Man killed by ICE was not intended target in fatal Houston raid

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has admitted that the man fatally shot by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in Houston was not the intended target of the immigration operation.

Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a Mexican national who had lived in the United States for 35 years, was killed after federal agents stopped the white van he was driving on his way to work early Tuesday morning.

Mistaken identity

According to DHS, ICE officers had been searching for two Guatemalan nationals following a tip from law enforcement about an address linked to their investigation.

Officials said agents spotted a white van near the target location and believed one of its occupants resembled the person they were seeking.

Instead, the van was carrying Salgado Araujo and three other workers. Following the shooting, the three passengers were detained by immigration authorities. One of them, Victor Hugo Salgado Araujo, the victim's brother, reportedly remains in immigration custody.

ICE claims self-defence

ICE agents claim Salgado Araujo "weaponized" his vehicle by attempting to run over an officer, prompting the agent to fire in self-defence.

However, the agency has released no video or other evidence supporting that account.

The lack of evidence has fuelled criticism because the officers involved were not wearing body cameras, leaving investigators to rely largely on witness testimony and officers' statements.

Previous cases raise questions

Civil rights advocates have pointed to previous ICE shootings in Minneapolis and Oregon where similar claims that vehicles had been used as weapons were later challenged by video evidence.

Those earlier incidents have increased scrutiny of ICE's use of force and its public explanations following fatal encounters.

Family demands answers

Speaking at a press conference, Lorenzo's son, Ronaldo Salgado, said his father should never have been killed.

"He did not deserve to die," he said.

After learning his father was never the intended target of the operation, he described the revelation as "outrageous" and questioned why the traffic stop had escalated into a fatal shooting.

Investigation underway

DHS says the shooting will be investigated by the Department of Homeland Security's Office of Inspector General.

The case has intensified concerns over immigration enforcement tactics during President Donald Trump's second administration. According to a review of public reports, Salgado Araujo's death is the 10th fatal shooting involving federal immigration officers since Trump returned to office.

The investigation is expected to examine both the decision to stop the van and whether the use of deadly force was justified.

SOURCE

Sounds like the 'cover up' is already underway.

That "self-defense" crap has already been debunked. Those evil idiots are too stupid to know that there are video cameras everywhere, and recordings have shown them to be lying liars.

Ah, so they were planning to shoot somebody else! All those brown people look the same, eh.

No body cameras. America's storm troopers.

There are some People quoting the other van passengers on X (not reliable perhaps) stating that no officer was directly in front of or behind the vehicle, so unlikely they tried to drive into ICE officers. Also, if the bullets entered the side of the vehicle, that will become obvious at some point.

Still, the cows aren't in the barn until the doors are bolted.

And the intended target got away?

1 hour ago, unblocktheplanet said:

Ah, so they were planning to shoot somebody else! All those brown people look the same, eh.

No body cameras. America's storm troopers.

Would the scenario elicit a different reaction if the shooter was also brown ?

Taking into consideration almost half of ice are not white men.

America and guns. Crazy.

1 hour ago, blaze master said:

Would the scenario elicit a different reaction if the shooter was also brown ?

Taking into consideration almost half of ice are not white men.

Stats, please. No matter their colour, murder is murder.

5 minutes ago, unblocktheplanet said:

Stats, please. No matter their colour, murder is mUrder.

10 minutes ago, unblocktheplanet said:

Stats, please. No matter their colour, murder is murder.

I was wrong its roughly 45....give or take.

More ICE domestic terrorism. Under Trump there is no accountability and the people are not safe. And just like the Goomba, when things go south, they just lie, lie, lie. And they know some will buy the lies.

Federal officials are refusing to release the name of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer who fatally shot a Mexican man during a traffic stop in Houston, and scrutiny of the shooting is growing especially after authorities said the man killed was not the person ICE was trying to find.

The shooting in Houston has revived critical voices deriding the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown and how ICE operates, especially after immigration arrests around the country surged to 10,000 over a recent five-day period, fueled in part by massive Congressional funding.

No evidence has emerged to support the Department of Homeland Security’s version of events that led to the killing early Tuesday of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo — that he rammed an ICE vehicle when it was chasing his white van and that an officer opened fire in self-defense. The officers were not wearing body cameras and neither ICE nor DHS, which oversees that agency, have released photos, videos or other evidence from the scene.

Salgado Araujo, a 52-year-old homebuilder who was shot and killed as he drove his crew to a construction site, was not who ICE was looking for, Democratic U.S. Rep. Sylvia Garcia said. Salgado Araujo’s family said he had lived in the U.S. for more than 35 years, had no criminal record and was close to finishing the long process of obtaining legal status when he was killed.

DHS also has not responded to requests for other information, including how long the officer has worked for ICE or whether anyone involved in the shooting is administrative leave. The department has taken a similar stance after previous fatal shootings involving its officers, unlike many local and state agencies that routinely identify and provide biographical details about officers involved in critical incidents.

https://apnews.com/article/ice-shooting-houston-lorenzo-salgado-araugo-10cf77f29d4559f0f3796342b946031a

Edited July 10Jul 10 by spidermike007

22 minutes ago, spidermike007 said:

Under Trump there is no accountability and the people are not safe.

More fiction from the Trump hater brigade.

It never felt too safe in any western city. You always need to look over your shoulder.

The odds of a cop shooting you are 1 million times less than another fellow citizen attacking you. I always feel safer when there is a cop around.

This is a freak incident, if it's even entirely not fake news.

Edited July 10Jul 10 by save the frogs

44 minutes ago, save the frogs said:

This is a freak incident, if it's even entirely not fake news.

The number is ice operations across america yearly vs how many times something like this actually happens.

Its hyped up to sound like every day ice agents across america are gunning down dozens or hundreds of people. Oh ya and they are all white supremacist fascist nazis. Even though approx 45 percent are non white.

Remember the gestapo comments etc from the other incidents. Ya the gestapo loves black and latino members.

Facepalm.

9 hours ago, save the frogs said:

More fiction from the Trump hater brigade.

It never felt too safe in any western city. You always need to look over your shoulder.

The odds of a cop shooting you are 1 million times less than another fellow citizen attacking you. I always feel safer when there is a cop around.

This is a freak incident, if it's even entirely not fake news.

Yes, he is freakishly dead, and the weapon was fired by a freakish I.C.E. agent. And their story where they’re trying to justify murder isn’t holding up.

These I.C.E. agents and are not the brightest of the bright if they are law enforcement and don’t realize that web cams, phone cams, and surveillance cams are ubiquitous.

36 minutes ago, Front Row said:

These I.C.E. agents and are not the brightest of the bright if they are law enforcement and don’t realize that web cams, phone cams, and surveillance cams are ubiquitous.

You taking an 18 year old with no law enforcement background and no qualifications whatsoever for this position, you give him six weeks of training and then you set them out onto the streets with high caliber weapons, working for a highly aggressive, racist, callous and hateful administration, and what could possibly go wrong?

Edited July 11Jul 11 by spidermike007

21 hours ago, Social Media said:

ICE agents claim Salgado Araujo "weaponized" his vehicle by attempting to run over an officer, prompting the agent to fire in self-defence.

If a vehicle is coming towards you, your "self defense" should be to step out of the way.

12 hours ago, blaze master said:

I was wrong its roughly 45....give or take.

Nothing like equal opportunity killers! Does Donnie know about this shameless display of DEI?

13% women! Wouldn't want to take any of those broads home from a bar. Who know what might happen with those handcuffs.

Inquest: "But I was sure he was Canadian, Your Honor!"

Edited July 11Jul 11 by unblocktheplanet
add

25 minutes ago, khunjeff said:

If a vehicle is coming towards you, your "self defense" should be to step out of the way.

Thanks for pointing that out. I didn't even read the article.

I jumped straight to the comments section.

Yeah, if someone is weaponizing their vehicle, a police officer has the right to shoot.

What a waste of time reading all these biased anti-Trump ICE rants on here.

11 hours ago, save the frogs said:

More fiction from the Trump hater brigade.

It never felt too safe in any western city. You always need to look over your shoulder.

The odds of a cop shooting you are 1 million times less than another fellow citizen attacking you. I always feel safer when there is a cop around.

This is a freak incident, if it's even entirely not fake news.

Next in Lalaland, you'll be quoting me this "he was close to finishing the long process of obtaining legal status when he was killed." Lookie here, he was an illegal! ICE always gets their man!

32 minutes ago, khunjeff said:

If a vehicle is coming towards you, your "self defense" should be to step out of the way.

And unless there was local CCTV, we'll never know!

2 minutes ago, unblocktheplanet said:

Next in Lalaland, you'll be quoting me this "he was close to finishing the long process of obtaining legal status when he was killed." Lookie here, he was an illegal! ICE always gets their man!

A guy from Morocco back home nearly took a swing at me.

He barely had his legal papers.

He wasn't an illegal, but he had just arrived and still in the process of obtaining his papers.

I should have filed a police report and have him deported before he obtained his citizenship.

Should be absolutely required to wear body cams whenever they are engaged with the public. Failure to do so should be immediate grounds for termination. The fact that they weren't shows that they don't want what they do recorded--and rightly so with this horrendous murder and too many others.

Another case of murdering someone from the side of the car who wasn't even on their suspect list and then using the lame excuse that their lives were in danger from the car. Where have we heard that before. If you are shooting an unarmed person from the side of a car you are not in danger of being run over.

4 hours ago, save the frogs said:

A guy from Morocco back home nearly took a swing at me.

He barely had his legal papers.

He wasn't an illegal, but he had just arrived and still in the process of obtaining his papers.

I should have filed a police report and have him deported before he obtained his citizenship.

Ya know, no one single person has "taken a swing at me" in my 76 years. Last I I took a swing at anyone was in the 4th grade. He'd insulted a very nice teacher, and put a tack on her chair because she was fat.

2 hours ago, newnative said:

Should be absolutely required to wear body cams whenever they are engaged with the public. Failure to do so should be immediate grounds for termination. The fact that they weren't shows that they don't want what they do recorded--and rightly so with this horrendous murder and too many others.

Another case of murdering someone from the side of the car who wasn't even on their suspect list and then using the lame excuse that their lives were in danger from the car. Where have we heard that before. If you are shooting an unarmed person from the side of a car you are not in danger of being run over.

Plus, no masks and wearing badges. One would think they were ashamed of what they're doing. Why else no ID???

1 hour ago, unblocktheplanet said:

Ya know, no one single person has "taken a swing at me" in my 76 years. Last I I took a swing at anyone was in the 4th grade. He'd insulted a very nice teacher, and put a tack on her chair because she was fat.

I had a guy sucker punch me when I was around 20. It didnt have the desired effect he thought. I just turned an⁵d walked away. I think he malfunctioned when I didnt fall to the ground or fight back.

So it wasn't the guy they wanted to kill...

New information is that there were three workers in the truck with him. That means they're witnesses! Oops! Regardless of their status, they'd be smart to go into hiding...until the trial.

Anyway, people criticizing ICE ....

In Poland, vigilante citizens are taking matters into their own hands.

The citizens are fighting off migrants trying get through the border.

Oh! what a bummer, we shot the wrong guy - never mind we'll try harder next time.