Bags in vehicle of man killed by ICE test negative for drugs, DA says

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Baggies of a white substance found in the vehicle of a man fatally shot by a federal immigration officer were not drugs, Houston prosecutors said July 24, despite an FBI search warrant application that described the contents of the bags as consistent with methamphetamine.The Harris County District Attorney’s Office said lab results of the substance inside Lorenzo Salgado Araujo’s white Ford van tested negative for narcotics or illicit drugs. Salgado Araujo, a 52-year-old Mexican father, was killed by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer the morning of July 7 during a traffic stop.The findings contradict the justification in FBI Special Agent David McNeilly’s sealed July 14 application to search the van after seeing baggies with white substance following the shooting.Salgado Araujo’s family and coworkers have said he was on his way to work when ICE fatally shot him. The Department of Homeland Security, which includes ICE, said Salgado Araujo was not the intended target of the operation, but he tried to evade arrest and used his vehicle to try to run over an officer.Men in the van who witnessed the encounter have disputed the agency’s account, saying Salgado Araujo never posed a threat as an ICE officer fired inside the vehicle. ICE officers weren't wearing body cameras during the shooting.Ruby Powers, his family’s lawyer, has said the white substance was salt to be mixed with water for electrolytes to keep outdoor workers hydrated in Texas’ heat.“This was all used to discredit Lorenzo and the witnesses, unfortunately, or to act as a red herring and a distraction,” Powers told CNN’s Erin Burnett Out Front on July 24. “Ultimately, it’s not a narcotic or controlled substance.” Powers said the lab results would be made public July 27. In announcing the findings, the Harris County DA’s Office said on social media that it wouldn’t comment further on the test results amid the pending investigation.“We have notified Salgado Araujo's family because we felt they had the right to know,” the DA’s office said in a post.A July 25 ICE statement to USA TODAY said to reach out to FBI Houston and the U.S. Attorney's Office "for comment on the suspected discovery of illicit narcotics in the van of Lorenzo Salgado."FBI said it didn't have a comment. The U.S. Attorney's Office in Houston said it had no additional information.On July 14, federal Magistrate Judge Richard Bennett granted the search warrant the same day McNeilly, a former Houston police officer, requested to enter the van. The application, which was listed as sealed, appeared July 15 on the federal case docket.McNeilly’s application said federal officials were “gathering all facts” related to the incident, including what might have caused the van to flee. According to the application, McNeilly said he arrived at the scene after the shooting and saw small baggies with “white crystal-like substance” in the middle of the dash and on the passenger floorboard. The application said the "packaging and appearance of the controlled substance" was consistent with methamphetamine.In his request to search the van, McNeilly said evidence of the baggies meant there was "probable cause" federal crimes had been violated.The League of United Latin American Citizens, a civil rights organization, questioned whether the FBI can fairly and transparently investigate Salgado Araujo’s death.“Only the American public can reach that conclusion, based on what we have all been witnessing," Roman Palomares, LULAC’s national president and chairman of its board, said in a statement.The lab results were announced hours after the Congressional Hispanic Caucus held a July 24 hearing in Houston about the shooting. Harris County DA Sean Teare, a Democrat, told lawmakers it was the first time he’d seen a sealed federal criminal search warrant made publicly available prior to a grand jury being presented with facts. Salgado Araujo was one of two people killed by ICE in a week's span during traffic stops in July. After the fatal July 13 shooting of Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero, a 25-year-old Colombian man, in Maine, ICE on July 14 issued a memo to suspend most immigration-related traffic stops. In a social media post a day later, President Donald Trump said he overturned the agency's decision.Contributing: Christopher Cann, USA TODAYEduardo Cuevas is based in New York City. Reach him by email at emcuevas1@usatoday.com or on Signal at emcuevas.01.