Hugo Balderas-Ibarra spoke with the three men in Salgado’s van on Tuesday during the deadly shooting.
HOUSTON — The attorney for men who were inside a van when Lorenzo Salgado was fatally shot by ICE agents Tuesday says their account of what happened contradicts the agency’s version of events and is calling for their release from federal detention while the investigation continues.
Attorney Hugo Balderas-Ibarra said he met Thursday with the three men who were in the van with Salgado during Tuesday’s deadly shooting. He said his clients — Jose Trinidad Rojas and Daniel Tirado Pantoja — remain detained at the Montgomery Processing Center in Conroe and described them as deeply traumatized by what they witnessed. Balderas-Ibarra also represents Victor Salgado, Lorenzo’s brother, but is not representing him.
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“I can tell you my clients will forever be physically and emotionally scarred by this killing,” he said during a news conference alongside U.S. Rep. Sylvia Garcia, District Attorney Sean Teare, and others. “None of these families will ever be whole again. One man lost a brother, the other two men lost a dear friend.”
Balderas-Ibarra said the accounts provided by his clients differ significantly from the statements released by ICE.
“I can tell you with conviction that my clients’ versions of the events are extremely different from what ICE agents are saying or what the agency is saying,” he said.
He urged federal authorities to release his clients, arguing their continued detention could jeopardize the investigation if they are deported before they have an opportunity to testify.
“I believe that given the magnitude of this case and the implications that it carries, my clients may be pressured into signing documentation for their voluntary departure,” Balderas-Ibarra said. “I think it is extremely important that we preserve the integrity of this investigation. That will all be out the window if they are deported.”
Balderas-Ibarra also called for an independent investigation, saying he no longer has confidence in the agency investigating itself.
“Simply put, we have completely lost faith in the integrity and demand an independent investigation be conducted,” Balderas-Ibarra said. “The families deserve to know the truth. They deserve justice and dignity.”
The attorney disputed ICE’s account that agents fired in self-defense because they were in danger of being struck by the vehicle.
“All three of my clients reiterated that at no point was there ever an agent standing in front of the vehicle, nor was an agent ever placed in the line of danger,” he said. “That is simply false, and I believe my clients are telling the truth.”
Balderas-Ibarra also called for broader changes to ICE enforcement practices, including requiring agents to wear body cameras, remove face coverings and stop using unmarked vehicles during operations. He ended his remarks by quoting the late Martin Luther King Jr., saying, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”
The shooting
Lorenzo Salgado was shot and killed Tuesday morning in Houston’s East End. ICE agents said Saldago was fleeing from them and used his van as a weapon, so an agent shot him in self-defense. It’s an account that the men who were in the van dispute, according to Balderas-Ibarra. Since the shooting, the Department of Homeland Security has confirmed that they were on an “enforcement operation,” but that Salgado was not the intended target. They also confirmed that someone in Salgado’s van resembled the person they were targeting.
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