Two days after a federal immigration officer shot and killed Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Houston, Mayor John Whitmire told reporters the city's police department cannot independently investigate the incident.
"This is a time for the federal government to oversee their employees," Whitmire said. "I’m not going to promise something that I can’t carry out. ... This is a federal matter, and we have no access to the evidence. We were not involved. And we do have high expectations for ICE, the FBI and the federal government."
A spokesperson for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) alleged Salgado Araujo "weaponized his vehicle in an attempt to run over an ICE law enforcement officer resulting in our officer firing his weapon in self-defense." Salgado Araujo's family disputed the allegation and joined local Democratic elected officials in calling for an independent investigation of the shooting.
In a statement, the Houston Police Department said Whitmire instructed the department to "remain in contact" with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Office of Inspector General — which was probing the shooting — as well as the FBI, which was investigating the incident as a potential assault on a law enforcement officer.
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"Federal law states local law enforcement has no independent jurisdiction to investigate federal agencies or federal law enforcement personnel who are acting in the course and scope of their official duties," HPD stated.
Legal experts disagree with Whitmire and HPD
Thomas Hogan, assistant professor at the South Texas College of Law, said the assertion that HPD lacked jurisdiction was "ridiculous."
"Suppose a federal officer, while he was working, shot the mayor," Hogan said. "Is everyone going to claim that he can’t be prosecuted for murder just because he was on duty at the time? No, of course not."
Hogan previously worked in a district attorney's office in Pennsylvania, where he said he conducted investigations into shootings by federal law enforcement officials — largely focused on whether the use of force was "reasonable."
"The minute you exercise deadly force in an unreasonable fashion, you are no longer within the scope of your duties," Hogan said. "You don’t know until you investigate."
Sandra Guerra Thompson, professor at the University of Houston Law Center, agreed the incident could be investigated by local authorities.
"If you have a federal officer who just at point-blank decides to kill someone, that’s a state crime — that would be murder under state law," Thompson said. "They’re not relieved of jurisdiction just because the person is a federal agent. Now, what (HPD's) language says is, ‘If they’re acting in the course of their normal duties,' but that really can’t be determined until there is an investigation."
Thompson pointed to ongoing investigations into the fatal shootings of Renée Good and Alex Pretti by ICE officers in Minnesota. State and local officials there accused President Donald Trump's administration of withholding evidence, and they're battling the federal government in court in an effort to access it.
"It may not be easy to conduct a local investigation, but it is certainly legally possible," Thompson said.
On Thursday, Harris County District Attorney Sean Teare toldHouston Public Mediahis office had launched an investigation into Salgado Araujo’s shooting death.
"If a state crime was committed, be it a murder, be it a manslaughter, be it tampering with evidence, we are going to investigate it," Teare said, "and if someone committed that crime, you don’t get to hide behind a badge."
Whitmire faces complex political calculus
The death of Salgado Araujo at the hands of federal law enforcement officers is not the first immigration-related crisis faced by Whitmire this year.
In April, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott threatened to revoke $114 million in public safety funding to Houston unless city officials reversed a policy intended to curb HPD's coordination with ICE. Whitmire and the city council conceded and revised the policy, and HPD subsequently issued guidance that enables its police officers officers to "wait a reasonable amount of time" for ICE to "obtain custody" of people with civil immigration warrants.
Echoing his statements in April, Whitmire told reporters on Thursday he didn't want to "play politics" with the most recent incident by launching an independent local investigation.
Whitmire "tries to steer clear of angering the Trump administration or state leadership when it comes to ICE enforcement," said UH political science lecturer Nancy Sims.
"He’s seemed sympathetic to the Latino community and to the people, but he is very concerned that forceful engagement will cost the city money, and that has been a consistent stance for him for around this issue since the increased enforcement started," Sims said.
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On the campaign trail and in office, Whitmire has touted his warm relationship with the Republican-controlled state government. Before the meeting in April in which the city reversed the HPD-ICE coordination policy, his office passed out papers to city council members outlining the more than $260 million in appropriations from the Texas Legislature to Houston in 2025.
"Mayor Whitmire has carefully balanced the Democratic-leaning nature of his electorate in Houston with the state and federal, Republican-led efforts on immigration control," said Brandon Rottinghaus, UH political science professor. "It has become a very dicey balance because it is one of the most politically explosive issues that the city and state faces."
Houston City Council member Joaquin Martinez represents the neighborhood where Salgado Araujo was killed. He's a consistent ally of Whitmire and joined him in repealing the HPD-ICE policy in April. But on this issue, the two have diverged.
Salgado Araujo was "a Houstonian, first and foremost," Martinez toldHouston Public Media. He said he asked Houston Police Chief Noe Diaz "to specifically have our homicide division special investigative unit to support our Harris County DA — but also identify ways where we could bring independent information to support and bring justice to the family."
An HPD spokesperson declined to comment further, referringHouston Public Mediatothe statementthe department issued Wednesday.
Houston Public Media’s Kyle McClenagan contributed to this report.
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