More than 100 people gathered at San Antonio City Hall on Friday evening to protest the killing of a Mexican citizen by federal immigration officers nearly 200 miles away earlier in the week, according to Texas Public Radio.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents shot and killed Lorenzo Salgado Araujo during a traffic stop Tuesday in Houston.
In a statement following the shooting, the Department of Homeland Security said Salgado evaded arrest and attempted to strike a federal agent and an agency vehicle by using his car as a weapon. Salgado’s family and their lawyers have disputed federal officials’ account.
Salgado, 52, a Mexican immigrant and father of three, had lived in the U.S. for more than 35 years and was on his way to work at a construction site when he was shot. Family members said he did not have legal status in the U.S. but had applied for a work permit.
Protesting his death in Houston, San Antonio residents rallied at City Hall before marching through downtown and shouting, “Justice for Lorenzo,” TPR reported.
Progressive organizations, including the local chapter of the Party for Socialism and Liberation, San Antonio Venceremos and the League of United Latin American Citizens, helped organize the protest, according to the public radio station.
“I came here with votive candles and a rosary to pray for him and to pray for the people affected by ICE and also to protest ICE in San Antonio,” a protester at Friday’s march told TPR.
The shooting comes as political tensions over federal immigration policies continue to flare across the country in response to the Trump administration’s efforts to remove anyone who is in the country without legal authorization. In January, federal agents shot and killed two U.S. citizens protesting ICE operations in Minneapolis.
San Antonio has also felt the effects of the immigration crackdown. Federal agents have detained several children and parents in recent months.
Most recently, a 20-year-old San Antonio mariachi musician was driving home after performing at a birthday party when he was pulled over by a police officer in China Grove for speeding. Hebert Kaleth Ibarra Castro was still wearing his mariachi uniform when ICE agents handcuffed him and took him into custody June 25. Later, he was asked by staff at the South Texas ICE Processing Center in Pearsall to sing the national anthem for a July 4 celebration.
Increased immigration enforcement was a central issue in President Donald Trump’s campaign to return to office. The Republican has consistently drawn support from his base for pledges to curb immigration and increase deportations.
San Antonio is the country’s largest Latino-majority city.