After Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents shot and killed a Mexican national during a Houston traffic stop in July, Fox News anchor Trace Gallagher parroted FBI claims, saying that agents “found three bags of methamphetamine” in the vehicle and “there probably is a reason that they were trying to get away from ICE agents.” The local district attorney’s office later confirmed the substance was not drugs.
On July 7, ICE shot and killed Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a Mexican national who had lived in the United States with his family for decades. Following the shooting, the FBI claimed in an affidavit that a “white crystal-like substance” that appeared “consistent with methamphetamine” was seen in the vehicle. Araujo’s family pushed back against the allegations, saying the substance was likely salt used for “a homemade electrolyte mix used by outdoor workers in extreme Texas heat.” The Harris County District Attorney’s Office later noted that the substance was tested and was determined not to be narcotics.
On July 15, Gallagher used the initial unconfirmed FBI claims to undermine descriptions of Araujo as a father and “good citizen,” saying, “We now know that they found — put these pictures on the screen — they found three bags of methamphetamine in this car. There probably is a reason that they were trying to get away from ICE agents.”
“We talk about this all the time on the show,” the Fox anchor added. “Which is that because the border has been shut down, because they have done such a good job in eradicating these drugs in there, the methamphetamine deaths in the country since the president took over have dropped dramatically.”
The Fox News segment also featured an image from the FBI affidavit alongside the chyron “Court doc: Meth found in van after I.C.E. shooting.” However, the affidavit never confirmed that the substance was meth, only that the “appearance of the controlled substance” was “consistent with methamphetamine.”
Gallagher has previously echoed unconfirmed claims from the Department of Homeland Security about ICE operations as fact.
