Castro calls the shooting a cold-blooded killing
Joaquin CastroU.S. representative for Texas’s 20th congressional district
Castro condemned the shooting as a killing in cold blood and argued that ICE had not produced evidence supporting its assertion that Salgado Araujo posed a danger.
Responding to
The ICE officer fired in self-defense after Lorenzo Salgado Araujo attempted to run over an officer with his van.
“The more evidence that comes out, the clearer it becomes that Lorenzo Salgado Araujo was murdered in cold blood by agents of the United States government.”
Official statement
Official statement
Where this statement fits
Was ICE justified in fatally shooting Lorenzo Salgado Araujo?
On July 7, 2026, a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer fatally shot Houston construction contractor Lorenzo Salgado Araujo during an attempted vehicle stop. ICE said the officer fired in self-defense after Salgado Araujo tried to run over an officer with his van. Passengers said no officer was in the van’s path and that Salgado Araujo had stopped before the shot. A later Justice Department account described possible vehicle movement with an officer beside or partly inside the van but expressly reserved any final conclusion.
Source and context
Official statement
About this source
Official transcript of Castro's remarks directly condemning the shooting and challenging ICE's self-defense account.
Official statement
About this source
Official caucus recap preserving attributed remarks from Al Green, Joaquin Castro, Ronaldo Salgado and other participants, plus the negative narcotics-test result.
Before the quotation
At the Houston oversight forum, Castro addressed the Salgado family and discussed the publicly available evidence and absence of body-camera or dash-camera footage.
After the quotation
He argued that ICE had smeared Salgado Araujo and called for accountability and justice.
How this statement is classified
The label describes this statement's response within the context above.
Why this label?
Castro’s description of it as murder in cold blood is an explicit rejection of the claim that the force was justified.
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- Published here
- People and groups discussed
- U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
More from this case
Read the full casePadilla co-signs letter citing Salgado Araujo's death as showing inadequate ICE use-of-force training
“On July 7, 2026, an ICE officer in Houston, Texas fatally shot Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a 52-year-old construction worker and father of three, while he was driving a work crew to a job site. Witnesses have disputed DHS's account that Mr. Salgado Araujo used his vehicle as a weapon. ... These killings, combined with the whistleblower's account of corners cut on both vetting and training, make clear that officers hired during the surge did not receive adequate instruction in de-escalation, use-of-force standards, and vehicle-stop protocols before being sent into communities with the authority to use deadly force.”Read statement
Ronaldo Salgado questions the public-safety justification for pursuing his father
“How is going after my dad going to work making the city safer?”Read statement
Free Speech For People condemns the Salgado Araujo killing
Free Speech For People
“While the killing of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo was the most horrific instance of criminality federal agents committed in Houston”Read statement
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- Castro calls the shooting a cold-blooded killing
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The Dispute Index. "Castro calls the shooting a cold-blooded killing". First published: 2026-09-22. Last updated: 2026-09-22. https://disputeindex.com/events/1396-castro-condemned-the-shooting-as-a-killing-in