Shortly after immigration agents killed two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis in January, the Department of Homeland Security vowed to quickly deploy body cameras for officers across the country. But nearly six months later, those plans have not fully materialized.

In recent days, federal immigration agents fatally shot two immigrant fathers. DHS accused Lorenzo Salgado Araujo of weaponizing his car and trying to run over an agent in Texas, while the agency accused Joan Durán Guerrero of being a public safety threat while attempting to flee in Maine.

None of the federal officers involved were wearing body cameras, the agency said.

This has prompted lawmakers, including U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, to renew their calls on DHS to deploy body cameras as soon as possible.

  • pelespirit@sh.itjust.worksOPMEnglish
    31·
    9 days ago

    ICE’s use of unmarked cars and shooting into vehicles during Houston killing violates policy, policing experts say

    “It’s incredibly professionally irresponsible for officers to be attempting to do either of those things — stop a car or engage in some kind of pursuit — without any emergency lights,” said Seth Stoughton, a University of South Carolina professor who focuses on use of force and is a former police officer.

    The footage in this case, he added, “looks more like a carjacking attempt than it does a police stop.”

    The Department of Homeland Security said last week that federal immigration agents killed Salgado Araujo, a 52-year-old Houston construction worker, father of three, and grandfather of one. The agency describes the shooting as self defense, saying Salgado Araujo was shot because he was trying to “run over” an ICE agent. The ICE agents were not wearing body cameras and dash cam footage was not available, federal agents told Houston congressional Democrats.

    The Texas Tribune, however, pieced together videos of the incident provided by neighborhood security footage and accounts shared on social media. The available footage, which largely does not contain audio, spans less than two minutes in total and lacks crucial moments. For example, it does not capture the shooting or when the vehicles apparently collided. (Footage after the shooting shows the white van had significant damage on the driver’s side.)