The involvement of a federal agent in the shooting was confirmed this week.
Protests in the United States surged in late January after the shooting death of a second U.S. citizen at the hands of immigration officials. This week, internal documents from the Department of Homeland Security show that a citizen was first shot and killed during the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown in March 2025 in Texas. File Photo by Terry Schmitt/UPI | License Photo
A federal immigration agent shot and killed a U.S. citizen in Texas early last year as immigration officials were aware of an increase in use-of-force incidents by agents in the field.
Reports of use-of-force incidents involving ICE agents saw a nearly four-fold increase — there 67 incidents reported in the first two months of 2025, compared with 17 in the same time frame in 2024 — as the Trump administration ramped up its nationwide immigration crackdown, according to internal emails reviewed by Newsweek.
Among the revelations revealed in the documents was the shooting death of 23-year-old Ruben Ray Martinez, a San Antonio resident who was shot multiple times by a Homeland Security special agent in South Padre Island who did not follow commands to exit his vehicle, The New York Times and KSAT-TV reported.
The documents were released on Feb. 17 by the non-profit American Oversight, which obtained them through a Freedom of Information Act request and lawsuit.
The group said the internal emails and documents it obtained on training practices and the escalation of use-of-force show that the Department of Homeland Security has been aware that its officers are using increased force against both civilians and targets of immigration enforcement operations.
“These records paint a deeply troubling picture of the violent methods used by ICE, Chioma Chukwu, executive director of American Oversight, said in a press release. “In just the first months of this administration, ICE’s own data shows a dramatic spike of nearly 400 percent in use-of-force incidents — with people hospitalized, bystanders swept up in operations and even the death of a U.S. citizen.”
A spokesperson for DHS told Newsweek that the department had tracked 23 separate incidents where agents were attacked or injured, including civilians weaponizing cars and one incident that saw an agents finger get bit off by a protester.
These incidents, the spokesperson said, occurred in Chicago, Dallas, San Diego, Maine, New York City and Colorado Springs.
In the case of Martinez, he was celebrating his 23rd birthday in South Padre Island when his car approached a car accident in which HSI was helping local police control traffic and he did not follow officers’ instructions.
After he stopped, HSI surrounded the vehicle and ordered him to exit the car but Martinez instead hit the gas pedal and struck an agent who landed on the roof of his car.
Another agent then fired multiple times into the car, shooting Martinez, who later died at the hospital. The agent who was hit was treated for a knee injury at the hospital and released.
Martinez’s death is the third death of a U.S. citizen at the hands of a federal immigration agent since the Trump administration launched its immigration crackdown, which has seen large protests nationwide, but had not been acknowledged by DHS until now.
Earlier this year, in January, two U.S. citizens were shot and killed by immigration agents in Minneapolis during a months-long operation in the city.
Minneapolis resident Renee Nicole Good was shot and killed on Jan. 7 by an officer who alleged that she tried to run him over with her car.
Just over two weeks later, on Jan. 24, another resident of the city, Alex Pretti, was shot and killed after police alleged that he interfered with an operation and then resisted arrest.
USA overwhelms Slovakia in men’s hockey semifinals
Team USA members celebrate their first goal in the first period of the men’s hockey semifinal game against Slovakia at the Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena in Milan, Italy, on February 20, 2026. Photo by Aaron Josefczyk/UPI | License Photo
