Anguish and disbelief at wake for Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, killed by ICE in Houston

HOUSTON — María Guadalupe García walked helplessly among the gravestones at Forest Park Lawndale, a funeral complex in Houston’s East End neighborhood. “It can’t be, they killed him without mercy,” said García, who had come to pay her last respects to Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, the Mexican immigrant and father of three who was shot and killed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents during a traffic stop in Texas last week. “We always greeted each other, he would ask about my family, and he was a hard-working man,” said García, 57, a resident of the East End neighborhood where Salgado Araujo lived. “We never saw him in a scandal, nothing like that. He raised his children and gave people jobs. What happened is a tragedy.” Another neighborhood resident who asked to remain anonymous because of his immigration status pointed at the gravestones while saying: “We all end up here, buried, but Lorenzo had a lot of life ahead of him, it’s not possible that the government shot him like that.” García and hundreds of others attended Salgado Araujo’s public wake Thursday, many wearing blue at the family’s request to honor the immigrant worker. Volunteers from various nongovernmental organizations assisted with access and distributed water and refreshments. The family prohibited the use of cameras and cellphones at the funeral to protect its privacy, and the ceremony took place amid a heavy police presence, with officers guarding the entrance to the building. “We will always remember you and demand an investigation into your death,” Edgar Morales, a University of Houston student who attended the funeral, wrote on a condolence card. “We are Hispanic, and now we are afraid that any of us could be killed,” he added. Remembering a life, and its details Inside, in the grand chapel of the funeral home, ranchera and Mexican music could be heard. The iconic song “Amor Eterno” (Eternal Love) by the legendary Mexican singer Juan Gabriel played several times during the wake. On a table sat a white safety helmet, a toolbox and several jerseys of El Tri, the Mexican national soccer team. Family and friends sat on long benches, some sobbing as screens displayed photos of Salgado Araujo. “My family wishes to express its deep gratitude for the incredible and unprecedented support we have received,” Ronaldo Salgado, his son, said in a Facebook post. Standing in front of the open coffin where Salgado Araujo’s bronze profile gazed toward the sky, were Ronaldo Salgado, 29, and his brother, Lorenzo Salgado, 27, who were greeting the visitors. “It was definitely very shocking to see,” said César Espinosa, executive director of FIEL, an immigrant rights advocacy organization. “But although it’s very painful, I think it’s also necessary to see it so that we can internalize what’s happening in the United States. So that we take this very seriously, because these are realities we suffer.” Espinosa said that FIEL and more than 30 organizations dedicated to immigration issues and workers’ rights are calling for a large march to be held in Houston on Sunday afternoon “so that the case of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo continues to resonate and that his name is not forgotten.” Salgado Araujo, 52, worked in construction and led a crew, and was in a van with three other people on the morning of July 7 in the Magnolia Park neighborhood in Houston. He was on his way to work at a construction site in the city when ICE agents stopped his vehicle. Salgado Araujo was not the intended target of the immigration agents, according to the Department of Homeland Security. However, the agents attempted to arrest him and shot him in the abdomen, killing him. The Department of Homeland Security has said Salgado Araujo was in the country illegally and attempted to run over agents, who shot in self-defense, but has not provided evidence of its claims. A search of the van Salgado was driving The FBI requested a search warrant for the van Salgado Araujo was driving, stating that an agent had seen small bags with a white substance that he believed could contain drugs. The Salgado Araujo family’s lawyer said that the substance was salt, which outdoor workers mix with lemon and water to combat the Texas heat. The FBI declined to comment on whether the agency had executed the search warrant or whether any of the seized items had tested positive for illegal drugs. “A search warrant does not equal guilt,” said attorney Ruby L. Powers, representing the brother of Salgado Araujo, who was arrested, along with the two other men in the van, after the shooting. “An unidentified substance is not a confirmed narcotic.” Powers indicated that she was requesting immediate analysis of the substance “to clear their names” and demanded the release of Salgado Araujo’s brother, who remains in ICE custody. The U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Texas said in a statement Thursday evening that “officers saw in plain view several small bags of a white, crystal-like substance inside the van.” “As a result, just yesterday the FBI executed a search warrant on the van in connection with possible narcotics trafficking and drug offenses,” Aaron Reitz said in the statement. Houston’s chief prosecutor Sean Teare and a group representing the deceased’s family have criticized the unusual move by the FBI, arguing that they do not believe there were drugs in the vehicle and that the search warrant does not alter the facts of the fatal shooting. Salgado Araujo, 52, who had no criminal record, had lived in the United States for 35 years. Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, a staunch supporter of Trump’s immigration crackdown, said Wednesday that the state’s top law enforcement unit would investigate the fatal shooting. An earlier version of this story was first published in Noticias Telemundo.