Jackson, October 3 (RHC)-- A city in Mississippi is claiming that a man who was shot dead inside his own home by a police officer two years ago has no constitutional rights because he was an undocumented immigrant, not a U.S. citizen.

An attorney for the city of Southaven, Mississippi, made this argument in a recent court filing after the family of Ismael Lopez filed a civil lawsuit.  Lopez was shot dead inside his own home when police shot through his front door.  The police were attempting to serve a search warrant to one of Lopez’s neighbors but went to the wrong house.

The city’s attorney wrote: “Ismael Lopez may have been a person on American soil but he was not one of the 'We, the People of the United States' entitled to the civil rights invoked in this lawsuit.” 

A lawyer for the Lopez family described the city’s position as “the most insane thing I’ve ever heard.”  The attorney said the city is essentially arguing that because Lopez was an undocumented immigrant, it’s OK for the city of Southaven to kill him.