Topline
A man who was shot and killed in Texas earlier this week by federal immigration agents during a traffic stop was not the intended target of an enforcement operation, a Democratic lawmaker said Thursday, amid growing anger over the latest fatal shooting linked to the White House’s immigration crackdown.
A person places flowers at the site where Mexican immigrant Lorenzo Salgado Araujo was killed in Houston, Texas.
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Key Facts
Rep. Sylvia Garcia, D-Texas, told the Texas Tribune on Thursday that she spoke with acting ICE Director David Venturella, who told her that the agents involved in the incident did not have any body cameras or dashboard cameras on them.
The incident took place on Tuesday morning when 52-year-old Lorenzo Salgado Araujo was driving a van with three passengers, including his brother, when immigration agents stopped their vehicle.
Salgado Araujo, who was fatally shot during the stop, was not the target of an administrative warrant that the agents were acting on, the Democratic lawmaker said.
Earlier on Thursday, the New York Times reported that the targets of the ICE operation were two people from Guatemala, who were not in the van, and Salgado Araujo was a migrant from Mexico who lived in the U.S. for 35 years without authorization.
Garcia said she has received a commitment from the acting ICE director that all agents in the field will be wearing a body camera by the end of the month.
What Has DHS And ICE Said About The Shooting?
In a statement shared with various outlets, an ICE spokesperson said the traffic stop was carried out as part of a “targeted enforcement” operation. The statement alleged that Salgado Araujo “weaponized his vehicle in an attempt to run over an ICE law enforcement officer, resulting in our officer firing his weapon in self-defense.” In a press conference on Wednesday, Araujo’s sons said they believed the father tried to get away from the stop because he was being chased by unmarked vehicles.
What Do We Know About The Passengers?
The Times report identified the three other passengers in the van as Salgado Araujo’s brother Victor Hugo Salgado Araujo, Jose Trinidad Rojas Pliego, and Daniel Tirado Pantoja. According to the Texas Tribune, all three are currently being held in the Montgomery ICE Processing Center in Conroe, Texas.