Federal immigration agents killed a Mexican immigrant during a traffic stop in Houston on Tuesday, but he was not the person they were looking for, the Department of Homeland Security acknowledged. Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, who had lived in the United States for 35 years, was shot by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers who were actually seeking two different people from Guatemala.
Salgado Araujo was on his way to work early that morning, driving a white van with three other passengers. The shooting occurred during what authorities described as an enforcement operation. After the incident, the three men in the vehicle were taken into custody. One has been identified by advocates as Victor Hugo Salgado Araujo, the victim's brother, who remained in an immigration detention center.
ICE agents claimed that Salgado Araujo used his vehicle as a weapon in an attempt to run over an officer, who then fired in self-defense. The agency provided no evidence to support this account. The officers involved in the shooting were not wearing body cameras, DHS said.
This defense mirrors explanations the agency has offered in other high-profile incidents. When Renee Good was killed in Minneapolis under similar circumstances, video evidence later contradicted the official account provided by law enforcement.
The shooting raises fresh questions about officer safety protocols and the circumstances that led agents to target the wrong vehicle. Salgado Araujo's death adds to a growing list of fatal encounters between immigration enforcement and civilians during traffic stops.
Author James Rodriguez: "A 35-year immigrant killed by federal agents looking for someone else, no body camera footage, and the same tired 'self-defense' claim that fell apart in Minneapolis."
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