Texas Candidate Arrested on Riot Charge After ICE Shooting Protest

AUSTIN, Texas -- A Texas city council candidate was arrested Saturday on a misdemeanor charge of riot participation, a week after he joined protests against the shooting of a Venezuelan man by a federal immigration officer.

Misael Ramos, a candidate for Austin City Council, was booked into the Travis County Sheriff's Office custody around 9:30 a.m. Saturday, according to public jail records. Ramos' attorney stated his client is accused of engaging in a riot on September 20, the same day protests occurred over the shooting of Wilber Rafael Garces Perez in Austin.

Ramos denies any wrongdoing and intends to contest the charge, his campaign said. His attorney, Edmund Skip Davis, told The Associated Press that he did not witness any rioting, but rather people chanting and protesting. The arresting agency, the Texas Department of Public Safety, did not immediately provide further details.

Garces Perez, an asylum seeker with a valid work permit according to his attorney, was shot by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer. His attorney, Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch, said Garces Perez was making a DoorDash delivery when ICE officers in an unmarked truck sideswiped his car twice. He was shot, taken to a hospital, and then released into ICE custody with a bullet still in his back.

ICE and the Department of Homeland Security have not elaborated on the incident beyond stating that Garces Perez was "the subject of a targeted vehicle stop."

Ramos, who is a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, joined protests at the scene of the incident to condemn the shooting and show solidarity. His campaign manager, Jeffrey Clemmons, stated that Ramos was "holding the line in the protest, chanting, and amplifying the incident through campaign channels."