Johnson Slams Federal Cover-Up of ICE Shooting

HOUSTON, TEXAS — Nathan Johnson, the Democratic nominee for Texas Attorney General, today called for an end to the federal obstruction of local law enforcement’s independent investigation into the killing of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, the 52-year-old, 35-year Houston construction business owner and father of three who was shot by an ICE agent during a traffic stop Tuesday morning.

"A man was shot by unidentified federal officers on a Texas street, and the federal government is wrongfully obstructing Texans from knowing the truth," said Johnson. "The Harris County District Attorney has been walled off from the case. The only investigators with access to the evidence work for the same federal government whose agent pulled the trigger. To have any shred of legitimacy, ICE must release all relevant video surveillance.

“In the past couple years, we have been given no reason to trust that the federal government will act lawfully or honestly in any incident involving ICE. Quite to the contrary, we have a history of federal officials spouting outright lies about the facts involved in conflicts with ICE."

Harris County District Attorney Sean Teare, whose office is charged with reviewing every death in the county involving law enforcement, confirmed that federal authorities have locked his office out of the investigation, leaving his investigators to piece together whatever they can find that ICE and federal investigators haven’t already hidden or sequestered.

"When federal agents use deadly force against a Texan and then lock state and local investigators out of the evidence, the Attorney General should demand answers, back our local prosecutors, and defend the authority of Texas institutions to do their jobs. Ken Paxton should be doing all of this, ensuring that local law enforcement can view the facts to provide the answers that the public is entitled to have."

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About Nathan Johnson for Texas AG

Senator Nathan Johnson is a seasoned litigator and a Texas State Senator, with a proven record of effective public service. He brings to the Attorney General’s race both policy depth and legal expertise, along with a reputation for taking on the most difficult problems, asking the hard questions, and working to fix what’s wrong no matter who or what stands in the way. Through his four sessions in office there runs a thread of defending constitutional principles, advocating for responsible, responsive government, and insisting on fairness and consistency in the law.