United States Representative and Democratic candidate for U.S. House in Texas's 37th district.
Case
DHS says its Homeland Security Investigations will lead the inquiry into an ICE officer's shooting of a Venezuelan delivery driver in Austin. Austin's mayor, Democratic lawmakers and LULAC call for independent investigation; the man's attorney disputes DHS's account.
Case
Jon Ossoff urges inspections, legislation and an AI treaty; Donald Trump says existing federal powers are sufficient. Their opposing positions raise a concrete question: should Washington add safeguards for frontier AI?
Role at the time: U.S. Representative (D-TX 35), at a news conference with LULAC leaders
Statement summary
At a Monday news conference, Casar said ICE has lied in virtually every single case and, citing earlier shootings, said the public cannot believe what ICE says about the Austin shooting.
“The reason we have all these cameras out here and all these people out here is because ICE has lied in virtually every single case.”
Relative to DHS's account of the shooting, Casar states that ICE has lied in virtually every case and that its account of this one cannot be believed. That is a direct rejection of the account's reliability. Closest competing label: mixed_or_conditional loses because he sets no condition on that conclusion.
Role at the time: U.S. Representative (D-TX 35), in a letter to DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin and Acting ICE Director David Venturella
Statement summary
Casar wrote that DHS has repeatedly lied about the facts after violent encounters involving agents and blamed victims, and that any DHS narrative about the Austin shooting must be viewed with deep skepticism and an independent investigation conducted.
“As a result, any narrative from DHS regarding this shooting must be viewed with deep skepticism and an independent investigation must be conducted.”
Relative to DHS's handling of the shooting, including its account and the question of who investigates, Casar expressly rejects the reliability of any DHS narrative and demands an independent inquiry. Closest competing label: challenges_characterization loses because he criticizes DHS's conduct and credibility, not one description.
Role at the time: U.S. Representative (D-TX); Chair, Congressional Progressive Caucus
Statement summary
Speaking at the Pro-Human Assembly in Washington, D.C., Rep. Greg Casar, chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, said "no one can win the AI arms race" and that "it's up to us to end the AI arms race." He urged lawmakers and the public to confront the potential dangers of advanced AI more candidly and to reject the argument that the United States must accelerate development or lose to China in reaching artificial general intelligence. The one-day event was organised by the Future of Life Institute.
“No one can win the AI arms race. … It's up to us to end the AI arms race.”
The case's fixed reference point is the proposition that Washington should impose stronger safeguards on frontier AI. Casar supports it: he calls on lawmakers and the public to end the AI arms race and expressly rejects the competitiveness-with-China argument that other speakers in this case use to resist safeguards. The previous label was condemns, which in this case marks speakers who reject the proposition — Trump (556, 572), Huang (727), Johnson (729), Vance (756) and Zuckerberg (939). Casar's criticism targets the unregulated status quo, not the proposition, so condemns grouped him with the speakers he opposes. The closest competing label is mixed_or_conditional, which loses because he attaches no condition. The previous exactQuotation ended "Our goal has to be to end the AI arms race to protect people here and around the world"; that wording does not appear in the cited Common Dreams report and has been replaced with his actual words.
Statement dates: September 15, 2026
Statement dates: September 20, 2026 to September 21, 2026
Statement dates: September 20, 2026 to September 21, 2026
Statement dates: September 20, 2026 to September 21, 2026
Statement dates: September 15, 2026 to September 21, 2026
