A number of elected officials, predominantly of the Democratic Party, have called for an independent investigation into the shooting of a man in Houston by a federal immigration agent. Republicans have mostly been silent on the matter.
As of Wednesday afternoon, few Republicans had weighed in on the Tuesday morning shooting death of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo during an encounter with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Houston’s East End. By contrast, Democrats have almost singularly criticized the shooting and called for an independent investigation of it.
"If this is a routine traffic stop, then everybody in Houston has to kind of fear for driving on our roads, and we're going to be stopped by ICE, and this is going to be the end result," U.S. Rep. Sylvia Garcia, whose district includes the predominantly Latino area where the shooting took place, said on Hello Houston on Wednesday.
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Garcia also noted that her office has had difficulty speaking with representatives from ICE, even at one point being told that "they didn't have enough staff to deal with all our inquiries," she said. Houston Public Media also reached out to ICE's media contact for more information on other arrests on Tuesday and was directed to ICE's Office of Partnership and Engagement, which asked for "2-3 days for follow-up."
Early Tuesday morning, an ICE officer fatally shot Araujo, a Houston resident whom federal authorities have said was a Mexican citizen without legal status in the U.S. A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security alleged he was attempting to evade arrest and “weaponized his vehicle in an attempt to run over an ICE law enforcement officer.”
Among the other Democrats to call for an investigation are Harris County Commissioner Adrian Garcia; Houston City Council member Joaquin Martinez; Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo; Houston Mayor John Whitmire; state Sen. Carol Alvarado; and state Rep. Ana Hernandez, all of whom are Democrats representing the area where the shooting took place. Other officials calling for an investigation include Democratic gubernatorial nominee Gina Hinojosa, Democratic U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico and Texas House Democratic Caucus leader Gene Wu, among others.
In the race for Harris County judge, Republican nominee Orlando Sanchez, one of few Republicans to go on the record on the matter, told Houston Public Media in a statement, "It is far too early in the investigation for me to have a comment on this incident. Let's wait and allow those tasked with investigating to do their jobs."
Letitia Plummer, the Democratic nominee, by contrast called for an independent investigation into the shooting and called for limits on interactions between local police and ICE.
Whitmire said the Houston Police Department was not involved in Tuesday's shooting, his office stated that the city "lacks access to the evidence, witnesses, or investigative authorities necessary to conduct a complete review of federal actions."
Interim Harris County Attorney Abbie Kamin, whose office handles civil cases involving the county government, stated "there needs to be serious questions as to why the city is taking the position that it's taking" in not conducting its own investigation.
"In any investigation involving a death of a person within city limits, HPD can be involved in that investigation," Kamin said on Hello Houston on Wednesday. "There are different avenues — again, I'm not saying leading investigations, or anything like that — but when something happens in our city, in our county, it is also our responsibility to ensure that evidence is preserved and that justice reigns at the end of the day."
Representatives from the Harris County District Attorney's Office, which prosecutes criminal cases, did not respond to a request for comment on whether or not they were investigating.
In Texas' most high-profile race, Talarico is facing Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in November’s Senate election. Houston Public Media reached out to the campaign for Paxton and had not heard back by Wednesday afternoon.
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