof during a chaotic immigration raid on a marijuana farm in Southern California.
In August, a man ran from federal agents on a highway in the same state and was fatally struck by a vehicle.
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