ICE Officer Kills Lorenzo Salgado Araujo After Agents Try Stopping Van in Houston

A federal immigration officer fatally shot Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, 52, in Houston on Tuesday after agents tried to stop his white van in the Magnolia Park neighborhood.

The Department of Homeland Security said Salgado Araujo "attempted to evade arrest" and that an officer fired in self-defense after he "weaponized his vehicle in an attempt to run over an ICE law enforcement officer."

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Witnesses and relatives disputed DHS’s account, and NPR reported that DHS has not provided video evidence and that agents were not wearing body cameras.

NPR quoted Cesar Espinosa, executive director of the Houston-based immigrant-rights organization FIEL, saying, "Unfortunately, it was just a matter of time for a tragedy to happen" after neighbors reported more ICE agents around Magnolia Park and Gulfton.

At a vigil Saturday, Rep. Christian Menefee said, "We are never going to forget that his blood is on Donald Trump’s hands," as four Democratic members of Congress said they would push for an independent investigation into the shooting.

The BBC reported that DHS said the stop was initiated because agents saw "a white van with an individual who resembled the target" and that the officer shot in self-defence.

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The BBC also said passengers in the van and the victim’s family disputed DHS’s version, and that the agents involved were not wearing body cameras and officials had not released any images or videos.

The Associated Press reported that Democratic U.S. Rep. Sylvia Garcia said Salgado Araujo was not the target of ICE’s operation, while attorney Hugo Balderas-Ibarra said, "At no point did they ever use the van to ram into the ICE agents" and that "at no point were these ICE agents lives ever in danger."

The Associated Press said federal officials were refusing to release the name of the ICE officer who fatally shot Salgado Araujo, and that scrutiny was growing after authorities said the man killed was not the person ICE was trying to find.

PBS reported that DHS said it would not release the officer’s name because they could face threats and violence and their family could be at risk, and it noted that neither ICE nor DHS had released photos, videos or other evidence from the scene.

PBS also said the Office of Inspector General for DHS was investigating the shooting death and that FBI Houston was leading an investigation into the potential assault on a federal law enforcement officer.

In Mexico, the BBC reported that Mexican Foreign Minister Roberto Velasco said 14 Mexicans had died while in ICE custody and another three during ICE "arrest operations," as the Mexican government said it would file criminal complaints in the US over deaths linked to ICE.