MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
More than 200 people gathered in Houston for a weekend vigil honoring Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, the man shot and killed during an ICE encounter last week. ICE has said the officer fired in self-defense. The other men in the van with Salgado Araujo dispute the agency's account. Houston Public Media's Bianca Seward has the story.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: (Singing) Ave Maria.
BIANCA SEWARD, BYLINE: Holding lit candles and anti-ICE posters, the crowd at the headquarters for the Service Employees International Union was filled with a mix of grief and anger. Emily Chapman, a pastor at St. Mark's Methodist, said the shooting left her feeling powerless.
EMILY CHAPMAN: I wanted to be with people and honor the life of a person and think about what we can do to make sure this doesn't happen again.
SEWARD: Hany Khalil, the executive director of a local labor union, open the ceremony with a call to action.
HANY KHALIL: So each of us now faces a choice. Are we going to fight for the Houston We Love?
UNIDENTIFIED PEOPLE: Yes.
SEWARD: The mood alternated from outrage over how Salgado Araujo died to the deep loss felt by his family. Salgado Araujo's son, Ronaldo, said authorities have not yet returned his father's belongings to the family.
RONALDO SALGADO: It doesn't get easier. And I'm, of course, still looking for answers.
SEWARD: On Tuesday last week, an ICE spokesperson said agents pulled over Salgado Araujo's white van. The agent said Salgado Araujo rammed his van into an ICE vehicle and attempted to run over an ICE officer, who they say opened fire in self-defense. Hugo Balderas is the lawyer representing two of the men who were traveling with Salgado Araujo. He said their accounts conflict with ICE's version.
HUGO BALDERAS: They confirmed that at no point was there ever an ICE agent directly in front of the vehicle. They also confirmed that the shots came from the sides, not from the front.
SEWARD: This moment is a reckoning for Anthony Bower (ph), who lives in the area where Salgado Araujo was killed.
ANTHONY BOWER: We got to come out and show out because if you're doing this in our community, what other communities are you doing it in as well?
SEWARD: More protests are planned for the coming days.
For NPR News, I'm Bianca Seward in Houston.
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