Link: https://www.texastribune.org/2026/02/20/texas-ice-detention-death-use-of-force-camp-east-montana/

Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials this week reported that the death of a 55-year-old Cuban man at a detention facility in El Paso was the result of the staff’s “spontaneous use of force” to “prevent him from harming himself.” Officials quietly updated the cause of death after previously declaring last month that the man died of “medical distress.”

They harmed and killed him to prevent him from harming himself? Am I the only one who thinks that this is a rather lame excuse?

No

Harks back to the Viet Nam war. We had to destroy the village to save the village. I believe this is the one where the Pulitzer prize winning photo of the naked little girl running with massive burns from napalm happened.

So if my fist spontaneously uses force against a fascist's face, it's legal? Oh wait, I forgot, laws only apply to the people who don't like fascists now.

His death is the first homicide in ICE custody in recent history

Press [X] to doubt.

ICE officials wrote in that report that while detained at Camp East Montana, Lunas Campos received “regular” medical evaluations

Press [X] to doubt.

Lunas Campos’ death “is still an active investigation, and more details are forthcoming,” the spokesperson said.

Translation: This is the least-damaging version we can use as an explanation, given the facts that the public currently knows. However, we reserve the right to change our story if additional information get leaked.

The federal government tried to deport the six detainees who witnessed the final moments of Lunas Campos.

The actions of a totally innocent bureaucracy, definitely not panicking ...

The whereabouts of those witnesses are currently unclear

Yeah, I'm going to guess it's not anyplace good.

Only after the [public] medical examiner advised his family that it might be a homicide did ICE officials allege a suicide attempt. [...] Eleven days after Lunas Campos’ death, 36-year-old Victor Manuel Diaz marked the facility’s third fatality. ICE sent Diaz to a U.S. Army hospital rather than the local medical examiner, where a military spokesperson said that the agency would not make his autopsy public.

So there's an ongoing cover-up in this third [known] death, got it.

Fuck ICE.

ok
they killed him to keep him from harming himself???

It is incredible how many transparently bullshit euphemisms they are coming up with

That's a load-bearing "recent" in your first quote, it's doing some world-record heavy lifting.

I am suddenly overwhelmed with concern for all those ICE mooks who might harm themselves.

Mai Lai massacre.

Quite frankly, Mr Perkins, if he wasn't dead, I'd have him deported

I think that was entirely separate from the napalm girl, but the fact that over 50 years on from the fact we can still think of so many such cases in common memory that we're mixing them up is telling.

died of medical distress

Isn't that how everyone dies?

It’s not an uncommon thing for US law enforcement unfortunately

By recent history maybe the last 24 hours?

The police very commonly fatally shoot suicidal people.