KERA: Oak Cliff mural honors victims of Dallas ICE office shooting

A mural at the Huitzitzilin Cafe in Oak Cliff honors Miguel Angel Garcia Hernandez and Norlan Guzman Fuentes, the two victims of last year’s deadly shooting at the Dallas ICE Field Office. Photo courtesy of Priscilla Rice via KERA.

Migrant advocates, family members and North Texas artists want to make sure the two victims of the last year’s deadly shooting at the Dallas ICE Field Office are remembered.

Norlan Guzman Fuentes of El Salvador died in the attack the morning of Sept. 24, and Miguel Angel Garcia Hernandez of Mexico died almost a week later from his injuries.

Artists Juan Velazquez and Armando Aguirre teamed up to paint a mural on the side of the building of the Huitzitzilin Cafe in Oak Cliff.

Oak Cliff-based artist Armando Aguirre used bright, bold colors in the mural’s design to give the families something beautiful to remember their loved ones. He wanted the details in the mural to be cultural, spiritual and inspiring. Photo courtesy of Priscilla Rice via KERA.

“It is to honor them so that we don’t forget,” Aguirre said. “It’s also a way to remember that they were loved ones. They have family, they have friends, and they are still out here healing. And I hope that this mural helps with that healing process.”

Aguirre use bright, bold colors in the mural’s design to give the families something beautiful to remember their loved ones.

“I wanted the details in it to also kind of share a bit about something that was cultural but also spiritual, also inspiring,”Aguirre said. “I think some of the details that I used, for example, like the monarchs have been used a lot for the immigrant traveling here from other places.”

The piece also features dahlias, which Aguirre recently learned come from Central America.

“I think even the flowers that I was using is a great way to represent, you know, the story of people coming from other places and settling down here in the states, and the corazon sagrado in the center as well,” he said.

Aguirre said Berenice Prieto, the wife of Guzman Fuentes, stopped by to see the mural when it was in progress. She noticed the painting depicted a serious expression on her husband’s face, he said.

“She was like, ‘yeah, that’s him. Every time he would smile, but every time the camera would come out, he’d put on a serious face,’” Aguirre said. In contrast, Garcia Hernandez is depicted smiling.

“We wanted to just find the best image we could to make sure that we could do the best job when it comes to honoring the portrait,” Aguirre said.

The efforts for the mural were organized by the Dallas Liberation Center and Vecinos Unidos DFW. 

Yesenia Mejia, a volunteer with the Dallas Liberation Center, said plans for the mural and community celebration and fundraiser have been in the works for several months.

Mejia, who is a psychotherapist, has been in contact with Prieto and Stephany Gauffeny, the wife of Garcia Hernandez, regarding the mural.

“They definitely want it to be more of a celebration of life,” Mejia said. “They have suffered a great loss and are obviously very impacted by it.”

Federal authorities described the shooting as an “anti-ICE” attack. They said the suspected shooter, identified later as Joshua Jahn, was targeting ICE officials when he shot at the facility from a nearby building, striking Guzman Fuentes, Garcia Hernandez and a third man, Jose Andres Bordones-Molina of Venezuela, who was treated for his injuries before being released to the Prairieland Detention Facility.

Mejia said the victims have “largely been forgotten by the government.”

“Berenice and Stephany are still living with their absence,” she said. “They have lost the primary breadwinners, but also a parent, a partner.”

Gauffeny gave birth to a daughter a week after her husband died.

Mejia said neither woman has received the autopsy results or “any real response or apology from any level of the U.S. government or the Department of Homeland Security for the loss of their loved ones.”

KERA reached out to ICE for a statement regarding the autopsy reports, and an immediate response was not available.

Aguirre, the artist, hopes the mural helps keep the men’s stories alive.

He also hopes visitors will be able to find a personal connection to the piece.

“It’s a story that I think is the same story for all immigrants,” Aguirre said. “Our parents are the ones that came here first and searched for a better life doing it for the next generation. They’re not doing it so much for them. They hope to see some of the benefits of it, but ultimately, it’s for everyone that comes after them.”