Jamie Raskin
Role at the time: U.S. representative for Maryland and ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee
Statement summary
Jamie Raskin and Pramila Jayapal wrote to DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin and acting ICE Director David Venturella on July 30, 2026 that DHS made false and unsubstantiated allegations about people its agents shot, including Ruben Ray Martinez, and that later evidence contradicted DHS's claims that they were attacking officers. They asked DHS to equip every agent with a functioning body-worn camera and to hold agents accountable who do not turn them on.
“DHS and its component agencies have consistently made false and unsubstantiated allegations about people its agents shot, including Renée Good, Alex Pretti, Ruben Ray Martinez, and Marimar Martinez. DHS initially claimed these U.S. citizens, all of whom they either killed or maimed, were attacking law enforcement officers. In each case, evidence later emerged that definitively contradicted the government's claims, showing that DHS made false or misleading statements.”
The lawmakers' body-camera demand and criticism of DHS shooting accounts.
Why we used this label
The case asks whether Stevens was justified in shooting Martinez. The letter says DHS claimed Martinez and other U.S. citizens its agents killed or maimed were attacking officers, and that evidence later definitively contradicted those claims. That rejects the justification offered for the shooting, so we labeled it Condemned. Challenged the characterization is the closest competing label; it loses because the letter goes beyond disputing a description and treats the killing as resting on claims it calls false.