HOUSTON – The family of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo and Latino civil rights leaders are calling for transparency after Araujo was shot and killed by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer Tuesday morning during an enforcement operation in Houston’s Magnolia Park neighborhood.
The shooting happened around 6:50 a.m. in the East End.
In a statement, ICE said agents were attempting to conduct a vehicle stop as part of a “targeted enforcement operation” when Araujo allegedly tried to evade arrest, rammed an ICE law enforcement vehicle, refused verbal commands and “weaponized his vehicle” in an attempt to run over an ICE officer.
ICE said the officer fired his weapon in self-defense. Araujo was taken to the hospital, where he later died.
Araujo’s son, Ronaldo Salgado, remembered his father on Facebook.
“My father, Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a hardworking Mexican man, was the man killed this morning by ICE in the East End,” Salgado wrote.
According to his son, Araujo had been in the United States for nearly 35 years, worked in construction and was providing for his wife and three sons.
“He was in the process of obtaining his work permit through the legal process,” Salgado wrote. “He was on his way to work, picking up his workers. My father did not deserve this.”
The deadly shooting quickly drew outrage in Magnolia Park, a historic Latino neighborhood that community leaders describe as the heart of Houston’s Latin American community.
Several people gathered near the scene Tuesday, leaving flowers and candles in Araujo’s memory.
“This is my neighborhood,” resident Gina Danielsen said.
Danielsen said she was angry and heartbroken after learning Araujo had been killed.
“ICE needs to leave us alone,” Danielsen said. “People are here to work.”
Leaders with the League of United Latin American Citizens, or LULAC, said Tuesday they are demanding ICE release all available evidence, including body camera video, dash camera video, dispatch logs and any other records tied to the shooting.
During a Tuesday news conference, LULAC leaders questioned ICE’s initial account and said photos and videos taken by people in the area did not appear to show visible damage to Araujo’s vehicle.
“When we look at the pictures, there is no damage,” Domingo Garcia, chairman of LULAC Adelante PAC and a former national LULAC president, said. “If their people are innocent, prove it. But if they’re not, don’t hide it.”
LULAC also said it wants local authorities, including the Houston Police Department and Harris County District Attorney’s Office, to be involved in the investigation.
When KPRC 2 asked about HPD’s response that the department had “nothing to do with this,” Garcia called that a “dereliction of duty.”
“This happened in the city limits of Houston,” Garcia said. “The fact that it was conducted by ICE agents does not change that it could be a state crime that happened within the city limits of Houston.”
ICE said the Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General is leading the investigation into the agent-involved shooting. FBI Houston is leading an investigation into a potential assault on a federal law enforcement officer.
Congresswoman Sylvia Garcia, whose district includes Magnolia Park, said the shooting must be independently and thoroughly investigated.
“The victim’s family, my constituents, and the entire community deserve a complete and transparent accounting of what happened,” Garcia said in a statement.
Harris County Commissioner Rodney Ellis also called for a full and independent investigation.
“While many facts are still unknown, this incident demands a full and independent investigation, including a clear accounting of what occurred and which agencies were involved,” Ellis said.
Mi Familia Vota also called on DHS and ICE to release body camera footage and provide a full account of what happened.
“Transparency is not optional,” Hector Sanchez Barba, the organization’s president and CEO, said. “It is necessary to ensure the public has confidence in the government’s actions.”
Araujo’s family is asking for privacy and said there are videos and photos circulating of his final moments that they do not wish to see.
Ronaldo Salgado is expected to speak at a news conference Wednesday morning with support from LULAC.
LULAC Adelante PAC is also offering a $5,000 reward for information, video or testimony related to the shooting that could lead to an arrest, indictment or exoneration of those involved.