A US senator has condemned the Trump administration after she alleged that an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) “attack dog” mauled one of her constituents.
Democratic senator Patty Murray of Washington state said Wilmer Toledo-Martinez suffered “horrific” injuries while ICE agents detained him in November.
“An ICE agent lured Wilmer out of his home under false pretenses, posing as a construction worker who claimed to have hit Wilmer’s car and needed him to step outside to verify,” Murray said in a statement. “Another agent, accompanied by a dog, was hiding nearby and released the dog on Wilmer shortly after he stepped outside.”
Related: Arizona congresswoman says she was ‘pepper sprayed’ at protest against ICE
Murray said Toledo-Martinez, who was brought to the US at age 15 and is undocumented, was not resisting arrest or attempting to flee when the dog attacked. He is being held at the Northwest ICE processing center, Murray said. She said Toledo-Martinez was detained in front of his wife and two young children, who are all US citizens – and she called for his immediate release.
“Following the attack, Wilmer was left shaking and dizzy, and at one point his vision went black, yet he was denied medical care for hours,” Murray said.
“He was eventually taken to a hospital, where he received stitches for his injuries. He was prescribed antibiotics and additional medication, but the antibiotics were not provided immediately, and the other medication was never provided.”
Photos provided by Murray showed deep cuts to Toledo-Martinez’s side.
“This should shock the conscience of every one of us,” Murray said. “I do not want to live in an America where federal agents can sic attack dogs on peaceful residents with impunity and face no consequences.”
The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
News of the attack came as police in Vancouver, Washington, said they were investigating an incident during which an ICE agent appeared to run over a man’s foot during an arrest. Oregon Live reported that an ICE agent struck Jose Guadalupe Paniagua Calderon, 27, with his own vehicle during an arrest.
On Friday, US congresswoman Adelita Grijalva of Arizona said she was “sprayed in the face” by a chemical agent during a protest against a federal immigration raid at a Mexican restaurant in Tucson.
In a joint statement, Tucson’s mayor, Regina Romero, and its vice-mayor, Lane Santa Cruz, both Democrats, said the enforcement operation in their city had “rapidly escalated into violence against the public”.
