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DHS Reveals Troubling New Details After Mexican Immigrant Killed In ICE Raid
Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, the Mexican immigrant killed on Tuesday by federal immigration agents in Texas, was not the target of an ICE investigation, according to a Department of Homeland Security spokesman.
The agents were searching for two people from Guatemala, whom the agents believed were in the van that Araujo was driving. Those individuals were not in the van, The New York Times reported.
The Department of Homeland Security would not confirm to the Daily Wire that Araujo was not the target of the search but said agents observed the van with an individual who resembled one of the targets.
“After receiving a credible tip from our law enforcement partners, our officers conducted surveillance on a target’s address. Weeks prior to the incident, they noted two white vans at the property,” the department said. “On July 7, officers were almost at the target’s address when they observed a white van with an individual who resembled the target. Officers then initiated the vehicle stop.”
The officers were not wearing body cameras. A spokesperson for DHS told the Daily Wire that the officers “had not been issued body-worn cameras due to back-to-back Democrat shutdowns” and that officers were expected to receive body cameras in the next 60 days. Over half of ICE agent field officers have received body cameras.
Unlike previous shootings involving federal immigration agents that were captured extensively on video, such as the January shooting involving Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, this incident has little recorded documentation from both law enforcement and the public.
Video that has emerged from the scene shows Araujo out of his vehicle, lying on the ground with a federal agent next to him. DHS says emergency services were called immediately after Araujo, a 52-year-old construction worker and father of three, was shot.
The encounter began when federal agents in an unmarked vehicle attempted to conduct a vehicle stop. Araujo was shot on the right side of his body after federal agents said he refused to follow multiple verbal commands, according to DHS.
Araujo’s family believes he would have complied with federal agents if the unmarked SUV had clearly shown it was affiliated with law enforcement. The department claims Araujo attempted to weaponize his vehicle and run over an ICE law enforcement officer.
After the incident, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum vowed to pursue “legal measures” that would “go beyond” a diplomatic protest. “We cannot turn a blind eye to the Mexicans who have died,” Sheinbaum said, adding, “Especially to Mexicans whose only crime is working honestly in the United States.”
Several Democratic leaders in the United States have called for an independent investigation.