Federal agents’ killings nationwide condemned by Texas Teachers, NAACP

WASHINGTON—Donald Trump’s violent and vicious “agents” are killing people almost every day.

The latest murder of an innocent person in Biddeford, Maine, yesterday was quickly condemned by the labor movement and its allies.

National Nurses United declared that “the only way forward on this issue of fascist authoritarianism and violence targeting communities is the abolition of ICE.”

The latest murder in Maine comes on the heels of their killing in Houston of unarmed Latino migrant Lorenzo Salgurdo Araujo–a 35-year resident and a construction worker with no criminal record—and two Black men in Memphis, Tenn., angered the Teachers/AFT, their Texas federation, their Houston local, and the Memphis NAACP, respectively.

Reactions from the NAACP came as the historic civil rights group prepares for its national convention opening in Chicago next weekend.

Summing up the attitude of most of the country about ICE, Texas AFT President Zeph Capo said, “The crass and careless actions of our federal government are making our communities less safe.”

The July 9 Houston killing of Araujo also left Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum steaming and vowing “legal measures” against Trump’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents. 

And the killing in Houston prompted New York City Mayor Zoltan Mamdani to renew his pledge to protect his city’s large communities of color from ICE—and again demand its abolition. 

Meanwhile, agents from several departments, members of a special Trump-created “anti-crime” task force imposed on majority-Black Memphis, killed Tyrin Johnson, 20, and Jonah Neal, 21.

The two were the third and fourth Black men shot by task force members since Trump, with the cooperation of the state’s Republican governor, established it six months ago—after crime had already sharply dropped in Memphis.

The agents allegedly shot Johnson on July 8 after they received reports of shots being fired in West Memphis, while other agents of the task force killed Neal several weeks before when he threatened to harm himself and others by shooting a loaded gun, or so agents said. An investigation has begun.  

In a letter to Trump’s acting Attorney General, Todd Blanche, the NAACP’s Memphis branch doubted those stories. It, too, demanded a full and impartial investigation. 

The killings of Araujo, Neal, and Johnson follow a violent pattern set in Chicago, D.C., and especially Minnesota, of Trump agents shooting people down. 

Except for Alex Pretti, a union member, and Renee Nicole Good, both in Minneapolis, the victims have been people of color. ICE agents shot one Black woman in Chicago multiple times. She lived. 

The well-covered violence by Trump’s agents has occurred in Democratic-run cities such as Chicago, L.A., Minneapolis, D.C., Houston, and Memphis. But there’s ICE violence in rural areas, too. In the latest example, an agent shot through a car window and killed a man identified only as a 26-year-old Colombian migrant in the small town of Biddeford, Maine, on July 13. Mayor Liam LaFountain demands a full and impartial investigation there, too. 

Araujo’s killing produced outrage at AFT, the Texas Federation of Teachers, and its Houston local, along with a candlelight vigil, demands for an impartial investigation, and an end to Houston Police Department cooperation with ICE. 

“Every day, immigrants wake up and head to work to provide for their loved ones,” said Teachers/AFT President Randi Weingarten. “Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, who lived in this country for 35 years, should be remembered as more than a headline. His random killing” by ICE “is yet another reminder that the agency has no interest in treating people with the dignity, humanity, and respect they deserve.

“We honor Lorenzo by refusing to let his life be reduced to a moment of tragedy and by continuing to demand accountability, compassion, justice—and a full independent investigation.” ICE retorted by calling Araujo undocumented, but admitted he was mistaken for someone else agents were pursuing.  

“Shock and outrage can’t possibly sum up how I’m feeling right now,” Texas AFT President Zeph Capo said. “The crass and careless actions of our federal government are making our communities less safe. What we need right now is transparency and accountability, and I join those calling for a full independent investigation into this killing.”

“All Houstonians deserve the right to peacefully exist,” Houston Federation of Teachers President Jackie Anderson said. “Our local leadership must put the safety of city residents above all else.”

With violent crime down sharply in Houston, as it is in Memphis, “ICE poses a threat to that challenging work by the city government and our safety officers,” the Teachers’ unions added. “Houston and Harris County must do their duty to investigate this matter fully and independently to determine if deadly force was used unreasonably and, if so, prosecute appropriately.”

“Lorenzo Salgado Araujo called Houston home for 35 years,” New York Mayor Mamdani tweeted on his X account. ”On Tuesday, an ICE agent shot and killed him. His family learned of his death from a video before anyone bothered to knock on their door.

“New York City stands with the Salgado family in demanding a full, independent investigation and real accountability. To the Salgado family and any immigrant family in this city living in fear: We grieve with you, and we will continue to stand beside you in the pursuit of justice. Abolish ICE.”

The Memphis killings not only brought the NAACP into the picture but prompted citizen monitors of the Trump task force to step up their tracking of its activities, The Guardian reported. 

The U.S. Marshals Service, the lead agency in Memphis, claimed federal and local officers were trying to “serve a warrant on a wanted fugitive,” Johnson. When he didn’t surrender, the agents said they forced entry into his hotel room, he pointed a handgun at them, and they shot him.

After the latest killing in Maine, the NNU said, “ICE use of deadly force has been met with complete impunity despite mass calls for justice and the abolition of ICE. They are killing our neighbors in the streets, and no one in Washington seems to be prepared to hold them accountable.”

“Our communities in Maine have been subjected to horrors by these agents,” said Matthew MacDonald, RN, in the surgical unit at Maine Medical Center in Portland. “It’s past time for ICE to get out of our streets and the people in Washington need to make that happen before more people are killed.”

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