The Witnesses to the Fatal Shot Are Being Held by the Very Agency Whose Officer Pulled the Trigger

There is one sentence in the court filings from Houston that causes the government's entire version of events to collapse. There was not a single officer either behind us or in front of us, Jose Trinidad Rojas Pliego writes. They were standing only on the sides. He calls the government's account a lie and says it is impossible.

Shortly after July 7, the Department of Homeland Security claimed that Lorenzo Salgado Araujo had turned his vehicle into a weapon and attempted to run over an ICE officer, who then fired in self-defense. Now the statements of two men who were riding in the same vehicle have become public. Daniel Tirado Pantoja writes that the officers were never in front of the vehicle, adding one detail that leaves no room for interpretation. Salgado Araujo had shifted the vehicle into park while the officers were firing.

Both men describe the morning the same way. At 6:30 a.m., Salgado Araujo picked him up, Rojas Pliego writes, just as he did every day, before collecting the other two men. Soon afterward, another vehicle began following them and nearly crashed into their van. Frightened, they tried to turn around by driving over a curb. The government vehicle chased them. They believed they had gotten away, and then suddenly the officers were standing in front of them. Tirado Pantoja writes that the government vehicle first rammed them from behind and then struck the driver's side again. The Department tells the opposite story, claiming Salgado Araujo rammed the officers' vehicles. A Texas federal prosecutor has since stated that the officers were actually pursuing two Guatemalan men driving a similar work van.

What happened after the shots were fired is also documented in the court records. They pulled the wounded man out of the vehicle, handcuffed him, and threw him onto the ground, Rojas Pliego writes. At some point, Salgado Araujo said they had already killed him. The very officer who fired the shots then violently dragged them out of the vehicle as well, threw them to the ground, and restrained them from head to toe.

Salgado Araujo was 52 years old. He had lived in the United States for 35 years without legal immigration status, owned a construction company, and died in front of his workers, including his own brother. He had no criminal record. His death is one of at least ten fatalities during immigration enforcement operations since this campaign began. The officers were not wearing body cameras. To this day, no photographs or video recordings of the shooting have surfaced.

Read also our article: He Was a Tourist, Not a Migrant: The Man ICE Drove to His Death in Florida Had a Visa and a Return Ticket

And this is where the real scandal begins, one that reaches far beyond the fatal shot itself. The three men who witnessed everything were arrested and have remained in immigration detention ever since. Their attorneys have filed challenges to their detention, calling the circumstances extraordinary because the very agency now deciding whether they remain in custody is the same agency whose officers shot at them from point-blank range. A witness in the custody of the accused is no longer truly a witness. He becomes a bargaining chip. Every statement he gives is made knowing that the agency his testimony implicates also controls whether he stays in the country, and every moment of silence will later be interpreted as agreement.

The courts have recognized that reality, although only after the fact. At least one court has now drawn a line. On Monday, U.S. District Judge Keith Ellison blocked the deportation of Jose Trinidad Rojas Pliego, one of the three passengers and eyewitnesses to the shooting. Rojas Pliego must remain in the Southern District of Texas while his habeas petition is pending because, according to his filing, he is being held by ICE in violation of the Constitution. The Department of Homeland Security stated that it will comply with the order. On Wednesday, another judge ordered that the court must receive five days' notice before Daniel Tirado Pantoja can be transferred or deported. Both men have also applied for the visas available to victims of serious crimes who assist law enforcement investigations. Their attorney argues that they survived aggravated assault involving a deadly weapon and are essential witnesses to the killing.

Who is conducting the investigation provides the final answer, and perhaps the most troubling one. The federal prosecutor in charge promised a full investigation by his office, the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security, and local law enforcement agencies. He said they would do everything necessary to uncover the truth and do what is right. On Wednesday, the Department stated that its own Office of Inspector General is also conducting an investigation. But the FBI field office in Houston is investigating a possible assault on a federal officer.

Read that last sentence one more time. The primary investigation is not directed at the man who fired the shots. It is directed at the man who was killed. The dead man no longer has a defense. His witnesses are sitting in detention, and the cameras were turned off. The only thing missing now is for the vehicle itself to be convicted as the weapon.