ICE Agents Fatally Shoot Driver During Texas Traffic Stop

Federal immigration agents fatally shot a 52-year-old man during a traffic stop in Texas on Tuesday morning. The agents were conducting a targeted enforcement operation to locate two individuals from Guatemala. The man who was shot, Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, was driving a van with three passengers and was not one of the targets.

An ICE spokesperson said the traffic stop was part of a targeted enforcement operation. The statement alleged that Salgado Araujo weaponized his vehicle in an attempt to run over an ICE law enforcement officer, resulting in the officer firing his weapon in self-defense.

Araujo’s sons said at a Wednesday press conference that they believed their father tried to get away because he was being chased by unmarked vehicles. The New York Times reported that the targets of the ICE operation were two people from Guatemala who were not in the van.

Salgado Araujo was a migrant from Mexico who had lived in the U.S. for 35 years without authorization.

Sylvia Garcia, D-Texas, told the Texas Tribune that she spoke with acting ICE Director David Venturella, who confirmed that the agents did not have body cameras or dashboard cameras during the incident. Garcia said she has received a commitment from the acting ICE director that all agents in the field will be wearing a body camera by the end of the month.

The three other passengers in the van were identified as Salgado Araujo’s brother Victor Hugo Salgado Araujo, Jose Trinidad Rojas Pliego, and Daniel Tirado Pantoja. All three are currently being held in the Montgomery ICE Processing Center in Conroe, Texas.