‘Murder committed!’: Lawmaker sobs as she vows justice for ICE victims

A lawmaker ended her remarks in tears at a hearing on Friday as she vowed to fight until “the murder committed by federal agents” never happens again under President Donald Trump.

Rep. Sylvia Garcia (D-TX) was speaking at an oversight forum in Houston focused on the July 7 death of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a 52-year-old construction worker shot and killed by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent.

ICE and the Department of Homeland Security refused to send a representative. Garcia told the forum Congress had sent six letters demanding answers. None were returned.

Salgado Araujo was not the target of the operation, according to DHS. Agents stopped him because they thought he resembled a suspect — a Guatemalan national. Salgado Araujo and everyone in his van were Mexican.

The three men in the van when he was shot challenge the government’s account of the shooting.

“Lorenzo had come to a full stop while the agents fired,” passenger Daniel Tirado Pantoja wrote in a court filing, adding that at no point were agents in front of the vehicle.

The agents had no body cameras and no dash cameras, federal agents told congressional Democrats. Neighborhood surveillance video and witness cell phone footage, however, captured parts of the pursuit.

“[The footage] looks more like a carjacking attempt than it does a police stop,” Seth Stoughton, a University of South Carolina use-of-force expert and former police officer, told the Texas Tribune.

At Friday’s forum, Garcia said the administration’s silence was precisely why the hearing had to happen.

“They don’t intend to give us any answers until their investigation is complete,” she said.

Even border czar Tom Homan could not confirm whether agents used lights and sirens during the stop.

“It appears from everything we’ve seen that either these agents are completely untrained, or intentionally putting themselves in situations where they can justify firing into cars,” Harris County District Attorney Sean Teare told CBS News.

Garcia’s voice cracked, and she began to sob as she turned to Salgado Araujo’s sons, who were present at the hearing.

“I’m proud of Mr. Salgado Araujo’s sons,” she said. “In the midst of unimaginable grief, they have shown extraordinary courage. We will fight tooth and nail to ensure the murder committed by federal agents never, ever happens again.”

Still crying, Garcia closed to applause.

“We are stronger than fear. We are stronger than intimidation. We will keep fighting until justice is done.”