{"id":6339,"date":"2026-07-15T03:13:52","date_gmt":"2026-07-14T22:13:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=6339"},"modified":"2026-07-15T03:13:52","modified_gmt":"2026-07-14T22:13:52","slug":"maine-democrats-criticize-gop-sen-susan-collins-after-the-fatal-ice-shooting-in-the-state","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=6339","title":{"rendered":"Maine Democrats criticize GOP Sen. Susan Collins after the fatal ICE shooting in the state"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div data-testid=\"prism-article-body\">\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao MvWXB TjIXL aGjvy ebVHC \"><span class=\"oyrPY qlwaB AGxeB  \">NEW YORK &#8212; <\/span>Maine Democrats are seizing on a new fatal shooting by <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/immigration\">Immigration and Customs Enforcement<\/a> in their state, fighting to link Republican Sen. Susan Collins to the embattled federal agency \u2014 and to shift the conversation away from the unrelated scandal that threatens to undermine their strength in a high-stakes U.S. Senate race.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">A federal immigration agent <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/maine-ice-shooting-man-killed-73681fcf59fceb8b43b198ccaec554d3\">fatally shot a motorist<\/a> just south of Maine&#8217;s largest city on Monday, the second time in a week that ICE has used deadly force on American soil and at least the ninth death since President Donald Trump began his immigration crackdown. It was the first for Maine, a Democratic-led state with a relatively large immigrant population that Trump targeted earlier in the year immediately after two high-profile ICE shootings in Minnesota.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">The agents involved in the Maine incident were not using body cameras, and the victim, a 26-year-old Colombian national, was not the target of their probe, officials said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">The shooting sparked a swift and aggressive backlash from Democrats, who are still reeling from the sexual assault allegation that forced their party&#8217;s Senate nominee, Graham Platner, to <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/graham-platner-sexual-assault-maine-senate-campaign-a4c732f54ad999abcb73f1854351187f\">quit the race<\/a> late last week. Platner denied the allegation, which many former allies described as credible. <\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Democratic officials are scheduled to select a Platner replacement at a July 25 convention, leaving the party&#8217;s nominee just a few months to try to unseat a longtime incumbent in a race seen as critical if Democrats are to win back control of the Senate. <\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">In the immediate aftermath of the shooting, several would-be Collins&#8217; challengers descended upon the scene \u2014 and her office \u2014 to speak out. <\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Senate hopeful Democrat Nirav Shah, the former director of the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention director, drew a direct link from the shooting to the Republican senator&#8217;s oversight of ICE&#8217;s budget as chair the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee. <\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">\u201cShe&#8217;s got power, but she didn\u2019t use it to rein in a rogue agency, and instead gave them a blank check to kill,\u201d Shah said in a press conference outside Collins&#8217; office on Tuesday. \u201cIt is time to abolish this broken agency. It is time to fire the leadership that has let it run wild. And it is time to retire politicians like Susan Collins who have made this lawlessness possible.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Collins is in Washington this week for Senate business. Her campaign did not respond to the Democrats&#8217; criticism when asked. <\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">\u201cWhile the investigation of the Biddeford shooting is not yet complete, it raises sufficient critical questions that I spoke with DHS Secretary Mullin last night and urged him to cease all non-urgent vehicle stops,&#8221; Collins said in a brief statement Tuesday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">The ICE shooting and the immediate backlash in a state Trump lost by 7 points suggests that Collins may have only begun to answer tough questions about the situation and her role in funding the agency.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Democrats, who acknowledged that the Platner scandal likely makes their fight to defeat Collins more difficult, were nonetheless hopeful that the shooting will shift the conversation back to Collins&#8217; record. The Republican has represented the state in the Senate since 1997 and regularly touts her power as the Appropriations Committee chair as a reason to keep her in the Senate for another six years. <\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">\u201cThis tragedy refocuses the conversation from Platner fallout to the real world impact of Susan Collins voting to give ICE tens of billions of dollars with zero reforms,\u201d said Democratic strategist Josh Schwerin. &#8220;The impact will be real.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Earlier this month, an ICE agent <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/ice-shooting-salgado-araujo-houston-7f8b3218b97c63388fc016b3da9718ee\">fatally shot a man in Houston<\/a> after he attempted to evade arrest in his vehicle during an operation. In January, two people were <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/immigration-enforcement-minnesota-alex-pretti-renee-good-21835226891f2a8d91710519b457031d\">shot and killed<\/a> by federal officers within days of each other in Minnesota. <\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">About 6 in 10 U.S. adults said earlier this year that Trump has \u201cgone too far\u201d in sending federal immigration agents into American cities, according to <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/trump-immigration-ice-minneapolis-deportation-42aff472ccf1ecd7b92ba0c90469c9e7\">an AP-NORC poll.<\/a> The poll suggested political independents were increasingly uncomfortable with Trump&#8217;s tactics.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">On Tuesday, the shooting dominated the political conversation on the ground in Maine.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">The day after a vigil turned out hundreds in Portland, a group of several dozen protestors gathered near an ICE facility in Scarborough and condemned Collins for supporting legislation to expand funding for ICE. Protesters waved signs stating \u201cStop the murder\u201d and \u201cEnd this terror.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">\u201cDoes anyone here feel safer because this man was shot in cold blood?\u201d said Kelli Brennan, co-president of the Maine State Nurses Association. \u201cDoes the senseless murder of this man make any of our lives better in any way?\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Former Maine Senate leader and logger by trade, Troy Jackson, now a candidate to replace Platner, declared \u201cICE out\u201d at the Portland vigil and held an \u201cAbolish ICE\u201d sign at a protest outside Collins&#8217; office on Monday. <\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">\u201cImmigrant communities are living under constant threat from an agency that operates with cruelty and impunity,\u201d Jackson said during an online progressive organizing meeting Monday night. \u201cWe need accountability and leaders who believe every person deserves dignity, safety and due process.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Massachusetts Sen. Ed Markey, who was also in the organizing meeting, called the shooting \u201cmurder\u201d and said \u201cwe must abolish ICE now.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">\u201cThis is the second person ICE has killed in less than a week, the latest attack from Trump\u2019s masked, unaccountable thugs,\u201d Markey said, noting he voted against the creation of ICE in 2003.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Less than a week after Platner&#8217;s exit, however, he is still a part of the conversation \u2014 even if he is not the focus anymore.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">\u201cYou poured your hearts, your time, and your energy into building this movement alongside another candidate than me. And I know that there\u2019s real pain, anger, and disappointment. And I\u2019m not going to try and minimize that,\u201d Jackson said. \u201cBut look, this movement has always been bigger than one person.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">He continued: &#8220;We can defeat Susan Collins and elect a senator who will never forget what side they\u2019re on.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">___<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC eTIW sUzSN \">AP writers Matt Brown in Washington and Bill Barrow in Atlanta contributed. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>NEW YORK &#8212; Maine Democrats are seizing on a new fatal shooting by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in their state, fighting to link Republican Sen. Susan Collins to the embattled federal agency \u2014 and to shift the conversation away from the unrelated scandal that threatens to undermine their strength in a high-stakes U.S. Senate race&#8230;.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6340,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/i.abcnewsfe.com\/a\/5195ec04-a4a3-4756-bfd3-2ada46da52fe\/wirestory_b010bef904af81e2a99eedd24ba073f4_16x9.jpg?w=1600","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6339","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pics-news"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6339","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6339"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6339\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6340"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6339"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6339"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6339"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}