Tuesday, February 24, 2026

Trump's ICE Covered Up MURDER of Fourth U.S. Citizen

                                                                                     

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Trump's ICE Covered Up MURDER of Fourth U.S. Citizen

Before Keith Porter, Renee Good, & Alex Pretti, ICE shot & killed Ruben Ray Martinez. A passenger, who disputed ICE's "self defense" account, just died—and ICE hid its involvement for nearly a year.

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The Trump administration’s flood of cover ups are growing more deadly.

A fourth U.S. citizen, 23-year-old Ruben Ray Martinez, has been revealed as being shot and killed by ICE in March of 2025—with ICE’s involvement hidden from the public for nearly a year. And, tragically, the main witness, Ruben's friend and passenger Joshua Orta, died in an unrelated car accident this past weekend.

Orta had reportedly disputed ICE’s “self-defense” claim and was ready to publicly come forward.

Ray Martinez, who had just turned 23, and Orta were driving from San Antonio, Texas toward the beach at South Padre Island to celebrate his birthday. As they drove, ICE was assisting local police with an unrelated car accident when Martinez approached in his car.

In an internal ICE report—a document coming from an agency that has repeatedly lied about its killing of U.S. citizens, its discharge of weapons in non-fatal incidents, and its basis for violently attacking undocumented immigrants and U.S. citizens—the federal immigration agency claimed Ray Martinez didn’t initially follow its instructions to stop his vehicle before finally stopping.


According to ICE, after he stopped, agents surrounded his car and ordering him to exit. Then, ICE claimed, Ray Martinez sped forward, hitting an ICE agent so hard he flew onto the hood of the vehicle. In supposed self-defense, another ICE agent then opened fire at Ray Martinez through his open car window.

So…two 20-somethings, heading to the beach to party during spring break:

1) Wouldn’t stop their vehicle for police/ICE…

2) Then finally yielded…

3) Then in a jolt, a 23-year-old—with no criminal record or previous record—slammed on the gas, struck an ICE agent so hard he flew onto the hood of the car…

4) Seeing his colleague clung to the hood of the car, a separate ICE agent shot multiple times at Ray Martinez through his open car window…

5) In a case of supposed self-defense against a crazed motorist, ICE withheld this vehicular “attack” on its agents from the public for nearly a year…

6) And only disclosed it due to a Freedom of Information Act Request by watchdog group American Oversight.

Uh huh….

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Unsurprisingly, there is apparently video evidence contradicting ICE’s “self defense” account. As The Guardian reported, Ray Martinez’ mother was contacted by an investigator with the Texas Rangers—who revealed the existence of video evidence contradicting ICE’s version of event.

“She said she was told by the investigator that the state report into the shooting was completed in October and that the case would be presented to a grand jury for potential criminal charges. The Texas department of public safety, which includes the Rangers, said in a statement Friday that the investigation into the shooting was still “active” and declined to offer more information.”

TRANSLATED: Texas authorities helped ICE cover up the murder of a U.S. citizen for nearly a year and now, after the cover up bubble burst, they’re still “actively” investigating.

See how that works?

Texas Congressman Joaquin Casto seized on this to demand a full independent investigation.

The case of Ray Martinez seems strikingly similar to that of 37-year-old mother Renee Nicole Good—with the only difference being that multiple videos quickly surfaced showing Good being executed by an ICE agent. In this case, potential video of Ray Martinez’ execution has, thus far, been hidden.

Remember when—even with clear video evidence—Trump’s DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, ICE, and the entire Trump administration high command claimed Good weaponized her vehicle and drove into an ICE officer?

Fortunately multiple videos showed that, not only was Good trying to deescalate the situation seconds before she was shot in the head, but she clearly was turning her vehicle away from ICE agent Jonathan Ross when he opened fire three times.

So if they lied about what happened—when ample videos surfaced contradicting their lies—what do you think they’ll do when, as of now, video has been hidden?

Well, according to the now deceased passenger Orta, ICE is lying about what happened. The New York Times reports Orta said “the two men had offered no resistance to law enforcement officers and were trying to comply with commands to turn around the car when the situation got out of control and Mr. Martinez was shot.”

So what sounds more likely? A 20-something headed to the beach intentionally rammed into an ICE agent or paramilitary agents—who a whistleblower just revealed are severely undertrained and lawless—recklessly overreacted when a young motorist didn’t slow down fast enough to their liking?

With the revelation of Ray Martinez’s murder, and the subsequent cover-up by ICE for nearly a year, one must beg the question: how many more U.S citizens—or undocumented immigrants—have been killed by ICE during President Trump’s second term…and simply covered up?

Unfortunately, the murder of Ray Martinez hasn’t received the same coverage as that of Renee Good and Alex Pretti (neither did ICE killing 43-year-old father of two Keith Porter on New Year’s Eve).

But we will continue to pursue this story—and video—of yet another U.S. citizen being senselessly murdered by Trump’s secret police.

Status Coup is the leading INDEPENDENT ON-THE-GROUND reporting outlet in America that covers what the corporate media COVERS UP. We report in-the-trenches to give the microphone back to the people and lift the voices of working people routinely ignored or minimized by mainstream media and the growing landscape of podcasts. From the Flint water crisis to January 6th Capitol attack to the historic UAW strike and President Trump’s ICE terror campaign in LA, NYC, D.C., Alligator Alcatraz, Chicago, and now Minneapolis.

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Let’s keep waking up the masses.

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