July 8, 2026
Justice for Lorenzo Salgado Araujo
Community Demands Accountability
A Statement from Brenda Victoria Castillo, President & CEO of the
National Hispanic Media Coalition (NHMC)
On Tuesday, July 7, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) shot and killed Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Houston, Texas. Lorenzo–who had lived in this country for nearly 35 years, working in construction to provide for his wife and three sons, and was in the process of obtaining legal status–was picking up his crew in a work vehicle in the early morning hours when neighbors heard a gunshot and a struggling man crying out in Spanish, "They're killing me!"
In the agency’s statement released immediately after the murder of Lorenzo, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) claims Lorenzo “rammed an ICE law enforcement vehicle, refused to follow multiple verbal commands, and weaponized his vehicle.” However, this eerily echoes similar to what DHS has claimed in at least a dozen other shootings since January 2025.
Of those shootings, DHS’s claim that vehicles were used as weapons against federal officers often did not hold up against court or evidentiary scrutiny. In nearly every case where independent video, court records, or the government's own corrections have surfaced, DHS's claim that the driver "weaponized" their vehicle has not survived — contradicted by footage, collapsed in court, or quietly revised by the agency itself.
This is a pattern of lies, coverups, and inhumane treatment perpetuated by an administration that trades accountability for xenophobic and racist propaganda. There is no justification for the dehumanization of entire populations of peoples. NHMC calls on all local, state, and federal bodies to conduct thorough investigations and preserve the truth and justice for Lorenzo and those who survive him.
As NHMC joins Lorenzo Salgado Araujo’s family and friends in mourning his life, we pause to ask: How many of us must be murdered to satiate hate? How many fathers, mothers, siblings, and friends must be ripped from our lives before America is “great” again?
We remember and honor all those lost at the hands of ICE and CBP, including Ruben Ray Martinez, Silverio Villegas González, Keith Porter Jr., Renee Nicole Good, Isaias Sanchez Barboza, and Alex Jeffrey Pretti.
Yours in the Movement,
Brenda Victoria Castillo
President & CEO
National Hispanic Media Coalition
