He always dreamed of being a father, and when he found out he was going to have a daughter, Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero said she’d never lack for anything, doting on his 3-year-old daily, his anguished widow said Thursday.Subscribe to read this story ad-freeGet unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.“He wanted to be a dad who was always present,” Karolina Rojas said tearfully in her first public statements since the 25-year-old Colombian father was fatally shot by ICE in Biddeford, Maine, the small city that was home to the couple and their young child.
“My soul is broken; he was everything to me,” Rojas said, adding that from the moment they met, “we never separated.” “He did everything to see me happy, and always said I was his life,” she said.“I will never have words to express what a marvelous and loving man God gave me.”“He always said we’d be together until we were old,” Rojas said, holding back her tears.Rojas spoke alongside Benjamin Gideon, the lawyer representing Durán’s family.Gideon said Rojas wanted to make sure that Durán, who was killed by an ICE officer on Monday, was remembered the right way as the nation grapples with two ICE shootings in less than a week.
On July 7, Lorenzo Salgado Araujo was fatally shot by ICE in Houston.The Department of Homeland Security has said that neither Duran or Salgado were the “intended targets” of ICE on the days they were killed.A makeshift memorial in honor of Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero, who was killed by an ICE officer in Biddeford, Maine.Ryan Murphy / Getty Images“Do we accept the idea that innocent, loving partners and loving and devoted fathers of 3-year-olds can be collateral damage to this government’s policies? Do we agree that this is just an acceptable cost of doing business?” Gideon said.
“We truly believe that people need to understand what the real costs are.”“I want to be clear about something.Johan Sebastián, before he ...