Representative Jasmine Crockett of Texas saw an ICE shooting in Houston and immediately knew who the real villain was: the federal officers who got rammed by a vehicle. Bold strategy.
As The American Tribune reported, the incident took place Tuesday morning during a targeted enforcement operation. According to the Department of Homeland Security, 52-year-old Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a Mexican national who had lived in the U.S. for decades without legal status, attempted to evade arrest by ramming an ICE vehicle, ignoring multiple verbal commands, and then allegedly trying to run over an officer with his vehicle. The ICE officer fired in self-defense. Salgado Araujo was transported to a hospital, where he later died from his injuries.
DHS posted its account on X, stating the incident occurred at approximately 6:50 a.m. CT on July 7th. The agency announced the FBI would investigate the potential assault on the officer while DHS would investigate the officer-involved shooting. Two investigations. That sounds like accountability to most reasonable people, but apparently not to Crockett.
The Texas Democrat responded the next day with a post that read like she had only been briefed on half the story. "Lorenzo Salgado Araujo should be here with us today," Crockett wrote. "No family should have to spend the day after their father was killed demanding answers. ICE must be held accountable. We deserve a full, independent, transparent investigation — now." She also said her "heart is with his family, his loved ones, and the entire community."
Notice what is missing from that statement: any acknowledgment that DHS says the man allegedly weaponized his vehicle against a federal officer. It is like writing a movie review that skips the entire third act because you did not care for the ending.
Reuters reported that ICE described Salgado Araujo as a Mexican national who attempted to evade arrest, though the outlet noted it could not independently verify his immigration status or the exact circumstances. CBS News reported that his son, Ronaldo Salgado, said his father had no criminal convictions and had spent decades working in construction. The family has disputed the federal account and called for an independent investigation, which is entirely their right.
Critics on X were not gentle with Crockett's framing. Multiple accounts pointed out that she conveniently omitted the part where DHS says the man allegedly tried to flatten an officer with a car. One conservative account wrote "Pray for our ICE" while another responded to a gun control group posting about the death by saying, "Weird how you left that part out."
None of this is new territory for Crockett. Her own campaign website calls ICE a "rogue police force" and accuses "masked ICE agents" of killing people in the streets and disappearing neighbors without due process. She has voted against ICE funding and backed legislation targeting the agency's operations. So her reaction to the Houston shooting was about as surprising as finding sand at the beach.
The FBI and DHS investigations will sort out the facts. In the meantime, Crockett has managed to turn a case where federal authorities say an officer was nearly killed by a vehicle into a referendum on ICE accountability. That takes a special kind of commitment to a narrative, and she has it in abundance.
Read more American news stories at: The American Tribune
