HOUSTON – More than 100 people gathered outside Houston City Hall Sunday evening, filling the plaza with candles, prayers and chalk drawings as they honored the life of 52-year-old Lorenzo Salgado Araujo and renewed calls for answers following his fatal shooting by an ICE agent.
Instead of chants, the sound of chalk scraping across the pavement echoed through the crowd as mourners wrote messages of remembrance and demands for justice.
The vigil comes five days after the 52-year-old was shot and killed during an ICE enforcement operation in Houston’s Magnolia Park neighborhood.
According to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Salgado Araujo attempted to evade arrest and used his van as a weapon, prompting an ICE agent to shoot him in self-defense.
Since then, federal officials have acknowledged Salgado Araujo was not the person agents intended to arrest, and the Department of Homeland Security confirmed the agents involved were not wearing body cameras.
Many at Sunday’s vigil said Salgado Araujo’s death has shaken Houston’s Hispanic community because they saw themselves or their loved ones in him.
Elizabeth Manjarres, who grew up in Magnolia Park and attended middle school with Salgado Araujo’s son, spent the evening drawing the Virgen de Guadalupe in chalk.
“It was a shock that it happened to somebody that we knew personally,” Manjarres said. “I immediately thought about my mom, about my family. It could have happened to anybody in the community.”
Manjarres described Magnolia Park as “the heart of the Hispanic community in Houston.”
“We’re a community full of love, full of compassion, full of heart, full of hardworking people,” said Manjarres. “We’re going to continue to fight because he does deserve justice.”
April Davila drew birds on the concrete as a symbol of hope.
“Birds are pretty. They give hope,” Davila said. “I know he’s gone, but he’ll be back somehow.”
Frida Adame, a DACA recipient who helped organize the vigil, said Salgado Araujo’s death felt deeply personal.
“It could have been me. It could have been my mom,” Adame said. “He was the definition of the American dream. He was just a man going to work.”
Adame said she and another community member organized the vigil independently to give people a place to grieve.
“We’re just two civilians that wanted to bring community together and mourn,” Adame said.
She said organizers plan to speak during Tuesday’s Houston City Council meeting, where they will again push city leaders to limit cooperation with ICE.
“We’re going to demand that Whitmire gets ICE out of Houston,” Adame said. “We’re not going to stop until he gets the justice that he deserves.”
Houston City Controller Chris Hollins attended the vigil and stood with the crowd as people lit candles and prayed.
“If you look around, this represents the Houston community,” Hollins said. “We’re here in peace. We’re here in respect. But we’re demanding justice for Lorenzo.”
Ernestine Piña Sandoval, who volunteers with St. Ann Catholic Church assisting immigrant families, said she attended because she believes immigrants deserve dignity.
“They come here to work. They want to take care of their families,” Sandoval said.
According to Salgado Araujo’s family, he was driving to pick up construction workers Tuesday morning when the encounter unfolded.
ICE says Salgado Araujo attempted to strike an agent with his van before the agent opened fire.
Surveillance videos obtained by KPRC 2 captured portions of the encounter, and Salgado Araujo’s family and attorneys representing the three men who were inside the van have disputed ICE’s version of events.
The New York Times has reported the federal operation was originally targeting two Guatemalan nationals who were not inside Salgado Araujo’s van.
Salgado Araujo’s son, Ronaldo, said his father had lived in the United States for 35 years and was in the process of obtaining a work permit.
“There is no way in any lifetime that he would have wanted to be known as someone who got shot and killed by ICE,” Ronaldo Salgado told NBC News. “He just wanted to live a simple life of work and family.”
The three men who were inside Salgado Araujo’s van remain in ICE custody at a processing facility in Conroe, according to their attorney.
Houston Police Chief Noe Diaz is expected to meet with FBI Houston on Tuesday to request access to evidence related to the shooting. Community members also plan to speak during Tuesday’s Houston City Council meeting as they continue calling for an independent investigation.