An attorney representing the family of a man shot and killed by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent in Houston, Texas, stated that the victim was carrying salt, not drugs. The family has called for accelerated testing of the substance and the release of the victim’s brother. More details were shared in a statement from the attorney.
“You cannot shoot first and ask questions later,” said attorney Ruby Powers on Thursday. She represents Victor Salgado Araujo, who survived the incident on July 7 that resulted in the death of his older brother, Lorenzo Salgado Araujo.
Powers emphasized that an unidentified substance should not be presumed to be a narcotic. “We are requesting that the substance testing be expedited so that their names be cleared,” she added.
ICE agents reported finding a bag containing an unidentified “white crystal-like substance” on the dashboard and floorboard of the vehicle occupied by the men, who worked in construction.
Powers clarified that the substance was granulated salt, intended to be mixed with lemon and water to create an electrolyte drink for working in high temperatures, not methamphetamine or any illegal drug.
Harris County District Attorney Sean Teare told CNN on Thursday that he also believes the substance is not drugs. He noted that whether the substance is illegal or not does not influence the justification of the force used that resulted in Mr. Salgado’s death.
The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, stated that the agents, not equipped with body cameras, were searching for two Guatemalan men in a white van. They encountered a similar van driven by Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in a predominantly Hispanic area.
The agents opened fire after their commands were ignored and the vehicle attempted to drive off while an officer was “partially inside the van or immediately next to it,” according to a statement by Aaron Reitz, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Texas, on Thursday.
Reitz urged the public to remain calm and allow a full investigation to take place.
“We are doing everything we can to seek the truth and do the right thing,” he said.
ICE and the Department of Homeland Security have been accused of misrepresenting facts about individuals shot by federal agents.
A Houston attorney, who spoke with three men in Salgado Araujo’s vehicle, described the DHS account of the shooting as “completely false.”
“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,” said Hugo Balderas-Ibarra in a video posted to Instagram.
He further stated, “The ICE agents’ accounts of what happened do not reflect — and are very inconsistent with — the stories, with the recollections, that I got from the three people that were in the vehicle with Lorenzo.”
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