(CNN) — Prosecutors in Texas’ Harris County don’t believe that substances collected in the van in which Lorenzo Salgado Araujo was fatally shot by an ICE agent in Houston last week were drugs, the district attorney told CNN Thursday, in contrast to suspicions the FBI raised in court documents.
And the nature of the substances should have no bearing on investigations into whether the killing of 52-year-old Salgado Araujo during an attempted traffic stop on July 7 was justified, or whether even the stop of the Mexican immigrant and longtime Texas resident was warranted, Harris County District Attorney Sean Teare said.
Teare’s comments come after the FBI filed a warrant application saying the agency has cause to believe that an investigator – after the shooting – found illegal drugs in the vehicle Salgado Araujo had been driving with three passengers.
“Based on the information we have regarding who Mr. Salgado was and just eyeballing the evidence as it was collected yesterday, we don’t believe that they are drugs,” Teare told Kate Bolduan on “CNN News Central” Thursday morning.
When asked why he believed the substances weren’t drugs, Teare said he has “information that we’re not going to release yet,” and that he believes the substance would be tested by the FBI “either today or in the next few days.”
The substances’ nature also should have “no bearing on why Mr. Salgado and the other three individuals (in the van) were targeted,” and have “no bearing whatsoever on whether or not the use of force that killed Mr. Salgado was justified,” Teare said.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s initial statement on Lorenzo Salgado Araujo’s fatal shooting – that the agent shot Salgado Araujo in self-defense – has faced scrutiny. The officers involved were not wearing body-worn cameras.
CNN has sought comment from the FBI about Teare’s remarks.
FBI’s drug claim came in court document
A week after the shooting, the FBI filed a warrant application saying it has cause to believe illegal drugs were in the vehicle Salgado Araujo was driving.
The application cites probable cause for “distribution, manufacturing, or possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance and simple possession of a controlled substance.”
In the warrant affidavit authored by FBI Special Agent David McNielly on Tuesday and submitted to a federal magistrate judge, the agent described arriving on scene after the shooting and allegedly observing small plastic bags “with a white crystal-like substance” in the white cargo van. McNielly said he made the observations from outside of the van.
“The packaging and appearance of the controlled substance in the target vehicle is consistent with methamphetamine,” the warrant states. However, it does not explicitly say who the bags are believed to belong to. Included within the warrant are two images of the bags that appear to be on the vehicle’s dashboard. CNN has reached out to the FBI about whether the contents of the bags have been confirmed or sent for screening.
While not unheard of, it is unusual for an FBI search warrant to be publicly available during an active and high-profile investigation of this nature.
The federal court docket appears to show the warrant was initially sealed when it was filed Tuesday, shielding its contents from public view, but it was later unsealed. The filing came two days before a public viewing for Salgado Araujo, and three days before his funeral.
Law enforcement had not searched the vehicle prior to filing the warrant, McNielly wrote. Houston Mayor John Whitmire told CNN that FBI agents were performing a search of the vehicle Wednesday morning.
To date, the Department Homeland Security has not indicated that the ICE agents who stopped Salgado Araujo had any knowledge of drugs possibly being inside the vehicle at the time of the fatal shooting.
The medical examiner ruled that Salgado Araujo’s death was caused by a gunshot to the torso, and officials have not released toxicology information describing any substances in his system at the time of death.
The president of the LULAC Adelante PAC, a political group that supports Latino voter participation and candidates, accused federal investigators of trying to “change the public discourse and prejudice a jury in Harris County.”
“It just smells of a smear campaign and a cover up,” Domingo Garcia said.
The ACLU of Texas, which is working closely with Salgado Araujo’s family, said, “The Trump administration lacks credibility to investigate itself, and we should be skeptical of any claims until a full independent investigation is complete.”
CNN has reached out to the Department of Justice for comment on the allegations in the warrant and whether it was unsealed at the request of federal prosecutors.
The Harris County District Attorney’s Office told CNN it did not file or execute the warrant. The DA’s office was able to access the van, it said, with the permission of the local FBI.
The three men who were in the car with Salgado Araujo, including his brother, Victor Salgado, have been detained since the shooting. All three have secured U Visa certifications that protect them from being immediately deported, according to information from Houston immigration attorney Hugo Balderas Ibarra and the Harris County DA’s office. CNN reached out to Ibarra for comment Wednesday afternoon.
Ruby Powers, a Houston-based immigration attorney representing Victor Salgado, told CNN she did not have comment Wednesday afternoon, adding, “we’ll just let the authorities do their investigation.”
CNN’s Josh Campbell and Ashley Killough contributed to this report.
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