Pushing for Answers about Ruben Ray Martinez’s Death
Looking into ICE’s fatal shooting of another US citizen, and Trump’s efforts to avoid accountability and delay public records lawsuits.
Last week, we obtained documents revealing an ICE agent fatally shot another U.S. citizen in March 2025, months before similar high-profile ICE shootings drew national attention. Now, Americans are demanding accountability for the death of Ruben Ray Martinez.
ICE hid details of the shooting for nearly a year. The incident report didn’t come to light until we sued for information about ICE’s use of force under the Trump administration. National, state, and local lawmakers are now calling for investigations into ICE, the Department of Homeland Security, and its secretary, Kristi Noem.
- U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro called for a “full investigation” into Martinez’s fatal shooting, “including why there was an 8-month cover up.”
- Texas Rep. Ray Lopez demanded a public hearing on the shooting.
- Gina Ortiz, the mayor of Martinez’s hometown, San Antonio, Texas, urged Congress to investigate.
- Arizona Sen. Ruben Gallego pressed for a “full investigation” to learn how many other people immigration agents have killed.
We need a lot more answers about Ruben Ray Martinez’s death — including how and why ICE kept it hidden. This week, we filed new Freedom of Information Act requests for related police bodycam footage and agency communications.
What is the Trump administration fighting so hard to hide?
This week, FBI Director Kash Patel fired several FBI employees tied to the investigation into Trump’s alleged mishandling of national security documents, just days after a Trump-appointed judge blocked the release of the special counsel’s report on the same topic.
Trump has repeatedly asked the courts to keep the report secret, or even destroy it. Pairing Trump’s actions with Patel’s removals of career public servants involved in the investigation raises serious questions about what the administration is hiding.
“The public was promised the most transparent administration in history. Instead, they are witnessing retaliation against law enforcement and a coordinated effort to ensure that the truth never sees the light of day,” our Executive Director Chioma Chukwu said.
We cannot let this stand. Higher courts still have the power to release the report, and we already have an appeal before the Eleventh Circuit.
Trump’s new trick to avoid accountability
The Trump administration is using a rare legal tactic to delay our public records cases and avoid accountability: Asking courts to delete basic information from our lawsuits.
In several of our cases, the government’s lawyers have filed “motions to strike” to remove factual statements and publicly-available information from the suits. The legal arguments behind these motions are weak, and they’ve already been rejected by two judges. But the Trump administration seems to be using these motions to strike as a tactic to delay cases, or to avoid admitting damaging facts in court.
For example, we’re suing for information about whether Trump was interviewed as part of the federal investigation into Jeffrey Epstein. Trump’s lawyers are fighting to strike publicly-available information about the president’s relationship with Epstein from our lawsuit. The judge, who had to rule on that motion before the case could proceed, denied it, but the Trump administration’s lawyers bought themselves more time.
The administration’s attorneys are also fighting to delete information from suits about the FBI’s review of the Epstein files, Qatar’s $400 million jet gift, and whistleblower allegations about deportations to El Salvador.
Read more about how the Trump administration is using this unusual legal tactic.
American Oversight in the news
- Texas man was fatally shot by a federal immigration agent last year during a stop, new records show (Associated Press)
- ICE officers’ use of force and training: ICE retiree sees agency he doesn’t recognize (NBC4 Washington)
- Senator demands Kristi Noem impeachment after Ruben Ray Martinez death (Newsweek)
- Close friend of U.S. citizen killed by ICE agent in Texas disputed official account of shooting (CBS News)
- Judge bars release of special counsel report on Trump’s mishandling of documents (New York Times)
- Trump admin seeks to strike Epstein connections from record (Salon)
Other stories we’re following
- Justice Department withheld and removed some Epstein files related to Trump (NPR)
- Patel ousts FBI personnel tied to inquiry into Trump’s retained classified records (New York Times)
- Judge: IRS broke law ‘approximately 42,695 times’ in giving DHS data (Washington Post)
- Trump admin halts Medicaid payments to Minnesota over fraud claims (CNN)
- Trump, seeking executive power over elections, is urged to declare emergency (Washington Post)