The ICE agent who shot a Houston man on Canal Street three months ago has now been identified. The next step, according to a group of protesters outside City Hall on Tuesday night: Prosecute him.
The Texas Tribune broke the news late Monday that the federal agent who fired the fatal shot on July 7 was Gregory Feathers. The officer retired from ICE and was rehired within the past two years, “overlapping with the second Trump administration’s aggressive recruitment of former Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers to help meet its ambitious deportation goals,” the Tribune reported.
The article noted that the feds withheld the agent’s identity, a departure from standard practice by most law enforcement agencies when dealing with an officer-involved shooting but not unusual for the federal government since President Donald Trump’s second term began in January 2025. Since then, at least 25 people have been shot by ICE agents. Six, including three U.S. citizens, have died, according to the Tribune report.
Feathers’ name was included in documentation mistakenly released by the U.S. Attorney’s office in August and his identity was independently verified by an “official familiar with the investigation” and a witness to the shooting.
The shooting occurred while Lorenzo Salgado Araujo was on his way to work with three members of his home construction crew, including his brother. ICE agents claimed after the incident that Araujo was uncooperative and “weaponized” his vehicle, trying to run them over, and that the officer fired in self-defense. Those details have been disputed by the men who were passengers in Araujo’s van.
ICE agents have admitted, however, that Araujo was not the intended target of their immigration sting on the day of the shooting. Araujo, 52, was a Mexican immigrant who had lived in Houston for decades and was in the process of securing his citizenship.
Protesters chanted, “Indict. Convict. Arrest Lorenzo’s killer” at a protest on September 29. Credit: April Towery
The witnesses were immediately detained by ICE and all three were later released. At least one of the witnesses was observed earlier this month entering a room where a Harris County Grand Jury was convening. District Attorney Sean Teare is conducting an independent investigation and has said that he will file murder charges if that’s where the investigation leads him.
“My primary goal is to make sure this investigation is complete and thorough, and if charges are warranted, we are able to continue that prosecution,” he said at an August meeting of the Oak Forest Area Democrats.
It was clear from Tuesday’s protest that many Houston residents are anxiously awaiting an indictment from the grand jury.
“It’s been almost three months since Lorenzo was murdered here in Houston,” said a protester who identified herself as Griffin. “They’ve kept the name of the agent who murdered him quiet. They protected the privacy of the murderer over the privacy of Lorenzo, the man who was murdered and his family. Shame! We should be questioning the laws and who put them into place and who they serve. We demand that they indict, arrest and convict Gregory Feathers.”
Some protesters said they feared being arrested for practicing their First Amendment rights. No one was detained at Tuesday’s gathering. Credit: April Towery
Houstonians have consistently rallied around Araujo’s family. His sons, Ronaldo Salgado and Lorenzo Salgado Jr. have attended many of the local protests and testified before a Congressional Hispanic Caucus hearing, saying they want answers about why their dad was taken from them. The Salgado brothers are expected to attend a community tribute to Araujo at 6 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 1, at Casa Verde in Montrose.
Ronaldo Salgado stopped by Tuesday’s protest, which coincided with a Houston City Council public comment session, at which many spoke about Flock cameras and the public safety grant Model Cities Initiative, which critics say requires the city to commit to increased cooperation with ICE. Several also spoke about wanting ICE out of Houston.
“After months of mourning, staying up at night wondering who killed my dad, we finally got some answers of who did it,” Ronaldo Salgado told the crowd of protesters. “It gives me a little bit of hope that the wheels of justice are turning slowly but surely. I’m hoping we’re able to get more answers, like who were the other agents involved?”
Protesters primarily included members of the Houston Party for Socialism and Liberation and the immigrant-led civil rights group FIEL Houston. They stood behind a banner declaring, “Justicia Para Lorenzo.” One held a sign that read, “Prosecute Feathers.”
Some of the participants referenced the recent ICE shooting in Austin of Venezuelan national Wilber Rafael Garces Perez, a man who reportedly entered the country legally and was shot in the back by a federal agent while making Door Dash deliveries.
Perez was taken into custody while the bullet was still lodged in his spine and was charged with resisting arrest and assaulting an officer, federal authorities confirmed Tuesday.
“Where was the care? Where was the help? Where was the justice? All we got was a camera log and a bullet,” a protestor named Jesús said at Tuesday’s gathering. “Indict, arrest, convict Gregory Feathers. Justice for Lorenzo. Justice for Wilber. Justice for everyone terrorized by ICE. We will not accept this and we will not normalize this.”
Griffin said the City of Houston and HPD have collaborated with ICE and “let them move easily and effectively in our city, terrorizing immigrant communities.”
“This is the people’s city council meeting. This is the people’s city hall,” she said. “We want to hear about the pain and the anger and the outrage about the injustice done to Lorenzo and his family. We are going to speak up for Lorenzo and his family. We’re not stopping until we see justice for Lorenzo.”
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