UPDATE: The Federal Bureau of Investigation has launched an inquiry into the death of Geraldo Lunas Campos, a 55-year-old Cuban national who died January 3 while in ICE custody in Texas.

Lunas Campos came to the U.S. in 1996 as part of a wave of Cuban immigrants and had lived in Rochester, New York for more than two decades. ICE detained him there in July and transferred him to Camp East Montana, a detention facility at Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas.

What happened: Witnesses told the Associated Press that Lunas Campos (already handcuffed) was restrained on the ground by at least five guards. One guard allegedly placed an arm around his neck in a chokehold. He reportedly said “I can’t breathe” repeatedly before losing consciousness.

The autopsy found abrasions on his chest and knees, hemorrhages on his neck, and determined he died of asphyxia due to compression of the neck and torso. The El Paso County Medical Examiner ruled his death a homicide.

ICE’s cover story: ICE’s initial statement made no mention of any use of force saying only that staff “observed him in distress” with no cause of death given. After the Washington Post reported the medical examiner was likely to rule it a homicide, ICE changed their story and told the Associated Press he had died attempting suicide. Their updated report calls it a “spontaneous use of force to prevent self-harm” directly contradicting handcuffed eyewitnesses who watched guards choke him to death.


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