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Community members and local faith leaders will gather Saturday at 10 a.m. at the park at Park Circle for a Vigil for Justice honoring Lorenzo Salgado Araujo and Joan Sebastian Guerrero, two men killed in federal immigration enforcement actions this past week.
On July 7, Lorenzo Salgado Araujo was killed during an enforcement operation in which, according to reports, agents mistook him for someone else. Advocates say his death underscores the dangers of enforcement actions carried out without adequate verification or safeguards and that a case of mistaken identity should never be a death sentence.
Joan Sebastian Guerrero was fatally shot Monday, July 13, reportedly in front of his wife and 3-year-old daughter. His family and advocates are demanding a full, independent accounting of the circumstances and say the trauma inflicted on a child who watched her father die makes plain the human cost of enforcement conducted without restraint.
According to authorities, their deaths were followed the next day by the death of a third man, who was killed on a Florida highway while fleeing federal immigration agents.
The vigil is co-sponsored by a number of local organizations, including the Charleston chapters of the Community Services Organization, Freedom Road Socialist Organization, Democratic Socialists of America, Indivisible Summerville, Charleston Indivisible, Lowcountry Action Committee, Charleston Climate Coalition, Everyday People, 50501 South Carolina, Luke 4 Ministries, Silence Is Not an Option (SINO) and other groups.
"Lorenzo and Joan should be alive today, and what happened to them could happen to any of our neighbors here in the Lowcountry," said local organizer Dulce Lopez. "We're gathering to say their lives mattered, and we won't stay silent. We will show up and join communities across the country that are taking a stand against ICE's reign of terror."
Event details:
- What: Vigil for Justice honoring Lorenzo Salgado Araujo and Joan Sebastian Guerrero
- When: Saturday, July 18, 10 a.m.
- Where: The park at Park Circle, North Charleston
- Who: Open to all community members who want to stand in solidarity with the immigrant community