Kill, Lie, and Cover-Up: The Shooting of Ruben Martinez

Still from body cam footage of Ruben Martinez being questioned by local police, moments before the shooting. (Texas Department of Public Safety.)

Eleven months. That’s how long it took DHS to admit that one of its immigration agents killed Ruben Ray Martinez as he sat in his car on South Padre Island on the Gulf Coast of Texas. And even then, they lied about it, claiming that Martinez, a 23-year-old American citizen, had run over an immigration officer, hurling his body onto the hood of his car.