The men inside Lorenzo Salgado Araujo’s van during its fateful ride through Houston’s East End were not carrying hard drugs as the FBI alleged, one of their lawyers said on Thursday. The men, who were on their way to a construction job, were carrying tied up bags of salt, said immigration lawyer Ruby Powers.
Powers in a five-paragraph statement pushed back on reports that federal agents had obtained a warrant because they thought they saw methamphetamine in Salgado’s van after he was shot and killed by an ICE agent on July 7. Powers represents Victor Salgado, Lorenzo’s younger brother.
“After consulting with my client and his family, our understanding is that this was granulated salt, which is paired with lemon and water as a homemade electrolyte mix used by outdoor workers in extreme Texas heat, not methamphetamine or any other illicit substance,” Powers said.
The Department of Justice on Wednesday unsealed a search warrant affidavit that showed that agents on July 14 sought permission to take and test a handful of plastic bags that were found on the van’s dashboard and floor. An FBI agent wrote that the bags appeared to contain a white crystal substance, and told a U.S. magistrate judge that the item were consistent with methamphetamine.
The affidavit did not confirm that the baggies contained illegal drugs, and federal officials have not claimed that the agents who chased and shot Salgado suspected there were drugs in the white Ford Transit van.
Search warrants in the federal court system are generally kept sealed, and officials have not explained why the warrant related to the van was made public. In the affidavit, an FBI agent wrote the bureau was investigating “what may have caused the occupants of the vehicle to flee” ICE agents who were attempting to stop them.
No charges connected the drug investigation have been announced. The U.S Attorney’s Office on Thursday said it had “no information to provide at this time.”
In her statement, Powers said she was requesting that testing of the substance be expedited so that the men’s name could be cleared. She also said that results of the test should not be used to justify Salgado’s death.
“No test result, whatever it ultimately shows, will change the fact that deadly force was used against Lorenzo,” Powers said. “You cannot shoot first and ask questions later.”
Powers’ statement came hours after Harris County District Attorney Sean Teare also questioned the FBI’s allegations about the plastic bags.
“Based on the information we have regarding who Mr. Salgado was, and just eyeballing the evidence as it was collected yesterday, we don’t believe that they are drugs,” Teare said, in an interview with CNN. Teare said the substance was being tested by the FBI and that he believed the results of the drug test should be shared “immediately.”
Court filings don’t show that the FBI has delivered a warrant return back to the federal court as of Thursday afternoon. The return would describe what was taken from the vehicle. The available court documents don’t give a deadline for when a return should be filed.