On July 10 community members gathered outside the U.S. Federal Building in Fresno for a vigil for Lorenzo Salgado Araujo who was shot and killed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in Houston, Texas on Tuesday, July 7.
Salgado Araujo was 52 years old and lived in Houston for 35 years. He was a husband and a father of three children. He owned a construction business and had no criminal record.
Fresno Poet Laureate Aideed Medina shared a poem with the dozens of attendees:
My freedom weighs heavy on my heart,
sits, stares out in judgment,
squats, holds back my breath
my freedom, it’s pulled over, it’s shut down, it’s incarcerated
my freedom is asked why, why I was pulled over, why I lost my life
and asked why, what did I say, what did I do to lose my freedom, to lose my life
it is asked over and over again what did you do to deserve the bullet to your head, your chest, your leg, your life
my freedom is asked over and over to prove that it’s worthy to exist, worthy to be alive, worthy to drive down the street, worthy to buy food at a grocery store, worthy to live in my neighborhood
my freedom gets questioned every day, my freedom weighs heavy on my heart.
The federal government is conducting the investigation—to date, no charges have been filed against the agents involved.
ICE CLAIMS ARE QUESTIONED
Salgado Araujo and three members of his construction crew were on their way to work when their van was targeted by unmarked vehicles. Surveillance video shows the unmarked vehicles driving aggressively and cutting the van off.
An ICE agent then shot Mr. Salgado Araujo in the abdomen and video shows Mr. Salgado Araujo on the ground before he was transported to a hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Neither Salgado Araujo nor any of the other men in the van were the persons the ICE agents were looking for.
ICE claims that Salgado Araujo “weaponized his vehicle” and tried to run over an agent who fired “in self-defense.” ICE has not provided any evidence and the three other men in the van have each independently stated that no agent had been positioned in front of the vehicle and Mr. Salgado Araujo did not use his vehicle as a weapon or attempt to run over the agents.
The ICE agents were not wearing body cameras and federal authorities have presented no video footage related to the incident and killing.
THE FRESNO COMMUNITY SPEAKS OUT
Vigils and demonstrations for Lorenzo Salgado were held nationally and locally, with dozens gathering in the blistering heat in Fresno. The event was organized by the May First Coalition for Immigrant Rights.
“Today, we join thousands of people around the country in solidarity with Lorenzo and his family,” said organizer Leonel Flores as he welcomed the crowd.
“Today it’s Lorenzo Salgado; tomorrow it could be my husband, my brother, my cousin. Tomorrow it could be someone closer to us,” said Cristina Gutierrez, of the May First Coalition.
Longtime Fresno human rights activist Gloria Hernandez spoke passionately to those gathered “how many more have to die before Congress wakes up and takes action?”
“The medical examiner categorized Mr. Salgado’s killing was a homicide and at no point were these agents’ lives in danger,” Hernandez said, summarizing the developing story.
“ICE officers were searching for two different people and observed a white van with another individual who resembled the target—you know we all look alike, right?
“The Department of Homeland Security spokesperson admitted Salgado had not been the intended target of the operation. We know they are profiling and the Supreme Court allows them to profile.”
“It’s the same discredited script,” Alfred Aldrete, of Fresno Resistance reminded the crowd. “They said he [Salgado] weaponized his vehicle, they said it was a threat, but we have seen this playbook before.
“They said the same thing when they murdered Renee Nicole Goode, a mother and poet.
“They said the same thing when they killed Alex Pretti, an ICU nurse.
“The media screamed their names, celebrities demanded justice. There was bipartisan outrage, where is the outrage now?”
Brianna, an elementary student, spoke next. “I am one of the Gen Alpha co-founders [of the May First Coalition] and want to talk about the terrible situation of what ICE is doing.
“They are being overly aggressive, they are separating families and ICE has killed many people because they are innocent immigrants. There has been a lack of oversight, there is poor medical care and environmental health hazards. They even had the audacity to pepper spray kids.
“They are separating dads from kids, moms from kids and husbands and wives from each other. They think they can do this and just get away with it, but everyone here at this event could stop them.”
Diljot Singh Rai from The Jakarta Movement called for solidarity, saying, “We are Sikh, Punjabi, Latino, Black, Asian, every faith and no faith, but today, we are all one.
“We are human beings before any of those things and we are standing for one truth, good for all. In my language it’s called ‘Sarbat da bhala.’ The well being for all or it means nothing.
“Lorenzo’s family should not be planning a funeral. They should be planning a Sunday dinner. We say his name, we carry his family and we do not stop.”
Tino Rayos from Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women said, “It is illegal for the state to execute people. ICE agents shot Lorenzo Salgado in cold blood. They killed another one of our people.
“People say, just come the right way, when there are so many barriers in place by design. If you’re rich, you can become a citizen in six years. He was here for thirty five years.
“It could be me, it could be you. So, let us stand together. Fighting for our neighbor, speaking for our neighbors. I represent the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women. They’ve lost their voice, they can’t speak because they’re missing, because they’re murdered, because they’re taken.
“So, we stand, we speak, we fight, we protest. Let’s change the laws, create equal pathways to citizenship and abolish ICE.”
Attorney Jose Salazar, a candidate for Judge in Fresno County, said “If it could happen to him, it could happen to anyone in our community. There’s sadness here today, but I want to translate that sadness into action.
“Voting and civic engagement should end with more power to the people. I know what justice and accountability look like. I’m an attorney, a public defender for over a decade.
“I don’t want people to be afraid to come to court, like the people in Lorenzo’s case. I don’t want witnesses to be afraid. So, if you want justice and accountability, vote in November, be powerful.”
40 SHOT, 11 DEAD
Federal agents have shot at least 40 people since Trump returned to power and 11 of those people have died.
Documented fatalities from shootings by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) since January 20, 2025 include:
- Ophelia Bauckholt – German national killed by CBP agents near the Canadian border on January 20, 2025, in Vermont.
- Ruben Ray Martinez (23) – Fatally shot by a Homeland Security Investigations (ICE) agent during a traffic stop on March 15, 2025, in Texas.
- Unnamed (27) – A man was shot and killed outside a CBP facility in McAllen, Texas, after opening fire on the building and law enforcement officers on July 7, 2025.
- Silverio Villegas-Gonzalez (38) – Killed by ICE officers on September 12, 2025, in Maine.
- Unnamed – A 31-year-old Mexican man was shot and killed by CBP agents on December 11, 2025 near Rio Grande City, Texas, after a struggle during an attempted detention. No name was given in the CPB incident report.
- Keith Porter Jr. (43) – Fatally shot by an off-duty ICE agent on December 31, 2025, in Northridge, California.
- Renee Nicole Good (37) – Fatally shot by an ICE agent on January 7, 2026, in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
- Alex Pretti (37) – Fatally shot by a Border Patrol agent on January 24, 2026, in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
- Jonah Neal (25) – Fatally shot at his home in Memphis, Tennessee, by a Homeland Security Investigations special agent on May 20, 2026; the officers responded to a 911 call reporting he was armed and threatening suicide; the circumstances of his death remain under investigation.
- Lorenzo Salgado Araujo (52) – Fatally shot by an ICE agent on July 7, 2026, in Houston, Texas.
BREAKING NEWS
On July 13, 2026, less than a week after Salgado Araujo’s murder and during this article’s production, ICE agents fatally shot a twenty six year old Columbian man, Joan Sebastian Guerrero, as he was driving to work in Biddeford, Maine. Guerrero’s three year old daughter was in the car and witnessed the killing of her father.
One witness reported seeing agents dragging Guerrero from his car after the shooting. “He was bleeding profusely from the head,” the eye witness said. “He was talking, he said I tried to stop.”
At least 4 bullet holes were seen in the car’s windshield. After the shooting, another neighbor said she heard a woman screaming, “You took her dad! You took her dad!”
Maine Senator Angus King’s office said the Department of Homeland Security has confirmed Joan Sebastian Guerrero was not the target of any warrant and the Maine Immigrant’s Rights Coalition said Guerrero was authorized to work in the United States and had been issued a social security number. His death prompted protests across Maine, including outside the main offices of Republican Senator Susan Collins.
