{"id":366472,"date":"2026-07-09T06:29:26","date_gmt":"2026-07-09T06:29:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/366472\/"},"modified":"2026-07-09T06:29:26","modified_gmt":"2026-07-09T06:29:26","slug":"houston-mayor-questions-citys-authority-to-probe-ice-shooting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/366472\/","title":{"rendered":"Houston mayor questions city[s authority to probe ICE shooting"},"content":{"rendered":"

Audio recording is automated for accessibility. Humans wrote and edited the story. See our AI policy<\/a>, and give us feedback<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Houston Mayor John Whitmire on Wednesday cast doubt that the city\u2019s police department could open a criminal investigation into the shooting of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo \u2014 killed a day earlier by a federal immigration agent \u2014 as family and advocates pressured city leaders to spearhead an independent probe.<\/p>\n

Whitmire expressed his condolences to the family and described the shooting as a \u201ctragedy\u201d during a morning City Council meeting. But he questioned whether the city had the authority to conduct its own investigation, saying \u201cthere cannot be two ongoing investigations, certainly when there\u2019s not jurisdiction by one of them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re monitoring it very carefully,\u201d Whitmire added. \u201cWe\u2019re in constant touch with our federal elected officials, insisting that there\u2019s a transparent, independent investigation \u2014 and if I learn of any new information, I\u2019ll certainly share it with the council.\u201d<\/p>\n

The mayor stressed that responsibility for the shooting lies entirely with federal agents. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere was no involvement of [Houston police officers],\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s a very tragic, complex issue that is brought to us by our federal officials.\u201d <\/p>\n

Whitmire\u2019s comments came nearly three months after the city navigated a major fight over local police coordination with federal immigration agents.<\/p>\n

The Texas Tribune is seeking any footage \u2014 cell phone video or other Instagram photos or posts \u2014 as well as tips related to the shooting of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo on July 7, 2025.<\/p>\n

We take your confidentiality seriously and will protect your identity.<\/p>\n

You can contact us anonymously on Signal, an encrypted, secure app<\/a>, or on Whatsapp, via phone or through email:<\/p>\n

Gov. Greg Abbott<\/a> threatened to withdraw public safety grants<\/a> from Houston and two other major cities over policies that he said limited police cooperation with ICE, including rules directing local officers not to prolong traffic stops and other encounters to give federal agents time to respond to suspected undocumented individuals. Civil rights groups said Houston effectively dismantled<\/a> its ordinance to keep $114 million in grants.<\/p>\n

Whitmire\u2019s remark about the jurisdiction issue echoed a comment made earlier in Wednesday\u2019s meeting by Council Member Julian Ramirez, a former prosecutor who worked for the Harris County district attorney\u2019s office for 27 years. <\/p>\n

Ramirez said that based on his experience, it would be very difficult for local law enforcement to conduct its own investigation in these situations. Federal agencies would control the scene and the evidence and share only what they want with local officials, he added.<\/p>\n

\u201cBased on the way they typically handle their investigations, local authorities \u2014 including local police departments \u2014 are essentially cut out of the primary investigation,\u201d Ramirez said. <\/p>\n

But Salgado Araujo\u2019s family, federal lawmakers and community advocates \u2014 including the League of United Latin American Citizens, a leading Hispanic civil rights organization \u2014 demanded that the city open its own investigation, saying they didn\u2019t trust the Trump administration to conduct a fair probe of the shooting. <\/p>\n

Ronaldo Salgado, a school teacher, said his father was killed after being pulled over by agents in unmarked vehicles. He would have stopped had he known he was being pulled over by immigration agents, Ronaldo Salgado said, adding that his father could have feared he was being robbed.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe did not deserve to die. He did not deserve to be reduced to a headline of, Mexican man shot and killed by ICE,\u201d Salgado said, holding back tears while surrounded by family, advocates and lawmakers during a Houston news conference Wednesday. <\/p>\n

\u201dHe deserved to live a quiet life as Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a husband, a father and a job creator for dozens of men who also wanted the American dream,\u201d his son said.<\/p>\n

According to Salgado Araujo\u2019s son, his father was on his way to work with Salgado\u2019s uncle and two other workers in a van that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents tried to stop. In a statement, ICE said Salgado Araujo tried to ram the agents\u2019 vehicle, refused to follow multiple verbal commands and tried to run over an ICE agent before the federal officer fired his weapon in self-defense.<\/p>\n

U.S. Rep. Sylvia Garcia<\/a>, D-Houston, said an independent investigation was needed to confirm ICE\u2019s version of events and determine if the shooting was justified. She confirmed that Salgado Araujo had no criminal convictions.<\/p>\n

U.S. Rep. Al Green<\/a>, D-Houston, called on the mayor to direct Houston police to conduct its own criminal investigation<\/p>\n

\u201cThe mayor ought to reconsider what he has said. The mayor ought to give consideration to what\u2019s happening. I believe that the Houston Police Department can investigate this,\u201d Green said at the news conference. \u201cThere is no law that prohibits the Houston Police Department from doing this, and the Houston Police Department ought to see this as its responsibility.\u201d<\/p>\n

Advocates made the same demand.<\/p>\n

Domingo Garcia, LULAC\u2019s national president, asked Houston police to investigate, saying he did not trust a federal investigation.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t expect the truth from the Department of Justice or from the FBI,\u201d Garcia said. \u201cWe expect a whitewash. That\u2019s just what we expect. But let me just be very clear, the only way we hold them accountable is if the citizens and the residents of Houston hold them accountable.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not uncommon for law enforcement agencies to investigate a different department\u2019s police shootings. But it has been rare<\/a> and often difficult for local authorities to investigate a federal incident.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Local police did not open investigations into six of the 12 shootings by on-duty federal agents that since September have led to the deaths or injuries of citizens and immigrants, according to a ProPublica analysis earlier this year.<\/a> And in cases where the local officers do try to launch independent inquiries such as in Minnesota, ProPublica found that they ran into roadblocks created by the Trump administration.<\/p>\n

The Houston Police Department and the Texas Department of Public Safety have so far indicated that they\u2019re not investigating Tuesday\u2019s shooting. The Harris County Sheriff\u2019s Office and the Harris County Precinct 6 constable\u2019s office didn\u2019t immediately respond to comment requests.<\/p>\n

Houston police said Tuesday that their officers were not involved in the ICE shooting, arriving afterward to help direct traffic. When asked whether the department would investigate the shooting, spokesperson Shay Awosiyan said the case involved a federal agency. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe can\u2019t speak about an incident involving someone else,\u201d Awosiyan said.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Harris County District Attorney Sean Teare said in a Wednesday post on X<\/a> that his office would usually open an investigation when anyone dies in the county during an interaction with local enforcement. <\/p>\n

\u201cUnfortunately at this time, federal authorities continue exclusively handling all aspects in this case,\u201d he added, urging eyewitnesses and anyone with videos or photos of the shooting to come forward.<\/p>\n

Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo also called for a \u201cfull and complete investigation\u201d of the shooting but did not say in her post on X<\/a> which agency should lead it.\u00a0<\/p>\n

When asked who should spearhead that inquiry, her office said in a statement that it was working on identifying options: \u201cEvery agency with jurisdiction should work to establish the truth. Congress needs to exercise its oversight authority. To the extent an independent investigation can be launched, that needs to be the case.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

At the state level, 13 Democratic senators and representatives from Harris County signed<\/a> an open letter calling on DPS to open a parallel investigation. The department had said in a statement earlier Wednesday that the Texas Rangers are not investigating the shooting, citing the probe led by the FBI.\u00a0<\/p>\n

DPS had previously investigated<\/a> an ICE officer\u2019s fatal shooting in South Padre Island of 23-year-old Ruben Ray Martinez, whom the federal agency also accused of intentionally trying to run over an agent. Body camera and security footage, later released by the department<\/a>, didn\u2019t definitively show Martinez attempting to do so.<\/p>\n

The Texas Rangers also investigated<\/a> a December fatal shooting in Starr County involving a U.S. Border Patrol officer.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, FBI Houston spokesperson Connor Hagan told the Tribune<\/a> on Tuesday that the agency is spearheading the probe into the potential assault on a federal law enforcement officer. The investigation into the shooting is led by the Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General, he said. <\/p>\n

In a subsequent statement<\/a> Wednesday, Houston police said Whitmire instructed the department to stay in contact with the FBI and Homeland Security\u2019s inspector general office.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cFederal law states local law enforcement has no independent jurisdiction to investigate federal agencies or federal law enforcement personnel who are acting in the course and scope of their official duties,\u201d the department said.<\/p>\n

Disclosure: Domingo Garcia and ProPublica have been financial supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in The Texas Tribune\u2019s journalism. Find a complete\u00a0list of them here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Audio recording is automated for accessibility. Humans wrote and edited the story. See our AI policy, and give…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":366473,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[11346,4092,3646,392,405,56,58,57,3743],"class_list":["post-366472","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-houston","tag-al-green","tag-department-of-homeland-security","tag-fbi","tag-greg-abbott","tag-harris-county","tag-houston","tag-houston-headlines","tag-houston-news","tag-john-whitmire"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/366472","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=366472"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/366472\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/366473"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=366472"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=366472"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=366472"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}