ICE FACILITY EMPLOYEE ARRESTED AFTER SHOOTING PROTESTER IN COLORADO

An off-duty employee of a private company operating an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Colorado was arrested after shooting a woman during a protest on Thursday evening. Brandon Booth, who worked for Geo Group, fired a single shot at the woman outside the Aurora ICE Processing Centre, striking her in the lower body. Police stopped Booth in his vehicle near the scene, seized his car and gun, and took him into custody. The woman sustained non-life-threatening injuries and was accompanied by an unharmed friend at the time.

According to Aurora police, protesters had blocked the facility entrance that evening, causing Booth and other employees to wait in their vehicles. Police said the two women initiated a verbal confrontation with employees, took photographs of their vehicles, and then walked away. Booth subsequently retrieved a pistol and fired at them before driving off. Geo Group, a $4 billion company that operates a network of private immigration detention centres and state prisons across the United States, placed Booth on unpaid administrative leave and stated it would fully cooperate with law enforcement.

The Aurora facility has faced ongoing protests from immigrant advocates who have alleged detainees experience mistreatment, inadequate food provision and inconsistent access to air conditioning. The facility reported a tuberculosis outbreak affecting at least 12 detainees earlier in the week. Geo Group holds multiple multi-year contracts with the Department of Homeland Security for detention facilities, transportation services and immigrant-tracking programmes.