NewsMacroRep. Sylvia Garcia Cries at Houston Forum, Vows Justice After ICE Shooting Death of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo

Rep. Sylvia Garcia Cries at Houston Forum, Vows Justice After ICE Shooting Death of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo

Author: Rawstory·

Key Takeaways

  • Lorenzo Salgado Araujo was shot and killed by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent on July 7 in Houston.
  • ICE and the Department of Homeland Security declined to send representatives to the oversight forum.
  • Garcia said members of Congress sent six letters seeking answers about the case without receiving a response.
  • DHS said Salgado Araujo was not the intended target of the operation and was stopped because agents believed he resembled a suspect.
  • Federal agents told congressional Democrats that the agents involved had no body cameras or dash cameras.
Rep. Sylvia Garcia Cries at Houston Forum, Vows Justice After ICE Shooting Death of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo

Rep. Sylvia Garcia (D-TX) broke down in tears at a Houston oversight forum on Friday as she vowed to keep fighting until what she called “the murder committed by federal agents” never happens again under President Donald Trump.

The forum focused on the July 7 death of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a 52-year-old construction worker who was shot and killed by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent. Garcia addressed the hearing alongside Salgado Araujo’s sons, who were present as lawmakers examined the circumstances surrounding the fatal shooting.

ICE and the Department of Homeland Security declined to send a representative to the forum. Garcia said members of Congress had sent six letters seeking answers about the case, but none had received a response. The absence of agency officials left lawmakers relying on court filings, witness accounts, local video and news reporting to scrutinize a fatal use of force by federal immigration agents.

According to DHS, Salgado Araujo was not the target of the operation. Agents stopped him because they believed he resembled a suspect, described as a Guatemalan national. Salgado Araujo and everyone inside his van were Mexican.

The three men who were in the van when Salgado Araujo was shot have disputed the government’s account of the incident.

“Lorenzo had come to a full stop while the agents fired,” passenger Daniel Tirado Pantoja wrote in a court filing, adding that agents were never in front of the vehicle.

Federal agents told congressional Democrats that the agents involved had no body cameras and no dash cameras. However, neighborhood surveillance video and witness cellphone footage captured portions of the pursuit, according to reporting by the Texas Tribune. The lack of agent-worn or vehicle-mounted footage has made those outside recordings especially important to the public accounting of what happened before the shooting.

“[The footage] looks more like a carjacking attempt than it does a police stop,” Seth Stoughton, a University of South Carolina use-of-force expert and former police officer, told the Texas Tribune.

At Friday’s forum, Garcia said the administration’s refusal to provide answers was the reason the hearing was necessary.

“They don’t intend to give us any answers until their investigation is complete,” she said.

Even border czar Tom Homan could not confirm whether agents used lights and sirens during the stop.

“It appears from everything we’ve seen that either these agents are completely untrained, or intentionally putting themselves in situations where they can justify firing into cars,” Harris County District Attorney Sean Teare told CBS News.

Garcia’s voice cracked as she turned toward Salgado Araujo’s sons and began to sob.

“I’m proud of Mr. Salgado Araujo’s sons,” she said. “In the midst of unimaginable grief, they have shown extraordinary courage. We will fight tooth and nail to ensure the murder committed by federal agents never, ever happens again.”

Still crying, Garcia ended her remarks to applause.

“We are stronger than fear. We are stronger than intimidation. We will keep fighting until justice is done.”