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In a significant development on Wednesday, a grand jury opted not to file charges against a federal immigration agent involved in the fatal shooting of a U.S. citizen in Texas last year, according to prosecutors. This decision came after the Cameron County District Attorney’s Office presented the case, though they have withheld further specifics regarding the proceedings.
The incident, which dates back to a traffic encounter, involved a 23-year-old, who allegedly “intentionally ran over” a Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) special agent. In response, another agent reportedly discharged his weapon to “protect himself, his fellow agents, and the general public,” as per a statement from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
This shooting was the first in a series of at least six fatal incidents involving federal officers, occurring amid a heightened immigration enforcement period during President Donald Trump’s second term. The aggressive stance on immigration led to increased scrutiny of such encounters.
However, the family of the deceased, represented by their attorneys, has expressed skepticism about the DHS’s version of events. They pointed out that grand jury proceedings are closed to the public, leaving them uncertain about which witness testimonies or video footage were presented to the jurors during the deliberations.
Attorneys for Martinez’s family, who are skeptical of DHS’ account of the shooting, said in a statement Wednesday that because grand jury proceedings are private they don’t know what witness statements or video evidence were presented to the jurors.
They are calling on the Texas Department of Public Safety to disclose the findings of its investigation so Martinez’s family can “determine for themselves whether ICE’s story is accurate and why Ruben was killed that night.”
The attorneys cited a draft affidavit from the passenger, Joshua Orta, in the car with Martinez when he was shot. In the draft testimony, Orta reportedly said that Martinez did not hit an officer with his vehicle, that their car was “just crawling” and that a federal agent fired into the driver’s side window without “giving any warning, commands, or opportunity to comply.”
Orta, a key witness to the encounter, died in a car crash last weekend.
Martinez’s family are “proud Americans, strong supporters of law enforcement, and Trump voters. They believe there are honest and decent officers out there,” the statement read.
“They just want to be treated honestly and decently.”
Martinez, who lived in San Antonio, Texas, and Orta were on a Spring Break trip to South Padre Island when he was shot. His death was reported by local media outlets at the time, but authorities did not disclose that the shooting involved a team from HSI.
An incident report from ICE described the officers’ account of what happened while they were assisting local police redirect traffic around a car accident.
A four-door Ford with a driver and passenger approached officers, who ordered the driver to stop, the report said.
Initially, the driver didn’t respond to commands but eventually came to a stop, and agents surrounded the vehicle, telling those inside to get out, according to the report.
The driver then “accelerated forward” and struck an HSI special agent “who wound up on the hood of the vehicle,” prompting a HSI supervisory special agent nearby to fire his weapon multiple times through the open driver’s side window, the report said.
The draft affidavit disputes those details.
In it, Orta reportedly said that he and Martinez were first approached by a police officer who told them to leave. As they tried turning, another officer approached, slapped the hood and “seemed to be trying to get in front of the car,” it added.
Officers surrounded the vehicle yelling at them to stop and drawing their guns, the draft affidavit said, adding that Martinez was “only crawling,” and never hit an officer or the gas.
An officer near the driver side window then pulled his weapon and fired without warning, the draft affidavit said, and Orta recounted hearing Martinez say “I’m sorry” as he slumped backward unconscious.
Reyes, Martinez’s mother, told AP last week her son was shot three times.