ICE Victim Sues Agent Who Shot Him In The Face, Records Show

NEW YORK CITY — The federal immigration agent who shot an unarmed man in the face did so without any warning, according to a suit filed in Brooklyn Federal Court Wednesday.

Erick Diaz Cruz, 26, still has a bullet lodged in his neck after the unnamed ICE agent shot him outside his mother's Gravesend apartment on Feb. 6, according to the suit.

“This is not just an attack against me, but also an attack against the entire Latino community in the United States,” said Erick Diaz Cruz in a statement.

“This is the right time for our community to come together to protest against and protect ourselves from ICE’s violence.”

The Mexican national, visiting New York with a valid visa, was caught up in the chaotic arrest of his mother's boyfriend Gaspar Avenando-Hernandez, who had been previously deported, the suit says.

Diaz Cruz watched as agents repeatedly tasered Avendano-Hernandez, who broke free and ran back toward his home, the suit says.

That's when the agent pulled out his gun and shot Diaz Cruz in the face, he said.

"Erick posed no threat to anyone, at any time," said his attorney Katie Rosenfeld.

“A young, hard-working and law-abiding man was gunned down on the streets of Brooklyn in broad daylight in front of his family, shot in the face at point blank range, by an agent of the United States government."

Diaz Cruz, who works as an assistant for the Mayor of Martínez de la Torre in Mexico, was visiting his family with his girlfriend when he was shot.

An ICE spokesperson declined to comment on the suit.

Diaz Cruz , who has since undergone two surgeries, suffered fractures to bones in his face and hand and will likely live with a bullet in his neck for the rest of his life, his attorneys said.

He cannot move his left hand and arm and may have suffered permanent vision loss in his left eye, said attorneys, Rosenfeld and Scout Katovich of the firm Emery, Celli, Brinckerhoff and Abady.