Body Camera Footage Contradicts Federal Account in Texas ICE Shooting
Newly released video shows Ruben Ray Martinez was barely moving when an agent shot him three times through his car window in March 2025 - a death concealed from the public for 11 months.
A US citizen was shot and killed by a federal immigration agent during a traffic stop in South Padre Island, Texas, on March 15, 2025, but the Department of Homeland Security never publicly disclosed the incident until records surfaced in February 2026.
Ruben Ray Martinez, 23, was shot multiple times by Homeland Security Investigations Supervisory Special Agent Jack Stevens, marking the earliest of at least six deadly shootings by federal officers since the start of President Trump’s second-term immigration crackdown. Body camera footage released by Texas Rangers on March 7 shows Martinez’s vehicle moving slowly through an intersection with brake lights on before gunshots rang out, contradicting DHS claims that he “accelerated forward” and “intentionally ran over” an agent.
The shooting remained hidden for nearly a year. No state or federal agency disclosed that a Homeland Security Investigations agent had killed Martinez until it was revealed through a public records request by American Oversight, a nonprofit watchdog. Martinez’s mother Rachel Reyes said she first learned her son had been shot by a federal agent, rather than a local police officer, about a week after he was killed, when a Texas Ranger investigator told her there were videos that contradicted the account provided by federal agents.
What the Video Shows
Body camera footage from South Padre Island police shows Martinez’s vehicle was stationary or moving at very low speed when Stevens fired, with brake lights visible for approximately 10 seconds before the shots – directly contradicting the official ICE report. The entire incident transpired in about 15 seconds.
According to CBS News, moments before three gunshots are heard in the footage, Martinez’s vehicle appears to be moving very slowly, if at all, and brake lights can be seen. After being shot three times, Martinez was pulled from his vehicle, thrown to the ground face down by an ICE agent, and handcuffed, with personnel not providing medical care until after he was restrained.
An autopsy report shows all three shots fired by Stevens hit Martinez, with bullets traveling through his left arm before entering his torso and piercing his heart, lungs, liver and other organs. The autopsy also showed Martinez’s blood alcohol level was 0.12%, above the legal driving limit in Texas of 0.08%.
| DHS Official Claim | Video Evidence |
|---|---|
| Martinez “accelerated forward” | Brake lights visible for 10 seconds before shooting |
| Driver “intentionally ran over” agent | Vehicle stationary or barely moving when shots fired |
| Agent fired “defensive shots” | Martinez shot at point-blank range through side window |
| Agent ended up “on the hood” | No visual confirmation in available footage |
The footage reviewed by The Texas Tribune does not show Martinez hitting the Department of Homeland Security Investigations agent with his car, as the agency has repeatedly claimed, but it also does not provide clear evidence that he did not. The federal agent in question was not wearing a body camera.
The Concealment and Investigation
The shooting occurred while HSI agents – typically focused on combating transnational criminal organizations at seaports but reassigned to immigration enforcement – were assisting South Padre Island police by redirecting traffic through a busy intersection after a vehicle accident. Martinez was just days past his 23rd birthday when he and his best friend drove from San Antonio to South Padre Island, a renowned spring break destination on the Gulf Coast just north of the US-Mexico border, to celebrate.
According to The Texas Tribune, South Padre Island Police initially only released a press release on Martinez’s death but did not identify the agency responsible, and public records requests did not immediately reveal the federal agency’s involvement – a two-sentence police report described Martinez striking a federal agent with his car but did not mention the shooting.
DHS did not respond to questions about why it had made no media release or other public notification of the officer-involved shooting over 11 months. ICE’s own data shows a dramatic spike of nearly 400 percent in use-of-force incidents during the administration’s first months, according to Al Jazeera.
“What they’re telling the public is very different than what they’re doing behind closed doors. The only reason why we’re able to make these connections and really call into question the public statements that they’re making to mislead the public is because we’re able to get our hands on these documents.”
– Chioma Chukwu, Executive Director, American Oversight
On February 26, 2026, a Cameron County grand jury returned a “no bill” decision, declining to indict Stevens on criminal charges. Martinez’s attorneys said the family was “devastated” and emphasized they do not know what information was presented to the grand jury in the secret proceeding, including whether jurors reviewed video footage or heard from key eyewitness Joshua Orta.
Orta, Martinez’s passenger and close friend who disputed the government’s account in a witness statement, died in an unrelated high-speed car crash near downtown San Antonio just days before the grand jury hearing.
The Witness Account and Family Response
Joshua Orta wrote in a draft declaration that Martinez did not hit an officer with his vehicle and said he and Martinez had just had “a few drinks” and attended a party before the fatal shooting – upon arriving at the scene, an officer told them to “turn around and leave”. According to family attorney Charles Stam, when Martinez lost his life “his car was in park, and right after those three bullets came through the window and went into his chest from that ICE officer, Mr. Orta’s statement said that he said, ‘I’m sorry, sir,’ as his last words”.
Martinez worked at an Amazon warehouse and liked to play video games and hang out with friends, with his mother saying he had never had any prior run-ins with law enforcement and “wasn’t a violent person at all”.
Attorneys representing Rachel Reyes stated “Ruben’s family is devastated – they are proud Americans, strong supporters of law enforcement, and Trump voters who believe there are honest and decent officers out there and just want to be treated honestly and decently”.
Martinez’s shooting is part of a pattern of contested ICE use-of-force incidents. In January 2026, Minneapolis residents Renee Good and Alex Pretti – both US citizens – were fatally shot by federal immigration agents, with body camera footage contradicting official narratives in Good’s case. The three deaths have sparked nationwide protests and calls for accountability in immigration enforcement operations.
Diplomatic and Political Fallout
The incident has not triggered the formal diplomatic complications initially feared. Research found no evidence that Martinez held Mexican citizenship or that Mexico filed a diplomatic protest specifically over his death. However, Mexico has sent formal diplomatic notes to the United States in other recent cases, including demanding a thorough investigation into the death of a Mexican in ICE custody in California, according to Mexico Business.
Texas Democratic state Representative Ray Lopez invoked a newly created state legislative rule to force a public hearing into the shooting, which would be the first public use of the provision adopted during the 89th Legislative Session. State Representative Gina Hinojosa requested a legislative oversight inquiry to release body camera footage, while US Representative Joaquin Castro called for a thorough probe “including why there was an 8-month cover up”, as reported by The Texas Tribune.
Technology and Surveillance Questions
The Martinez case highlights persistent gaps in federal immigration enforcement accountability infrastructure. The federal HSI agent who shot Martinez was not wearing a body camera, leaving the visual record dependent entirely on local South Padre Island police officers’ devices. Dozens of body camera videos from different angles captured by local police officers were made public by the Texas Department of Public Safety on March 7, as reported by multiple outlets including BBC.
The clips from multiple vantage points don’t show everything, and in some cases key audio is missing. This fragmented evidence base has allowed competing narratives to persist despite video documentation. The absence of federal body camera footage from the shooting agent contrasts sharply with local police practices and has become a focal point in demands for transparency.
The case also illustrates how FOIA litigation and document requests have become the primary mechanism for public oversight of federal immigration enforcement. The records released were part of a tranche of heavily redacted internal documents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement that American Oversight obtained as part of a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit, according to CNN.
- Federal immigration agents lack consistent body camera requirements despite local law enforcement standards
- DHS provided no public notification of officer-involved shooting for 11 months
- Fragmented video evidence from multiple angles failed to provide complete documentation
- Grand jury process conducted in secrecy with no public disclosure of evidence presented
- Death of key eyewitness days before grand jury eliminated critical testimony
- FOIA litigation required to surface basic facts about federal agent killing US citizen
What to Watch
Texas state lawmakers are pushing for a public hearing on the Martinez shooting, though Representative Ray Lopez has not yet received a response from committee chair Representative Cole Hefner, whose office declined to comment. The hearing would mark the first test of Texas’s new legislative oversight mechanism for forcing committee action.
The Texas Rangers investigation technically remains open despite the grand jury decision. Martinez’s attorneys have demanded that the Texas Department of Public Safety publicly disclose the full findings of their investigation “so that Ruben’s family and the public can determine for themselves whether ICE’s story is accurate and why Ruben was killed that night”, as reported by KSAT.
Federal civil rights litigation remains a possibility. Martinez’s family has retained counsel from Thompson Stam and Hayes Law, and the evidentiary contradictions between body camera footage and the official DHS narrative could support claims under Section 1983 or Bivens. The February 26 grand jury no-bill eliminates state criminal prosecution but does not preclude federal civil liability.
The incident occurs against mounting scrutiny of ICE use-of-force patterns. Six people died in ICE custody in January 2026 alone, with one case in particular drawing attention after local authorities ruled it a homicide arising from asphyxia due to neck and torso compression, according to data compiled by the American Immigration Council. Congressional oversight mechanisms and judicial scrutiny of enforcement operations are likely to intensify as more cases surface through FOIA and media investigation.