[Source: Reuters]
Three men who witnessed the killing of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo by a U.S. agent in Houston on Tuesday have challenged the explanation offered by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, a lawyer for two of the witnesses told reporters in a press conference on Friday.
The three witnesses, including Salgado’s brother, are being held at the Montgomery Processing Center in Conroe, Texas. They were riding to work with Salgado in his white van on Tuesday morning when they were pulled over by ICE officers.
Their attorney, Hugo Baldero-Ybera, said they have given him a “completely different” account of what happened that day.
He demanded that the men be released immediately to “ensure the integrity” of the investigation into the incident. He also expressed concern that the government would pressure them to sign paperwork allowing for their deportation.
The shooting sparked protests in Houston’s heavily Hispanic East End. More than 1,000 people marched peacefully through the neighborhood on Wednesday and residents have laid flowers and candles at the scene.
Hours after the incident on Tuesday, ICE said in a statement that Salgado, a Mexican national living in the U.S. illegally for more than three decades, rammed a law enforcement vehicle with his van and attempted to run over an officer, who then fired on him in self-defense.
The agency has not provided evidence to corroborate its version of events.
“At no point was there ever an agent directly in front of the vehicle, nor was an agent ever placed in the line of danger,” said Baldero-Ybera, summarizing his clients’ accounts.
The men also told him that the fatal shots came from the side of the van rather than the front, Baldero-Ybera added.
ICE and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Speaking to reporters outside the White House on Friday, Tom Homan, President Donald Trump’s Border Czar, said, “If the officers acted outside of policy or illegally, they’ll be held accountable.”
