Joe Scarborough became visibly enraged during a discussion about Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on Friday's episode of Morning Joe, at one point overpowering his co-host Mika Brzezinski as she attempted to share details of a fatal shooting.
“These people are being gunned down in the streets of America!” Scarborough interjected passionately while Brzezinski was informing viewers about the death of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, who was shot by ICE officers in Houston, Texas.
Scarborough's Outburst
“I don’t think we’ve grown numb to this — I think people in the White House have grown numb to this,” Scarborough continued. “You’re. Gunning. Down. People. In the streets of America! Gunning down people in the streets of America! This is not going well!”
Brzezinski agreed, stating, “No, traumatizes and terrorizes people in communities.”
“And politically it’s horrible for you!” Scarborough added, referring to the Trump administration. “Yet you just continue!”
Details of the Shooting
The Morning Joe hosts were analyzing the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) account of the incident. According to DHS, Salgado Araujo—a Mexican national referred to as an “illegal alien”—“rammed an ICE law enforcement vehicle, refused to follow multiple verbal commands, and weaponized his vehicle in an attempt to run over an ICE law enforcement officer.” The confrontation resulted in “our officer firing his weapon in self-defense,” striking the driver, DHS claimed in a statement Tuesday.
Salgado Araujo’s family has disputed this version of events. They say he had no criminal convictions during his decades living in the U.S., was working toward securing legal status, and knew what to do if stopped by ICE. At the time of his death, he was driving a crew to a homebuilding site. Federal officials have not released video or images of the shooting or the alleged vehicle damage. The family has called for an independent investigation.
Comparison to Previous Incidents
The Morning Joe crew noted that DHS’s statement sounded eerily familiar. “The Department of Homeland Security says Salgado weaponized his vehicle and tried to run over an agent who fired in self-defense. Where have we heard that before?” Brzezinski said. Scarborough answered by pointing to the fatal shooting of Minneapolis protester Renee Good in January, where DHS similarly claimed she used her vehicle as a “weapon” against ICE personnel.
Scarborough said that even though DHS’s “disgusting” statement about Good was proven “to be a lie” thanks to bystander videos, the claim was initially spread by “Kristi Noem, that total lie was spread by right-wing media people, that lie about the shooting down of the gunning down of Renee Good through the side window spread by the entire MAGA ecosystem.”
Co-host Willie Geist added that he read DHS statements about Good and Alex Pretti—another Minneapolis protester killed by ICE in January—and “you can cut and paste what the Department of Homeland Security said about those shootings with what they’re saying [about Salgado Araujo].”
Accusations of Cover-Up
“This just sounds like a massive cover-up once again, because this is what ICE does. This is what ICE does, they lie,” Scarborough said. “They continued lying after they gunned down Renee Good, through the side window, they continued lying about Alex Pretti, but the video was there — and it will come out here too. The lies will undo them and they are gunning down people.”
