Witnesses dispute US government's account of Texas ICE killing

Witnesses to the fatal shooting of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Texas are challenging the U.S. government's narrative, asserting that the 52-year-old did not ram his vehicle into an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) vehicle before being killed.

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Lawyer Hugo Balderas-Ibarra, representing three men who were in the van with Salgado Araujo, stated that his clients reject the Department of Homeland Security's claim that the father of three "rammed an ICE law enforcement vehicle" and attempted to run over agents. The witnesses maintain that no ramming occurred and that the ICE agent initiated the shooting from the passenger side window.

"At no point did they ever use the van to ram into the ICE agents, and at no point were these ICE agents’ lives ever in any danger," Balderas-Ibarra said, expressing full confidence in his clients' account. Salgado Araujo and the three men were reportedly en route to a job site when the traffic stop occurred. All four were undocumented immigrants.

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After speaking with these three men that were in the vehicle with Lorenzo, I have no doubt that what these ICE agents are saying is completely false.

Salgado Araujo's death has intensified criticism of federal immigration agents' conduct, with accusations of excessive violence, racial profiling, and disregard for civil rights protections. This incident also reignites scrutiny of how Trump administration officials have framed victims in cases of agent-involved violence, citing past instances where initial accounts were later contradicted by evidence.

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At no point did they ever use the van to ram into the ICE agents, and at no point were these ICE agents’ lives ever in any danger.