Substance in Houston ICE shooting van was not drugs, district attorney’s office says testing confirms

Key Points:

• The substance found in Lorenzo Salgado Araujo's van, after he was fatally shot by an ICE agent during a traffic stop in Houston, was confirmed not to be drugs, according to the Harris County District Attorney’s Office.
• The FBI had previously filed a warrant application alleging the presence of illegal drugs in the vehicle, but this claim faced strong pushback from Salgado Araujo’s family and legal representatives, who stated the substance was likely a homemade electrolyte mix.
• Conflicting accounts exist regarding the shooting: ICE claimed Salgado Araujo tried to ram their vehicle leading to self-defense shooting, while witnesses and family attorneys dispute this narrative, highlighting that ICE agents were not wearing body cameras.
• The unsealing of the FBI warrant application sparked criticism from legal experts and civil rights groups, who argued it created a misleading narrative and distracted from the investigation into the shooting.
• Salgado Araujo’s brother, a key witness to the incident, remains in ICE custody weeks after the shooting, prompting calls from his attorney for his release and for an independent investigation into Lorenzo Salgado Araujo’s death.