A Texas Democratic lawmaker is invoking a newly created state legislative rule to power a public listening to into the March 2025 deadly capturing of a 23-year-old U.S. citizen by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent, CBS Information has realized, a case elevating additional transparency and oversight questions in regards to the officers implementing President Trump’s deportation crackdown.
The proposed listening to would look at the capturing dying of Ruben Ray Martinez in South Padre Island, Texas, on March 15, 2025. Whereas his dying was reported on the time, ICE’s involvement within the capturing was not disclosed till this week, over 11 months after the capturing.
Democratic Texas state Rep. Ray Lopez, who serves as vice chair of the Texas Home Committee on Homeland Safety, Public Security and Veterans’ Affairs, stated he formally exercised authority beneath Rule 4, Part 6A of the Texas Home Guidelines to compel Committee Chairman Cole Hefner, a Republican, to schedule a listening to on Martinez’s dying.
Rachel Reyes
Lopez stated it’s the first public use of the availability, which was adopted throughout the 89th Legislative Session that concluded final June. The rule requires a committee chair to “promptly schedule” a listening to designated by the vice chair. Lopez requested a written response from Hefner by the tip of enterprise on Feb. 23. It was not instantly clear when a listening to is likely to be scheduled.
Native information retailers in Texas reported on Martinez’ killing final 12 months, however the involvement of federal immigration brokers within the deadly capturing was first revealed earlier this week by Newsweek, which used authorities paperwork lately launched by the American Oversight Challenge, a nonprofit ethics watchdog, to attach the dying with an inner ICE report.
The inner ICE report, which redacts Martinez’s title, said that the March 15 incident concerned brokers from Homeland Safety Investigations, a department of ICE, who had been serving to South Padre Island cops management visitors within the late night time hours following a serious automobile accident.
The report describes a blue Ford approaching the world the place the ICE brokers had been directing visitors. The motive force of the car “did not observe directions,” the inner report reads, and tried to proceed driving. After instructions from the brokers, the report stated the car “slowed to a cease.” The brokers surrounded the automobile and directed the motive force to exit the car, the report stated.
The motive force then “accelerated ahead” and struck one of many ICE brokers, in keeping with the report, which stated the federal officer “wound up on the hood of the car.” At that time, in keeping with the report, one other ICE agent fired “a number of rounds” on the driver by means of an open facet window. The motive force was given first assist after which transferred to a hospital in Brownsville, the place the report stated he was pronounced lifeless.
A passenger who was within the car, additionally a U.S. citizen whose title was redacted, was taken into custody on the scene by South Padre Island police, the report states.
The agent who was struck by the car was taken to an space hospital with a knee harm, the place they had been handled and launched, ICE stated in its report.
In an announcement supplied to CBS Information, the Division of Homeland Safety, which oversees ICE, confirmed the deadly capturing, alleging that the motive force “deliberately ran over a Homeland Safety Investigation particular agent leading to him being on the hood of the car. Upon witnessing this, one other agent fired defensive pictures to guard himself, his fellow brokers, and most of the people.”
DHS stated the incident is beneath investigation by the Texas Division of Public Security’s Ranger Division, and deferred inquiries to Texas DPS.
Christopher Olivarez, a Texas DPS spokesperson, confirmed to CBS Information Saturday that an investigation was underway, including, “We now have no additional info to offer.”
Lopez argued that federal and state authorities did not publicly disclose ICE’s involvement within the capturing for almost a 12 months. He stated Martinez’s household realized of the federal agent’s function by means of information reviews.
“When anybody in authority in any stage of policing, federal, state, or native, decides to take probably the most drastic measure and that is ending somebody’s life, you should make sure that you are doing it as a final resort,” Lopez informed CBS Information in an interview Saturday. “I do not really feel that the knowledge that I’ve learn implies to me that it was a final resort and I wish to resolve it.”
In an announcement to CBS Information, Martinez’s mom, Rachel Reyes, stated her household has been in search of accountability.
“Since Ruben’s dying a 12 months in the past, all we have now needed is justice for him and we have now struggled with the silence surrounding his killing,” Reyes stated. “Now, the nation is in disaster — and, terribly, heartbreakingly, different households are enduring what we have now…It is my hope that focus being raised now into Ruben’s dying will assist deliver the justice we would like for him and the solutions we have not had.”
Charles M. Stam and Alex Stamm, attorneys for Ruben’s household, stated in an announcement that “Ruben’s household has been pursuing transparency and accountability for almost a 12 months now and can proceed to take action for so long as it takes. It’s essential that there’s a full and truthful investigation into why HSI was current on the scene of a visitors collision and why a federal officer shot and killed a US citizen as he was making an attempt to adjust to directions from the native legislation enforcement officers directing visitors.”
Reyes informed The Related Press that her son had simply turned 23 days earlier than he and his finest buddy drove from San Antonio to South Padre Island for a weekend journey to have a good time. South Padre Island, positioned alongside the Gulf Coast close to the U.S.-Mexican border, is a well-liked spring break vacation spot that pulls 1000’s of college-aged guests.
Reyes informed the AP that her son labored at an Amazon warehouse, loved taking part in video video games and spending time with buddies, and had by no means beforehand had any run-ins with legislation enforcement.
“He was a typical younger man,” Reyes stated. “He by no means actually bought an opportunity to exit and expertise issues. It was his first time attending to exit of city. He was a pleasant man, humble man. And he wasn’t a violent particular person in any respect.”
Martinez’s dying is one in every of a number of deadly shootings of U.S. residents involving federal immigration brokers over the previous 12 months. In Minneapolis, Minnesota, in January, Renee Good and Alex Pretti had been fatally shot in separate incidents whereas protesting an enormous immigration operation in that metropolis. Final week, the Trump administration introduced it could finish its large-scale immigration enforcement operation in Minnesota.
Immigration enforcement has turn into a salient political concern in latest months, notably in border states like Texas, the place federal and state authorities regularly coordinate operations. Texas will maintain its major elections on March 3, and immigration operations have turn into distinguished points on the marketing campaign path in key races.
