HOUSTON — Hundreds gathered at Houston City Hall’s steps Saturday evening, holding umbrellas in one hand and signs in the other, reiterating demands many have been making for days: answers on what led to the fatal shooting of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, and to release from immigration detention the three men who witnessed the shooting.
“I would like to see a clear understanding of what happened, of why they believed they had the right to do that to an individual, and for them to be held accountable,” Charles Torres, a 48-year-old Houston resident, said of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
An ICE agent killed the 52-year-old on Tuesday after agents in unmarked vehicles stopped him and three others on their way to work building homes in North Houston. Aside from patchy videos from local businesses along the streets near where Salgado Araujo died, footage of the incident is minimal because the agents were not wearing body cameras.
The protest, held about eight miles west of the street where Salgado Araujo was killed, was one of the first major demonstrations demanding to hold ICE accountable since the father of three was killed. It started hours after many, including state and local leaders and Salgado Araujo’s son, gathered at the Service Employees International Union’s office in Houston for a vigil for him. Many others are planned across the state next week.
“I know we have been chanting for several days now but we got to prepare ourselves to chant for much longer,” said Vivek Venkatraman with Party for Socialism and Liberation’s Houston chapter, which organized Saturday’s event.
Houston Mayor John Whitmire on Friday vowed to launch a local investigation into what happened Tuesday morning, after immigrant advocates criticized him for previously claiming that the city couldn’t conduct a local investigation. He initially said the city had no jurisdiction to investigate.
But Venkatraman said he and other immigrant advocates are going to see the investigation through to make sure it is done fairly and thoroughly.
“We are back here on Tuesday, inside and outside City Hall, to demand directly in front of Whitmire that we will not rest until there is justice for Lorenzo,” Venkatraman said. Another demonstration is scheduled for Tuesday, when Houston City Council holds its public comment session.
Many on Saturday encouraged the crowd to vote Republicans out of office, including Gov. Greg Abbott who has not made a public statement about the shooting.
ICE agents were not targeting Salgado Araujo the morning he was killed, according to the U.S. Rep. Sylvia R. Garcia, D-Houston, and were instead looking for a different man. Although they did not have any cameras, agents were wearing bullet proof vests, according to video footage from surrounding businesses.
An ICE spokesperson said agents opened fire because Salgado Araujo “weaponized his vehicle in an attempt to run over an ICE law enforcement officer resulting in our officer firing his weapon in self-defense.”
But the three men who were in the van with Salgado Araujo on Tuesday and are now in immigration custody in Conroe dispute ICE’s account of what happened. Law enforcement were not in the way of the vehicle, one man said, adding that officers were to the side of them. The witnesses said Salgado Araujo never attempted to ram ICE over with his van, according to written accounts relayed by their lawyer.
“Why are they hiding the evidence?” Houston state Rep. Christina Morales said, before leading the crowd in a chant: “Release the footage, free the witnesses, independent investigation, not ICE investigating ICE.”
As 24-year-old Angie Baker walked around among the crowd, she reflected on what she considers the inhumane treatment of migrants. She thought about how complicated the legalization process is — making it time consuming for people like Salgado Araujo, who had been trying to get a work permit, to gain legal status.
“A lot of people don’t understand how long it can be, and just because someone isn’t a quote unquote legal citizen, that doesn’t mean that they’re not somebody that should be protected or cared for,” said Baker, who drove from Humble to show her support. “We’re all human beings.”
Saturday wasn’t just a protest. Residents also gathered to honor and remember Salgado Araujo, a man whose name most didn’t know a week ago, but who has brought much of Houston’s Latino community together. Marching from City Hall to the federal detention center about a mile away later in the evening, they waved Mexican flags, donned Mexican soccer jerseys and blasted Tejano music in homage to their heritage.
During a moment of silence for Salgado Araujo, many attendees sang along to “Amor Eterno” by Rocío Dúrcal. People tearfully held onto each other as the song played. They raised their voices for the line “Yo he sufrido tanto por tu ausencia” — “I have suffered so much because of your absence.”
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