'Roving bands of unidentified masked agents': Jim McGovern slams ICE after Lorenzo Araujo killing

Six months ago, the killings of Renee Goode and Alex Pretti by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents forced the Trump administration to face tough opposition to its aggressive immigration agenda. The spotlight is once again on ICE as agents shot and killed Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a 52-year-old Mexican national, on Tuesday in Houston. The incident has led to outrage across the country, especially from Democrats. Among them, Rep. Jim McGovern accused Republicans of shying away from taking responsibility in a post on X on Friday.

"We still have roving bands of unidentified masked agents in unmarked cars empowered by Trump to terrorize our communities," he wrote. McGovern also shared a video of Araujo's son in tears, claiming that his father did not deserve to die. "I saw a video posted on Facebook that he had been shot. I recognized him immediately—not from his appearance, but from his voice crying for help as he lay on the street bleeding out," he said.

According to ICE, Araujo refused to follow commands during a traffic stop as part of a "targeted operation" and rammed a law enforcement vehicle, CNN reported. However, the version of events presented by three men who were at the scene and later detained did not match that of the agents, according to attorney Hugo Balderas-Ibarra. "At no point did they use the van to ram into the ICE agents, and at no point were these ICE agents' lives ever in any danger," the attorney said.

Videos of the incident have gone viral on social media, and most of them show officials bent over a body outside a white van. Black SUVs were also seen parked beside it. What has made the situation worse for the Trump administration is the fact that none of the agents had been issued body cameras. This has raised further concerns, as several months ago, a federal judge in Chicago ordered immigration agents involved in enforcement to wear active body cameras.

Ahead of the incident, Texas authorities had notified ICE about two people allegedly in the country without legal status and travelling in a white van. Neither of them was Araujo. A Department of Homeland Security official said that "officers were almost at the target's address when they observed a white van with an individual who resembled the target. Officers then initiated the vehicle stop."

Moreover, Rep. Sylvia Garcia claimed that she spoke to ICE Acting Director David Venturella, who confirmed that Araujo was not the target. "ICE Acting Director David Venturella confirmed Lorenzo Salgado Araujo was not the target, no body camera or dashcam footage captured the shooting, and key witnesses remain in ICE custody," she wrote on X as she called for an investigation.

The incident has put the Trump administration's hardline immigration policies under the microscope yet again. "He belongs to the Constitution of the United States of America. That Constitution applies to him just as it applies to me. He should not receive any less attention from the Constitution than I or any of you would receive," Rep. Al Green said.