Thread: Tulsa - Woman shot by police is illegal immigrant, ICE confirms

Woman shot by police is illegal immigrant, ICE confirms
Maria de Lourdes Vazquez Hernandez




By ZACK STOYCOFF World Staff Writer
Published: 5/4/2012 6:30 AM
Last Modified: 5/4/2012 6:55 AM

---

Related Story: Motorist reported gun threat before Tulsa police shooting

---

A woman who was shot by Tulsa police officers April 20 is a Mexican citizen who is in the country illegally, a spokeswoman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said.

Authorities began holding Maria de Lourdes Vazquez Hernandez, 35, without bail for immigration officials after she was released Tuesday from St. John Medical Center and booked into the Tulsa Jail.

Hernandez was shot about 1:30 a.m. April 20 during a confrontation with police outside Las Americas Super Mercado, 2413 E. Admiral Place.

She is charged with a misdemeanor assault of David William Bennett, a motorist who passed her on a street near the store minutes before the shooting.

Bennett told police that she threatened him with a gun, but further investigation revealed that she did not have a gun at the time she was shot, according to police and a report. Police said she refused officers' commands and appeared to be reaching for a gun when she was shot.

Hernandez is suing city officials and the two officers who shot her, claiming she was racially profiled.

Hernandez's attorney, Brendan McHugh of Claremore, said he does not believe her immigration status will affect the lawsuit against the city.

"If she is undocumented, then constitutional rights still apply to her, as numerous Supreme Court cases have held," he told the Tulsa World this week. "Otherwise, the police would kind of be able to do anything they want."

A District Attorney's Office spokeswoman said immigration offenders are routinely prosecuted the same as U.S. citizens.

ICE spokeswoman Leticia Zamarripa said ICE's Enforcement and Removal Operations is working closely with the Tulsa County District Attorney's Office on the case.

source: Woman shot by police is illegal immigrant, ICE confirms | Tulsa World

By ZACK STOYCOFF World Staff Writer

Hernandez is suing city officials and the two officers who shot her, claiming she was racially profiled.

Of course. Will it never end. Will our officials ever make them stop this nonsense.