A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
Hundreds of people have paid their respects to the man shot and killed by an ICE officer in Houston. The family of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo held a service and a public visitation Thursday night. Here's Michael Atkinson from member station Houston Public Media.
MICHAEL ATKINSON, BYLINE: It's a five-minute drive from where Lorenzo Salgado Araujo died to the funeral home where he was remembered as something of a martyr. Breni Rodriguez was in the crowd outside.
BRENI RODRIGUEZ: When is it going to be enough for the government?
ATKINSON: Rodriguez moved to Houston from El Salvador 18 years ago. In Salgado Araujo, she saw her own father who died earlier this year.
RODRIGUEZ: We come here wanting a better future for us, for future generations, and it's so sad that this is how things have to end when we are the backbone of this country.
ATKINSON: In recent days, many Latinos in Houston have said similar. Salgado Araujo was a 52-year-old father of three from Mexico who had been living in the United States for decades without permanent legal status, according to his family. Last Tuesday, during a traffic stop, ICE has said Salgado Araujo weaponized his vehicle, though the other passengers in the car dispute that. His killing has galvanized the Latino community here.
KATHRYN DANAS: We need to get Houston back.
ATKINSON: Kathryn Danas has lived in the Houston area most of her life. She says she came to the funeral...
DANAS: Because of my skin color. Because I have two sons that I worry about. That's why I'm here - to show face and show up. And it's not easy to do. We live in fear because of what's going on.
ATKINSON: Reporters were not allowed inside the public visitation. Guests who attended said Salgado Araujo's construction equipment was on display, as were soccer jerseys for Mexican teams with the name El Salgado on them. One guest compared this open-casket visitation to that of Emmett Till's - the Black teenager lynched in Mississippi in the 1950s. Lupe Ochoa knew Salgado Araujo's son, Ronaldo Salgado, from high school.
LUPE OCHOA: Call him Ronnie. I've always known him as that.
ATKINSON: Seeing her old friend speak out against his father's killing in a national spotlight has been surreal for her.
OCHOA: He always fought for what was right, and that always inspired us as a friend group.
ATKINSON: Elmer Romero sees himself in Ronaldo and the other Salgado Araujo children.
ELMER ROMERO: 'Cause I was at that age when my father was murdered.
ATKINSON: Romero, a Salvadoran, says his father was killed during the Salvadoran Civil War. He said he offered Salgado Araujo's sons a message of encouragement at Thursday's funeral.
ROMERO: And, you know, I say to the boys in Spanish, (speaking Spanish). You know, (speaking Spanish). That's what we need.
ATKINSON: That is, in English, he told them strength for the fight.
For NPR News, I'm Michael Atkinson in Houston. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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