A federal judge issued a release order on Tuesday for a second witness to the death of a Mexican man at the hands of a federal immigration agent in Houston, after the witness had spent more than a month in custody.
Daniel Tirado Pantoja was one of three passengers in a van when the driver, Mexican national Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, was shot by a federal agent on July 7 while heading to his home-building business.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) claimed that Salgado Araujo—who had lived in the United States without legal authorization for 35 years—”used his vehicle as a weapon” and that the agent fired in self-defense, though no evidence was provided to support this version of events.
Federal Judge Alfred Bennett in Houston ordered Tirado Pantoja’s release after determining that he had no criminal record and posed neither a flight risk nor a danger to the community, according to court records.
“We are very happy that Mr. Tirado can reunite with his family,” stated his attorney, Ross Miller.
Tirado Pantoja and another passenger, José Trinidad Rojas Pliego, have challenged the DHS account of the encounter with agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
They maintained that the agents never positioned themselves in front of the vehicle and that Salgado Araujo had shifted his van into neutral before the agents began firing. Tirado Pantoja has also stated that the vehicle the agents were in struck their van from behind and then again on the driver’s side.
Rojas Pliego was released from custody last month. DHS did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment on the judge’s decision.
Victor Salgado, the deceased man’s brother, was also a passenger in the van and remains in custody. He, too, has asked a judge to order his release. Shortly after the incident, Ronaldo Salgado, Salgado Araujo’s son, posted on social media that his father was on his way to work and was picking up his workers when the shooting occurred. He stated that his father was a hardworking man and was in the process of obtaining a work permit.
