Harris County Attorney General Sean Teare confirmed that his office is investigating the death of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, at the hands of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, regardless of whether they are federal officers.

Teare stated that there have been difficulties in accessing essential information about the case, including a blockage in access to the crime scene.

"Since Tuesday, when this incident occurred, we have been conducting our own investigation. We investigate every officer-involved shooting in Harris County when it involves an agency other than ICE," Teare said. “We conducted a parallel investigation where we collaborated with law enforcement, whether federal agencies or our state and local agencies.”

In a press conference led by Congresswoman Sylvia García (Texas), the prosecutor added that, ideally, both local and federal authorities collaborate in an incident in Harris County, as has happened in other cases.

"We all pitch in and decide what the appropriate outcome is. Almost universally, it's that we present the case to a grand jury and let them decide," he said. "We were not invited to this scene on Tuesday. My investigators and my civil rights division have been there virtually from the moment the scene was revealed, searching for surveillance footage, talking to witnesses, doing everything we can and do in every case to ensure a full and fair investigation is conducted, so we can be transparent with our community."

President Donald Trump's government confirmed that the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) are investigating the death of Salgado Araujo, but his family and the organizations that advise them demand an independent and fair investigation, not from the federal government itself.

Democratic Congressman Al Green, from the 9th District of Texas, celebrated that the Harris Prosecutor's Office carried out a parallel investigation into the death of Salgado Araujo.

"I want to thank you for not allowing the feds to intimidate you and convince you that somehow you don't have the authority to investigate. Any member of the sheriff's department can investigate," Green said. "Mr. [Salgado] Araujo belongs to us. He belongs to the Constitution of the United States of America. That Constitution applies to him, just as it applies to me. He should receive no less attention from the Constitution than I or any of you. He belongs to us. He is under our jurisdiction."

They should have shot the tires, “not the driver”

Democratic Representative García criticized the actions of the ICE agent who shot Salazar Araujo, since if he considered that his life was in danger from the car, then he should have shot the tires, not the driver.

García recalled the violent operations of immigration agents in Chicago, Illinois, and Minneapolis, Minnesota, criticizing that ICE seemed to learn nothing from such actions.

"We saw it happen in Minneapolis. We saw it happen in Chicago. We see it in terms of ICE presence, sorry. So we have learned some lessons. Apparently, ICE has not learned anything," he said. “If they really think a car is going to hurt someone, I mean, even a kid would tell you to shoot the tires, don't shoot the driver.”

They accuse ICE of racial actions

The representative of the 29th District in Texas said that she was “grey,” referring to herself as white, so ICE agents would not detain her, unlike some of the colleagues who accompanied her at the press conference, including Hugo Balderas, lawyer for two of the men detained on the day of the incident.

"It could happen to any of us, especially if we are, you know I'm white. They may not arrest me, but they could probably arrest some of my friends," he said, pointing to his companions. “You know, it's about making sure that civil rights are protected, that human rights are protected, that constitutional rights are protected in this country.”

García added that the ICE agents who tried to search Lorenzo's truck – who was with his brother Víctor and his two workers José Trinidad Rojas and Daniel Tirado Patoja, the three detained by ICE – were not carrying an arrest warrant signed by a judge, but rather an administrative order, which is usually signed by a supervisor of the immigration agency.

Hugo Balderas, attorney Trinidad Rojas and Tirado Pantoja – whom ICE seeks to deport as soon as possible – demanded the release of their clients, who are in the Montgomery Processing Center.

“I believe that, given the magnitude of this case and the implications it entails, my clients could be pressured to sign documentation proving their voluntary departure,” Balderas lamented. "I think this would be devastating not only for them, but for everyone involved. And I think it's extremely important that we preserve the integrity of this investigation."

Balderas agreed with Congresswoman García, regarding the detention of Hispanics by ICE.

"This is not immigration control. This is racial discrimination. It is very important that they are required to wear body cameras. It is very important that they are required to take off their masks," he said.