Lawyer says substance found after fatal Houston ICE shooting was salt

An attorney for the brother of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo is pushing back against allegations raised after a search warrant application described a possible narcotics-related discovery, saying the substance found inside a van tied to the case was actually salt used to make a homemade electrolyte drink for outdoor workers.

The FBI search warrant application, which was filed July 14, described an unidentified “white crystal-like substance” found in small plastic on the dashboard and floorboard of the vehicle. But attorney Ruby Powers said that after speaking with her client, Victor Salgado, and family members, their understanding is that the substance was granulated salt that is mixed with lemon and water to help workers stay hydrated in extreme Texas heat.

“Not methamphetamine or any other illicit substance,” Powers said in a statement on July 16. “A search warrant does not equate to guilt. An unidentified substance is not a confirmed narcotic.”

Powers said she is calling for testing of the substance to be expedited, saying the family wants “their names cleared” amid public speculation following the release of details from the warrant application. She added that no test result would change “the fact that deadly force was used against Lorenzo.”

The attorney also called for a full and independent investigation into the circumstances surrounding Salgado Araujo’s death and for the release of his brother, whom she described as a key witness to the incident.

Salgado Araujo was riding in a van with three other people, including his brother, on the way to work when U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers stopped the vehicle on July 7. According to the Department of Homeland Security, Salgado Araujo was not the intended target of the operation. During the encounter, an officer shot him, and he later died.

FBI search warrant application says van may have had drugs inside

The warrant application, submitted by FBI Special Agent David McNeilly, was to search the white Ford van following the fatal shooting of Salgado Araujo on the morning of July 7.

“The United States is currently gathering all facts related to this incident, including what may have caused the occupants of the vehicle to flee,” McNeilly said in the warrant application. The application is supposed to be sealed but remained available for USA TODAY’s viewing.

Federal Magistrate Judge Richard Bennett of Texas granted the search warrant the same day McNeilly filed the application, which appeared in the federal case docket on July 15. Bennett didn’t indicate the application had to be unsealed, according to court records.

After the shooting, McNeilly said in the warrant application that he arrived at the scene and saw “in plain view” several small plastic bags with a “white crystal-like substance” − three in the middle of the dash and one on the passenger floorboard. McNeilly said he believed the contents of the bags were consistent with methamphetamine.

He also said evidence of the small baggies meant there was “probable cause” that federal crimes had been violated, according to the warrant application.

Houston officials have asked for evidence related to Salgado Araujo’s shooting to be shared. Houston Mayor John Whitmore has called for an independent investigation, saying the FBI has evidence local police would normally use to investigate similar shootings but that the agency wasn’t sharing materials.

US attorney outlines preliminary account of shooting

More than a week after the fatal shooting, Aaron Reitz, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Texas, issued a statement on July 16 outlining a preliminary account of the events leading up to the incident and the subsequent search of the van.

According to Reitz, federal officers on July 7 were investigating two Guatemalan men who had previously evaded arrest and were believed to be driving a white van. Officers attempted to stop a van matching the description after spotting men who fit the suspects’ descriptions, but the vehicle fled after making a U-turn and crossing a median, Reitz said. Officers did not pursue at that time.

Later that morning, officers again encountered the van and surrounded it after its occupants allegedly attempted to flee a second time, Reitz said. Two officers exited their vehicles and instructed the occupants to put the van in park. Preliminary information indicates the driver shifted the van into reverse and then forward while “an officer was partially inside the van or immediately next to it,” according to Reitz.

“During this confrontation between federal agents and a group of illegal aliens attempting to flee, one of the officers fired a single shot,” Reitz said. The bullet struck Salgado Araujo, and officers rendered first aid before he was transported to a hospital, where he later died, according to Reitz.

The three men inside the van with Salgado Araujo have disputed ICE’s account of the shooting, calling it “simply false.”

Reitz also said officers observed “several small bags of a white, crystal-like substance” inside the van, prompting the FBI to execute a search warrant on July 15 “in connection with possible narcotics trafficking and drug offenses.”

“I want to reiterate: This assessment is based on preliminary information given to my office,” Reitz said. “We draw no decisive conclusions and believe federal law enforcement will conduct a thorough investigation.”

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