Keith Porter Fired a Shot Up Into the Air to Celebrate the New Year When An Unidentified ICE Cop Gunned Him Down. DHS Claims It Can Kill Anyone While Doing Duty, Only the Law of the Jungle Applies

From [HERE] The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said an off-duty ICE agent was responding to an ‘active shooter’ when he gunned down Keith Porter Jr. on New Year’s Eve in Northridge.

• Porter’s family and their attorney contend he was firing a gun into the air and posed no threat. 

• The LAPD and L.A. County district attorney’s office have said they are investigating the incident, but a charging decision could take years (sounds racial).

When Adrian Metoyer first heard government officials describing his best friend as an “active shooter” and threat to his community, he was furious. 

Keith Porter Jr. was a lot of things: a jack of all trades who worked dozens of jobs, a proud “girl dad” to his two daughters, an avid fisherman, a die-hard San Francisco 49ers fan and a “performer” who loved to drive a room to laughter with his “goofy” antics, friends and relatives said.

But, they contend, Porter wasn’t the threat Trump administration officials claimed he was after an off-duty U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent shot and killed him in Northridge on New Year’s Eve. 

“That is far from the truth. I can’t even fathom that idea of him being looked at in a negative light. Calling the officer a hero, before any investigation had been conducted … this is ridiculous,” Metoyer, 45, said. 

In the week that has passed since Porter’s death, his loved ones and community activists have rejected the narrative offered by federal officials to explain his killing, acknowledging he may have been armed but maintaining he was only celebrating the new year — not trying to shoot anyone. 

The use of deadly force by immigration agents was back in the national spotlight on Wednesday, after an ICE officer shot and killed a woman in Minneapolis and drew condemnation from the city’s mayor, who called the incident “reckless.”

In a statement issued last week, Tricia McLaughlin, chief spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, claimed Porter was suspected to be an “active shooter,” and said he was killed following an exchange of gunfire with an off-duty ICE agent at the Village Pointe Apartments on Roscoe Boulevard. 

McLaughlin said the “brave officer,” who has not been identified, lived at the apartment complex and was “protecting his community.” He reported the incident to authorities after it happened, she said. 

McLaughlin did not respond to a detailed list of questions from The Times this week.

In a statement, the Los Angeles Police Department declined to name Porter or provide any further details, except to confirm that a gun was recovered at the scene.

Early news reports after the incident said that Porter was firing an assault-style rifle. A law enforcement official, speaking on condition of anonymity in order to discuss an active case, confirmed that detail to The Times this week.

Porter’s loved ones and advocates said they believe he was ringing in the new year by firing a gun into the air — an illegal and dangerous L.A. practice that city officials discourage because the falling bullets can hit bystanders.

Firing a gun into the air in the city can bring felony charges, but Jamal Tooson, an attorney for Porter’s family, said at a news conference earlier this week that the ICE agent overreacted.

“What should have been an arrest and possible citation has turned into a death sentence and potentially cold-blooded murder from an ICE agent who was not equipped to handle the situation,” Tooson said.

Tooson claimed several people at the apartment complex were firing guns in the air and “only one was murdered.” The shooting happened around 10:40 p.m., according to the LAPD, long before fireworks and gunshots mark midnight around the city on New Year’s Eve.

Two neighbors told Capital & Main that they heard three shots followed by a pause lasting about one minute. Then another volley of three shots followed. Carter Nuñez, a resident of the apartment complex where the shooting occurred, said he saw Porter’s body lying in a courtyard, and police officers searching for bullets with metal detectors. [MORE]

Tooson did not dispute that his client was in possession of a rifle. On Wednesday, he said he’d interviewed several witnesses at the scene, including one person who heard someone demanding that Porter “put down the rifle” more than once.

Tooson said that witness then described hearing three shots fired, which ended the conflict. At no point did that person hear anyone identify themselves as law enforcement, according to Tooson.

Tooson said he did not “believe there was any exchange of gunfire” between Porter and the agent.

Clarity on how the shooting transpired may not come anytime soon. 

The Los Angeles County district attorney’s office is reviewing Porter’s killing, though it sometimes takes years for the agency to determine if a deadly use of force constitutes a crime, especially if the victim was Black. [MORE]