ICE records show that Good and Pretti weren’t the first fatal shootings

New internal U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) records have just revealed that federal agents shot and killed a U.S. citizen in Texas last year, a detail that wasn’t initially disclosed in local reports. This incident, involving Ruben Ray Martinez, 23, in March 2025, predates the highly publicized fatal encounters involving ICE agents in Minneapolis earlier this year. It’s a pretty startling discovery that shines a new light on the agency’s use of force.

Martinez was shot by an officer from ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) unit in South Padre Island, Texas, who was assisting local police with immigration enforcement. According to ICE’s internal account, the shooting happened after Martinez allegedly failed to follow law enforcement instructions during a traffic incident. Martinez’s death was reported locally, but initial reports didn’t mention HSI’s involvement. 

Per Newsweek, details are now emerging because of a Freedom of Information Act request. On that morning of March 15, 2025, the HSI Harlingen BEST Maritime Group was helping the South Padre Island Police Department (SPIPD) manage traffic at the scene of a major vehicle accident that had multiple injuries. HSI agents were redirecting traffic when a blue four-door Ford approached a controlled area.

I wonder what the narrative would be outside of this report

The internal ICE report states that the driver didn’t follow instructions and tried to continue past the agents, only halting after multiple verbal commands. Agents then surrounded the vehicle and commanded the driver to exit. The report then describes the driver accelerating forward, striking an HSI special agent who ended up on the hood of the vehicle. The HSI group supervisory special agent then fired multiple rounds at the driver through the open window.

The internal report didn’t name Martinez or his passengers. It simply identified the deceased as from San Antonio, Texas, which allowed for his identification based on local reporting from the time. Martinez and his passenger were both identified as U.S. citizens in the ICE report. Martinez was pronounced dead after being transported to the Valley Regional Medical Center in Brownsville. A passenger in the vehicle was taken into custody by SPIPD. 

Interestingly, the South Padre Island City Manager, Randy Smith, had previously stated that SPIPD officers were not the ones who fired their weapons. Martinez’s family, in an obituary posted online in 2025, expressed deep sadness and shock at his sudden death, describing him as “humble, kind, and adventurous.”

This revelation about Martinez’s death comes amidst increased scrutiny of ICE’s use-of-force incidents after two recent fatal encounters in Minneapolis. The deaths of both Renee Good and Alex Pretti came with a massive fallout, where evidence disproves the statements made by the DHS and ICE. Their stories make the newly revealed details about Martinez’s earlier shooting even more significant.