Ruben Ray Martinez was shot by a Homeland Security Investigations Agent, Jack C. Stevens, on March 15, 2025. According to another agent, Martinez had first struck him with his car.
Ruben Ray Martinez was shot by a Homeland Security Investigations Agent, Jack C. Stevens, on March 15, 2025. According to a second Homeland Security Investigations Agent, Hector Sosa, Martinez had first struck Sosa’s legs with his car, causing him to fall over the hood.
A DHS spokesperson later underlined this version of events, describing Martinez as intentionally running over Sosa.
However, newly released body-camera and surveillance footage from the night in question cast doubt on the DHS’s narrative, lawyers for Martinez’s mother, Rachel Reyes, said, arguing that the videos prove that Martinez’s car was “barely moving” at the time he was shot.
According to Reyes’ lawyers, the agent was not actually in any danger at the time of the shooting, and there is “No information or evidence that places any officer in harm’s way that justified a federal agent shooting and killing Ruben,” or “video or written evidence that Sosa was struck by Ruben.”
‘Washington Post’ labels police footage inconclusive
“I was present, and I state clearly and without hesitation that Ruben did not hit anyone,” Orta wrote in a statement provided to Reyes’ lawyers. “The trooper seemed to be trying to get in front of the car, like he wasn’t moving out of the way when we tried to turn around and leave like the police officer told us to do.”
