Lorenzo Salgado Araujo was our neighbor.
We honor him.
The 52 year-old Mexican immigrant had lived and worked and been a productive member of Houston for 35 years. He had no criminal record and was in the process of obtaining a work permit. He and his wife spent their entire lives attempting to help their three children – all U.S. citizens – achieve the American dream.
There are details about the shooting that remain unknown. There are particulars that may never be known. One thing is certain: a human being is dead that should be alive.
That human being is Lorenzo Salgado Araujo.
He was our neighbor.
United Against Human Trafficking has been serving the city of Houston for two decades. We have deep roots in Houston’s East End neighborhood, a part of town with streets named in honor of Latino leaders and icons and home to thousands of Hispanic families. We purchased our first building in this neighborhood in 2024 intentionally. For a variety of reasons, foreign nationals are particularly vulnerable to both labor and sex trafficking. The Houston Ship Channel, surrounding cantinas, and the motels that line Telephone Road are particularly well-known hot spots for the exploitation of vulnerable people.
The killing of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo happened fewer than two miles away from our East End headquarters. This has brought the persistent injustice of people of color dying in the reckless hands of law enforcement into our own backyard. This tragedy is a haunting echo of the 2020 killing of George Floyd. We delayed public comment in the immediate aftermath. Stories like these can spin out of control online. We are not interested in generating clickbait and want to avoid the appearance that we are fundraising off of a loss of life. We want to be engaged in the long work of peacemaking and justice building. But while it may not directly relate to our mission to eradicate human trafficking, we are compelled to speak up and provide a full-throated, full-hearted condemnation of this unnecessary and unjust action. We are doing that at this time because of a simple but strong conviction:
Lorenzo Salgado Araujo was our neighbor.
We must leverage our voice because – as Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. says – “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” Elsewhere in his Letters from a Birmingham Jail he tells us why this is so: “We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.”
The killing of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo underscores both points, and reminds us how long the work toward equality, nonviolence, and inclusion has been ongoing. His death five minutes from our offices compels us to speak, but it should not only compel us to speak. We should all use our voice to advocate for justice, an end to violence of all kinds, and a posture of acceptance and love. Furthermore, we should all commit to do more than simply speak.
May we all recognize that Lorenzo Salgado Araujo was not a stranger putting us in danger. He was not a threat to our society or a challenge to our values. His immigration status did not diminish his humanity nor make him expendable. He was not an “alien” or an “other.”
He was Houston.
He was a father.
He was a husband.
He was a businessman.
He was our neighbor.
We honor him, grieve with those who love him, and commit to continuing our unwavering efforts to serve our community, combat injustice, and love well.
