The U.S. Department of Justice has ordered a preliminary investigation into the November shooting of a Mexican national by a Broward Sheriff's Office deputy. "An FBI agent has been assigned to the case following a request from the Department of Justice," said Judy Orihuela, spokeswoman for the FBI in Miami. "We are gathering preliminary reports from the agencies, and those will be sent up to Washington, D.C." The federal investigation comes nearly three months after Deputy Lewis Perry shot German Gomez, an undocumented day laborer, outside a Pompano Beach apartment complex where he lived. Perry was responding to a possible burglary call. Gomez and his cousin, who had arrived in the United States three days earlier, were unfamiliar with the complex and attempted to enter the wrong apartment. The Broward Sheriff's Office could not comment on the federal investigation, according to spokesman Jim Leljedal. The inquiry was prompted by a national day laborer group that contacted federal officials requesting they look into possible violations of federal criminal civil rights statutes. "We got involved because we are very concerned about the violence against day laborers," said Pablo Alvarado, executive director of the Los Angeles-based National Day Laborer Organizing Network. "In the last year we saw an increase in the violent attacks against day laborers, especially in the state of Florida." While the investigation is preliminary, federal officials could decide to seek prosecution, according to a letter from the Justice Department's civil rights division sent to Alvarado, a copy of which was obtained by the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. [more] and [more] and [more]
- Pictured above: German Gomez, right, is recovering after being shot by a Broward sheriff's deputy.