He was shot at by ICE, then wrongfully accused. His nightmare had only just begun

From left: Jonathan Longoria, Francisco Longoria and Daniel Rascon, beside the vehicle they were in when agents fired at them. The bullet holes remain. Photograph: Philip Cheung/The Guardian After masked agents fired on his truck, Francisco Longoria was ambushed, charged and jailed – only for the case against him to fall apart. Now he and his family are seeking justice, and says the harrowing experience is part of a troubling pattern By Hilary Beaumont in San Bernardino, California I t was just after 8am on 16 August and Francisco Longoria, who runs a party supply business, was driving his truck down a suburban southern California street to deliver a jumper for a water slide. But this ordinary Saturday morning turned into a nightmare when, suddenly, three unmarked vehicles stopped his truck and four masked men jumped out. Longoria, who had brought his son Jonathan Longoria and son-in-law Daniel Rascon with him, wondered if they were being abducted. “I see what happens in Mexico,” he said in Spanish. “I thought, are we going to be kidnapped by these masked men?” The masked men were agents with US immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and US Customs and Border Protection (CBP). They wore police gear, but Longoria said they didn’t identify themselves. As the agents walked toward the truck with their guns drawn, the passengers pulled out their phones to record video. One agent pulled on the door handle, knocked on the window, and told Longoria to roll down his window, but the agent didn’t have a warrant. When Longoria didn’t comply, the agent smashed the glass and struck him in the face. Another agent broke the front passenger’s window. With the agents on either side of the truck, and the road ahead clear, Longoria hit the gas. As he drove away, an agent shot three rounds, leaving two bullet holes in the passenger’s side of the truck. One bullet barely missed the back window. Sitting in the back seat, Rascon felt terrified. “One of us is about to get killed,” he thought. “I was afraid for my life,” Longoria said. “I felt like death was imminent.” The whole encounter lasted less than a minute, but it was only the beginning of the family’s harrowing tale. The shooting happened a few blocks away from their home in San Bernardino, about 60 miles east of Los Angeles. When they arrived back at home minutes later, they called the police to report that masked men had shot at them. Instead of receiving help, Longoria found himself in the crosshairs of a US government investigation that culminated in a night-time ambush of the family’s home, a felony charge accusing Longoria of weaponizing his vehicle against officers, and months in ICE detention – only for the case against him to eventually be dropped. View image in fullscreen Francisco Longoria at home in San Bernardino. Photograph: Philip Cheung/The Guardian Longoria is speaking out for the first time as his family seeks justice for the violence they experienced. The family has filed a lawsuit against t