Lorenzo Salgado Araujo's passengers dispute ICE's account of his fatal shooting, their attorney says

Lorenzo Salgado Araujo's passengers dispute ICE's account of his fatal shooting, their attorney says. The three passengers were detained by ICE after Tuesday's shooting in Houston, which the federal agency has characterized as an act of self-defense by an officer. At least two of the passengers in a van driven by Lorenzo Salgado Araujo at the time he was fatally shot by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent in Houston this week are disputing the federal agency's account of the incident, according to an attorney representing the men. Hugo Balderas, the lawyer for two of the three passengers, said Friday he had spoken with his clients, who say ICE's account is inconsistent with their experience. "They confirmed that at no point was there ever an ICE agent directly in front of the vehicle," Balderas said. "They also confirmed that the shots came from the sides, not from the front, which is inconsistent with the ICE statement." ICE officials released a statement on Tuesday afternoon, hours after the shooting in the predominantly Latino East End neighborhood. They said they were performing a "targeted enforcement operation" and alleged Salgado Araujo "weaponized his vehicle," rammed it into an ICE car and attempted to run over an ICE officer, who then shot Salgado Araujo in self-defense, according to ICE. Citing her conversation with acting ICE director David Venturella, a spokesperson for U.S. Rep. Sylvia Garcia, D-Houston, said Thursday that neither Salgado Araujo nor his brother, who was one of the passengers in the vehicle, were the intended targets of the ICE operation. A DHS spokesperson did not specify whether any of the people in the vehicle were intended targets, saying in a statement that one of the individuals in the van "resembled the target." Balderas added that his clients told him they are feeling pressure by ICE agents to sign self-deportation papers. "This is not immigration enforcement. This is racial profiling," Balderas said. "The process of purchasing and issuing body-worn cameras to all of our ICE field offices was interrupted by the Democrats multiple government shutdowns," the DHS spokesperson wrote in a statement to Houston Public Media. ICE's account of Salgado Araujo's shooting death mirrors its statements about the 2025 shootings deaths of U.S. citizens Ruben Ray Martinez in South Texas and Renee Good in Minnesota. In those instances, ICE claimed Martinez and Good attempted to strike officers with their cars before they were shot. Based on video footage, those claims were disputed by attorneys for Martinez's family in his case and by state and local officials in Minnesota in the case of Good.