Illegal Charged with Killing Officer Claims Racism as Defense

(ProsperNews.net) – An illegal immigrant charged with killing a police officer is complaining that his rights have been infringed. Virgilio Aguilar-Mendez, a border jumper from Guatemala, was arrested last May and charged with manslaughter and resisting an officer following the death of Sgt. Michael Kunovich of St. John’s County Sheriff’s Office in Florida. His attorneys now argue that he is the victim of “racial profiling” and police brutality and insist that all charges against him be dropped.

“He was a victim of violation of his fourth, fifth, and sixth amendment constitutional rights. Those who are responsible for this abuse will be held accountable,” said his attorney, Phillip Arroyo, who added that his client suffered some of the “gravest injustices” he had witnessed in his legal career.

Bodycam footage shows the Sheriff’s Deputy approaching Aguilar-Mendez on a sidewalk. Kunovich asks Aguilar-Mendez why he walked away when he saw a police officer, but the 18-year-old migrant appears unable to understand what is being asked. Kunovich then proceeded to check the teenager for weapons, but he resisted and pulled away repeatedly. Police colleagues soon arrive, and Aguilar-Mendez continues to fight as several men wrestle him to the ground.

When the illegal immigrant attempts to escape the police’s grasp, Mr. Kunovich uses a taser on him, repeatedly ordering him to comply. The struggle continued for around 7 minutes, and when the migrant was finally detained, Officer Kunovich collapsed to the ground. Paramedics arrived and pronounced him dead at the scene.

Aguilar-Mendez’s attorneys now argue that the police violated the illegal immigrant’s 4th Amendment rights against unreasonable searches and seizures. They are also accusing Sgt. Kunovich of racial profiling, saying he approached Aguilar-Mendez solely due to his ethnicity and without reasonable cause to believe he had committed a crime.

A medical examiner’s report found that Sgt. Kunovich died from cardiac dysrhythmia caused by damaged arteries and high blood pressure, a condition that was reportedly unknown to him.