Overview
- ICE now says Geraldo Lunas Campos, 55, died after staff used a 'spontaneous use of force' to stop an alleged suicide attempt at Camp East Montana on Jan. 3, revising an earlier claim of 'medical distress.'
- The El Paso medical examiner determined he died of asphyxia from pressure to the neck and chest and ruled the death a homicide, a rare finding for an ICE custody fatality linked to staff actions.
- Six detainees told lawyers that Lunas Campos begged for asthma medication, was threatened with isolation, and was later heard being slammed and gasping that he could not breathe.
- The tent camp was rapidly built under a $1.2 billion contract with Acquisition Logistics, whose contractors reportedly had only 40 hours of training and no written use-of-force policy, and the facility recorded three deaths in about six weeks.
- Homeland Security says the case remains under active investigation as the El Paso district attorney examines jurisdiction to pursue charges and a federal judge preserved key witness testimony for civil litigation.