Just days after she was shot at a protest, 22-year-old Emma Landis spoke to supporters at the scene of the crime.
The shooting, which made national headlines, happened at the end of a protest outside the facility in Aurora on Thursday. Police arrested Brandon Booth, an employee of facility operator GEO Group, shortly afterward.
“He shot me in the right foot. We were on the sidewalk protesting, and they were mocking us and threatening us. And as we were crossing the street, that was when he shot me,” Landis said at a demonstration Sunday at the facility. “Never in a million years did I think that would happen.”
In a separate interview with More Perfect Union, Landis said she had to call 911 herself as Booth and his colleagues left the scene
Landis was joined on Sunday by Kristen Arigoni, a longtime community activist and friend.
“I want to talk about what Emma is and what Emma is not. What Emma is, is an activist, an artist, a human, a sister, a daughter, a granddaughter and a friend. She is not a moment, a meme or a movement,” Arigoni said. “So what I ask of you today is to listen to Emma's story and use it as an opportunity not to tell her story but to find your own, to stand on your own platform, to raise your own voices as Emma chose to raise hers.”
Landis said she is on bed rest for six to eight weeks as she recovers.
“It's frustrating and I can't do my hobbies. I can't work. I can't do anything,” she said. “This put a pause on my life. And because somebody was hurt by the words that I was saying to him, that doesn't give you the right to shoot somebody.”
How the shooting happened
Aurora police responded to the shooting around 7:30 p.m. Thursday and arrested Booth, 42, near the facility.
Police said that Booth and his colleagues had been unable to get into the facility for their work shifts due to the protest. Two women reportedly took pictures of the employees’ cars and got into a verbal altercation with the employees before walking away.
Booth then took out his personal firearm and fired one shot in the direction of the women, hitting Landis, police alleged. Booth got back into his car and drove away, according to Aurora PD.
Booth’s bond was set at $500,000 Friday.
“We are aware that an off-duty Aurora ICE Processing Center employee was involved in a shooting incident,” wrote a GEO Group spokesperson on Friday. “This individual has been placed on unpaid administrative leave, and we will fully cooperate with law enforcement.”
An attorney representing Booth said earlier that he has worked at the GEO facility for two and a half years and worked in juvenile corrections for the state before that.
Booth was booked on suspicion of attempted second-degree murder, first-degree assault, attempted first-degree assault, felony menacing, and unlawful carrying of a concealed weapon, according to Aurora police.
Booth previously pleaded guilty at least twice to driving infractions, once for driving while ability impaired in 2010 and once for driving under the influence of alcohol in 2012, according to court records. Booth was also arrested in 2008 for failing to show up at traffic court. All three were misdemeanors.
Despite the shooting, protests have continued
On Monday, four protesters were arrested at a “die-in” outside an ICE field office in Centennial. Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office detained protesters for blocking an entrance or standing in the roadway, as reported by The Aurora Sentinel.
“This protest here today is a part of our escalation as we demand that they close immigration detention in Colorado and across the country. The takeaway is that a lot of folks in Colorado have been saying, ‘Oh, ICE isn't really here or not yet or we can't really see them as much,’ and I hope that people take away that these things are happening in real time,” AnnaRose Craig said at Monday’s protest.
Landis told More Perfect Union that she would continue to protest.
“I will continue to advocate for this stuff,” Landis said. “I got shot for it. I care.”
