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On Tuesday, family members and witnesses of five people fatally shot by federal immigration agents testified at a public forum organized by congressional Democrats, calling for accountability for the killings.

Family members of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, Renee Good, Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero, and Ruben Ray Martinez – all killed by ICE agents since 2025 – gave statements, as did a witness in the murder of Alex Pretti, who was shot and killed by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents.

The speakers described the last moments of their loved ones. They also spoke to what they called “dual assassinations” – how, after the killings, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Trump administration worked to smear the victims and label them as a threat.

Rachel Reyes, the mother of 23-year-old Ruben Ray Martinez, who was shot and killed by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent in Texas during a traffic stop in March 2025, explained to the audience that ICE’s involvement in her son’s killing was not revealed for nearly a year.

“For months, we were dismissed and denied access to reports, statements, and video evidence, while being told only that the case was ‘under investigation,’” she said. “We were expected to accept a narrative that contradicted the account of the passenger witness, his lifelong best friend.”

MN Prosecutors Obtain Long-Withheld Evidence in Renee Good, Alex Pretti Killings

Reyes said that when they were finally able to access video footage, she saw her son confused amid contradictory orders by officers, who shot him without warning. His last words, she said, were: “I’m sorry, sir.”

“His death reflects a pattern of callousness and power imbalance that allows rights to be violated without consequence,” she added.

Stella Carlson, a witness in the killing of Alex Pretti during President Donald Trump’s Operation Metro Surge in Minneapolis, described the last moments of Pretti’s life, and the attempts to smear him immediately following his killing.

She described her neighborhood that morning as overtaken by federal agents. “There were masked and armed federal agents flooding........

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