OAKLAND, Calif. (KRONA) – Colored pants worn by a protester helped FBI agents figure out who was behind the wheel of a U-Haul truck that sped directly toward a line of U.S. Coast Guard officers in Oakland before the officers shot the driver, investigators said. The shooting occurred during an anti-ICE protest.
The FBI and the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of California identified the protester as 26-year-old Brendan Monroe Thompson, also known as Bella Thompson, also known as Bella Castillo.
Thompson identifies as transgender and goes by the name “Bella,” FBI Special Agent Mikael Berg wrote in a criminal complaint unsealed Tuesday.
FBI agents said they found Thompson after the October 23 shooting at Highland Hospital in Oakland, where the suspect was being treated for a gunshot wound.
“At Highland Hospital, officers (Alameda Police Department) recovered distinctive multi-colored pants from belongings and clothing taken from Thompson. The pants… appeared consistent with pants worn by a U-Haul truck driver. Thompson was subsequently admitted to a psychiatric hospital,” FBI Special Agent Mikael Berg wrote in a criminal complaint unsealed Tuesday.
On October 23, US Coast Guard officers were guarding the bridge connecting Coast Guard Island to Oakland while hundreds of anti-ICE protesters were in the area. Immigration, Customs Enforcement and border control agents were gathering on the island to prepare for President Donald Trump’s “surge” in San Francisco.
US Customs and Border Protection said the “increase” would target “the worst illegal alien criminals” in San Francisco. Trump eventually canceled his plan, but tensions on the bridge remained high and protests continued.
Dozens of California Highway Patrol officers, wearing riot gear, pushed protesters back off the bridge so that U.S. Department of Homeland Security personnel, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, could pass across. Later that night, Coast Guard personnel fired on a U-Haul truck as it accelerated in the opposite direction toward their security line on the bridge.
Coast Guard officers feared the 10-foot-long truck contained explosives, and the driver ignored their orders to stop, prosecutors said. They also feared “the possibility that the truck might hit them or their colleagues.”
U.S. Attorney Craig Misakian said, “Thompson drove the U-Haul truck directly into a line of Coast Guard members who were protecting the Coast Guard base. Let this be clear: There is zero tolerance for assaulting federal officers or property, and those who do will face federal criminal charges.”
Berg said the driver was shot in the back. Immediately after the shooting, the U-Haul driver drove away and fled the area. Investigators found surveillance videos showing a U-Haul truck stopping on Denison Street before someone in a sedan picked up the injured driver and apparently took him to the hospital.
Investigators combed the abandoned U-Haul and took photos of the driver’s seat, which was riddled with bullet holes.
Investigators also turned to social media to find more videos of the U-Haul truck and the suspects arriving at the protest next to the bridge before the shooting. “It appears the driver was wearing…
Green baseball cap, white face mask, dark jacket, dark backpack, and multiple distinct colors
pants,” FBI Agent Berg wrote.
Thompson arrived at Highland Hospital suffering from a gunshot wound at 10:08 pm on October 23. Police officers determined that the pants Thompson was wearing matched the colored pants worn by the U-Haul driver seen in social media videos, according to Agent Berg.
“Thompson was shot between the shoulder blades, which is consistent with the apparent bullet hole location in the top of the U-Haul truck driver’s seat,” the FBI agent wrote.
“Attempting to use a truck to assault federal officers carrying out their lawful duties is not a protest, it is a violent and serious federal crime,” said Matt Kubo, acting FBI Special Agent in Charge. “The FBI stands firmly with our federal law enforcement partners and will always protect those who protect our communities.”
Thompson made his first court appearance Tuesday to face charges, including assault with a deadly weapon on a federal officer.
If convicted, Thompson could face a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The suspected U-Haul driver will be back in court on November 10.