The illegal alien who was shot and killed in Houston July 7 when he allegedly rammed an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) vehicle was lionized Wednesday in an Axios article that omitted key details of the threat experienced by the agent who shot him.
In “Who was Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, through the words of his son,” Axios tugs at readers’ heartstrings through glowing characterizations provided by his family and cohorts, such as:
- "A simple man, a family man."
- “A devoted husband, father of three.”
- A “construction worker with no criminal history who ‘dedicated his life in the United States to giving his family the American dream.’”
- "He just wanted to go to work and come back to us.”
- "He wanted nothing else in life but to provide for his wife and see his sons become great people."
Araujo loved music, sports, food – and his dog – the emotionally-manipulative portrayal explains:
“Salgado Araujo enjoyed music and soccer. He lived in the U.S. for nearly 35 years. In the home he built in the East End, he'd eat a hearty meal made by his wife, rest on the porch, listen to music and pet his dog.”
Axios goes on to present a heart-wrenching description of how Araujo spent the hours leading up to his fatal confrontation with federal authorities:
“On his last morning, Ronaldo said his parents woke around 5. His mother packed his father's lunch and coffee. By 5:50am, he hugged and kissed his wife goodbye, patted the family dog and drove off to pick up his crew.”
“Federal officials called Salgado Araujo ‘an illegal alien from Mexico’ in the statement announcing his death,” Axios writes, apparently suggesting that pointing out his violation of federal immigration law was some sort of racial slur. Axios reports that the passengers in Araujo's vehicle dispute federal accounts of the incident.
What Axios glosses over, however, are the details of the incident, in which ICE law enforcement attempted to conduct a vehicle stop as part of a targeted enforcement operation, that the U.S. Department of Homeland (DHS) has publicly reported:
“The driver of the vehicle, Lorenzo Salgado Araujo—an illegal alien from Mexico—attempted to evade arrest.
“From information we are receiving, he rammed an ICE law enforcement vehicle, refused to follow multiple verbal commands, and weaponized his vehicle in an attempt to run over an ICE law enforcement officer resulting in our officer firing his weapon in self-defense.”
Axios also fails to note that “emergency services were immediately contacted” and that Araujo was then transported to a hospital before he passed away.
And, while DHS’s Office of Inspector General is leading an investigation into the shooting, FBI Houston is leading an investigation into Araujo’s potential assault on a federal law enforcement officer.
Also absent from the Axios article is Wednesday’s revelation that, according to a newly-released federal search warrant affidavit, federal investigators claim that Araujo had three bags believed to contain crystal meth in his vehicle at the time.
The affidavit says that three small plastic bags containing a “white crystal-like substance in the middle of the dash between the driver and passenger side of the vehicle,” The Daily Mail reported Wednesday. The substance, which Araujo’s supporters say will turn out to be salt, is “consistent with methamphetamine,” the affidavit says.
If the substance is determined to be meth, it could belie Axios’ fawning portrayal of Araujo and explain why he may have fled and tried to ram the ICE vehicle.
