Tom Homan says compliance would have prevented the fatal ICE shootings
White House border czar
“Well, bottom line is, we'll see when the investigation plays out, but they would be alive today if they simply complied with- with a vehicle stop by federal law enforcement. Just comply.”
Source and context
Interview
About this source
Full CBS transcript of Margaret Brennan’s interview with White House border czar Tom Homan. Homan blamed the two deaths on noncompliance, while also saying he had not seen the Houston video and that failure to activate emergency lights would present an issue.
Before the quotation
Margaret Brennan asked Homan about the fatal shootings in Houston and Maine and pressed him on the Houston agents’ use of an unmarked vehicle.
After the quotation
When Brennan said the Houston family believed Salgado Araujo thought he was being robbed, Homan said agency vehicles have emergency lights. He then acknowledged that he had not seen the video and said failure to activate those lights would present an issue.
How this statement is classified
Case context: Was ICE justified in fatally shooting Lorenzo Salgado Araujo?
The label describes this statement’s response within the context above.
Why this label?
Relative to the case-level reference point—the ICE officer’s fatal use of force against Lorenzo Salgado Araujo—Homan shifts responsibility to the people who were killed and presents compliance as what would have prevented the shootings. That excuses the fatal force despite his separate caveat that the investigation remained open.
- Recorded on
- Published here
- People and groups discussed
- U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
Was ICE justified in fatally shooting Lorenzo Salgado Araujo?
Explore the case context, sources and public responses.
More from this case
Read the full case“That is because the President of the United States, Donald John Trump, is covering up unjustified killings of civilians, including Renee Good, Alex Pretti, Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, and Johan Sebastian Duran Guerrero.”Read statement
“This is an outrageous abuse of government power. ICE pursued the wrong van and killed an unarmed man who wasn’t their target.”Read statement
“Lorenzo Salgado Araujo should still be alive today, and nothing about the government's so-called 'search' could have changed that fact. By taking the unusual steps of securing and then unsealing their search warrant, the government has demonstrated that it is more interested in creating a false narrative than in seeking the truth.”Read statement