Case against ex-ICE detention center guard who shot Colorado protester moves ahead

BRIGHTON — The prosecution of a former guard at the Aurora immigration detention center accused of shooting a protester in July can move ahead toward a trial, a judge ruled Wednesday. 

After hearing testimony from a detective, Adams County Judge Martin J. Flaum II said the prosecution had presented enough evidence at this stage to support two charges against Brandon Booth —  first-degree assault and attempted first-degree assault, both felonies. He hasn’t been asked to enter a plea yet. 

Booth, 42, was fired from his job at the detention facility operated by the GEO Group, a contractor for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, after the July 16 shooting. 

Emma Landis was shot in the foot after she and a friend left a protest at the facility and headed into the surrounding neighborhood where they saw Booth and other GEO employees gathered, according to Booth’s arrest affidavit. She and her friend took photos of their vehicles’ license plates and yelled at the group of detention center workers who couldn’t get into the facility because of the protest, according to police. 

In a video taken by Landis, one of the protesters said those who are people of color should be careful because they could be “next,” suggesting they could be put in the detention facility. The protestor on the video said she loves Black people, just not “race traitors.” 

Booth, who is Black, appears to yell back at them.

One of the women said they’re going to find the guards’ families and discover where their children go to school. 

Booth, a father of two, told investigators that the comment about his children made his anger level rise to a “15 out of 10,” according to the arrest affidavit. He told police he fired his handgun once toward both of the women, aiming between them, intending to scare them but not hit them.

After firing, Booth told police he realized he had “done some dumb s—.”

During Wednesday’s court hearing, Aurora police Sgt. Gabriel Nestor, a detective, testified that the women were about 25 to 30 feet away from Booth when he stepped into the middle of the street to fire at them. Nestor said Booth told him he was trying to “split the difference,” to fire in between the women, who were a few inches or maybe a foot apart from each other.

Nestor also said Booth had referred to the protesters as “agitators,” a term Nestor said most employees at the facility have used since around 2020. Nestor said he didn’t know whether that term was approved by GEO. The company didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

In questioning Nestor, Booth’s lawyer, Julia Stancil, stressed that Booth was working at GEO to earn money to support his family and didn’t hold a grudge against protesters.

“At no point during this investigation did I believe Mr. Booth had an issue with protesters,” Nestor said during cross examination.

Booth told police he used his personal handgun he kept in a cross-body bag he can be seen wearing in the video. He said he normally leaves it in his car but took the bag, with the gun in it, because protesters were there. 

Booth told police he was not armed when he worked in the detention center. In a previous statement, the GEO Group said its employees are not issued firearms inside the facility and are not allowed to bring personal firearms inside.

Booth will next appear in court Oct. 28 to enter a plea to the charges.