{"id":368751,"date":"2026-07-10T21:52:21","date_gmt":"2026-07-10T21:52:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/368751\/"},"modified":"2026-07-10T21:52:21","modified_gmt":"2026-07-10T21:52:21","slug":"abbott-other-texas-gop-leaders-mum-on-fatal-ice-shooting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/368751\/","title":{"rendered":"Abbott, other Texas GOP leaders mum on fatal 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

Three days after federal immigration agents fatally shot a man during a traffic stop in Houston, most of Texas\u2019 Republican leaders had yet to weigh in on the incident or respond to calls from Democrats<\/a> and civil rights advocates for an independent investigation.<\/p>\n

As public outcry has rippled across the internet and the streets of Houston, Gov. Greg Abbott<\/a>, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick<\/a> and most of the state\u2019s GOP congressional delegation have kept mum about the death of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a 52-year-old Mexican national who had lived in the country for decades. A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent shot him to death earlier this week when authorities tried to stop his van during an operation.<\/p>\n

Details about the shooting have been fluid and little video evidence has emerged, even as the government\u2019s account is called into question by witnesses. An ICE spokesperson said agents, who did not have body-worn or dashboard cameras, opened fire Tuesday morning because Salgado Araujo \u201cweaponized his vehicle in an attempt to run over an ICE law enforcement officer resulting in our officer firing his weapon in self-defense.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, three men who were in the van with Salgado Araujo disputed ICE\u2019s version of events<\/a>; one noted there were no law enforcement officers in front or behind the vehicle \u2014 only to the side. The witnesses, who are now in immigration custody, said Salgado Araujo never rammed ICE\u2019s vehicles with his van, according to written accounts relayed by their lawyer. <\/p>\n

Additionally, U.S. Rep. Sylvia Garcia<\/a> said she was informed by ICE\u2019s acting director that Salgado Araujo was not the target<\/a> of the operation.<\/p>\n

At a press conference Friday, Garcia and other Houston Democrats renewed their criticisms of ICE and their demands for an investigation conducted outside the agency. They also called for ICE and its parent agency, the Department of Homeland Security, to release evidence supporting their claims. <\/p>\n

Garcia, who represents the neighborhood where the shooting occurred, said she had not heard from Abbott nor any of her congressional Republican colleagues. <\/p>\n

The governor\u2019s office declined to respond Friday when asked about Garcia\u2019s comments. A spokesperson referred the Tribune to the Texas Department of Public Safety for \u201cinformation on how Rangers investigations start.\u201d<\/p>\n

Garcia said the differing accounts between ICE and witnesses, as well as DHS\u2019 original reference to the incident as a targeted enforcement operation without mentioning Salgado Araujo was not the target, underscores the need for an outside probe.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s why we need a complete, thorough investigation, and a fact-finding from top to bottom \u2014 and we have to make sure that it does include our local partners,\u201d Garcia said, alluding to calls for Houston police and DPS to step in. \u201cICE cannot be doing this [investigation] alone, because otherwise, we\u2019ll end up just like in the [Renee] Good case \u2014 nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sen. John Cornyn<\/a> did not respond to an inquiry about whether he believes there should be an investigation independent from the one being overseen by DHS\u2019 Office of the Inspector General. In a statement to The Texas Tribune, Sen. Ted Cruz<\/a> expressed trust in the federal probe.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is an active investigation, and I have full confidence that, once it is complete, we will have a full and accurate account of what occurred,\u201d Cruz said.<\/p>\n

Texas House Speaker Dustin Burrows<\/a>, R-Lubbock, also had not said anything about the shooting as of Friday afternoon. Nor had U.S. Reps. Morgan Luttrell<\/a>, Michael McCaul<\/a> and August Pfluger<\/a>, the three Texas Republicans who sit on the House Homeland Security Committee, the panel with jurisdiction over ICE. <\/p>\n

Spokespersons for Luttrell, McCaul and Pfluger, along with the Texas House speaker and lieutenant governor, did not immediately respond Friday to requests for comment.<\/p>\n

The shooting occurred in Houston\u2019s Magnolia Park neighborhood, a heavily Hispanic area near the Houston Ship Channel in the city\u2019s East End. But the area was moved out of Garcia\u2019s district when Republicans redrew Texas\u2019 congressional map last summer, putting it in the 9th Congressional District. GOP nominee Alex Mealer is the favorite to win the Republican-leaning seat in November.<\/p>\n

Responding Tuesday night to DHS\u2019 post on X<\/a> detailing the agency\u2019s claim that the ICE officer acted in self-defense, Mealer expressed her belief that the feds would get to the bottom of the matter.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday is yet another reminder of the dangers law enforcement face everyday as they protect our safety,\u201d Mealer wrote on X<\/a>. \u201cI have full confidence in law enforcement\u2019s ability to conduct a thorough investigation and ensure justice is served.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mealer has not made any public statements about the shooting since Tuesday, and her campaign did not immediately respond Friday to questions about whether she supported an independent investigation or believes ICE should release evidence.<\/p>\n

In January, after ICE agents fatally shot two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis, also sparking widespread outrage, the Republican committee chairs of the House and Senate\u2019s homeland security committees both scheduled oversight hearings and requested testimony from immigration enforcement agency leaders. <\/p>\n

Those testimony requests were sent to ICE and other agencies three weeks after the fatal shooting of Renee Good, and the hearings were ultimately held in February, giving lawmakers an opportunity to press then-ICE acting director Todd Lyons and other Trump administration personnel.<\/p>\n

Rep. Andrew Garbarino, the New York Republican who chairs the House Homeland Security Committee, said his panel is monitoring the investigations into the shooting. He did not say if he would hold an oversight hearing or call authorities to testify.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Committee remains in contact with ICE and DHS regarding the shooting in Houston, and we will continue to monitor the investigations as they develop,\u201d Garbarino said in a statement to The Texas Tribune. \u201cMy top priority as Chairman is ensuring the safety of the public and of the law enforcement officers who are charged with upholding it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The committee office for Sen. Rand Paul, R-Kentucky and chair of the Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee, did not immediately respond to an inquiry about his plans.<\/p>\n

In the wake of the late January ICE shooting of U.S. citizen Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, the second that month and a case in which there was ample video evidence captured by bystanders, a handful of Texas Republicans did discuss the incident. Cruz and McCaul both called<\/a> for an investigation shortly after Pretti\u2019s killing.<\/p>\n

Abbott, meanwhile, said the federal government should \u201crecalibrate\u201d its approach to its massive deportation operation. <\/p>\n

\u201cIn general, we need to have respect for law enforcement officers in the country,\u201d Abbott said, appearing on conservative radio host Mark Davis\u2019 show in January. \u201cICE, they are law enforcement officers. And so they, being the White House, need to recalibrate on what needs to be done to make sure that respect is going to be re-instilled.\u201d<\/p>\n

Samanta Habashy contributed to this report.<\/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":368752,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[1864,1865,392,56,58,57,1724,3647,3309,7883,6473],"class_list":["post-368751","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-houston","tag-dan-patrick","tag-dustin-burrows","tag-greg-abbott","tag-houston","tag-houston-headlines","tag-houston-news","tag-immigration","tag-immigration-and-customs-enforcement","tag-john-cornyn","tag-ted-cruz","tag-well-a-homepage"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/368751","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=368751"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/368751\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/368752"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=368751"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=368751"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=368751"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}