The sequence is what makes this a record rather than a dispute.
Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, 35, a Mexican construction worker, was shot and killed by an ICE agent in Houston on July 7. An FBI affidavit then alleged that his work van 'likely contained methamphetamine,' citing photographs of 'small bags with a white crystal-like substance' [1].
On July 24 the Harris County District Attorney's office announced the laboratory result. The substance recovered from the van 'tested negative for narcotics / illicit drugs' [1].
His family had said from the start what it was: granulated salt, used to mix a homemade electrolyte drink [1]. Anyone who has worked outdoors in a Houston July can supply the rest of the reasoning.
The FBI declined to comment on the lab results. District Attorney Sean Teare said he is 'more than prepared' to prosecute ICE agents if criminal wrongdoing is found [1].
Two things are worth separating, because they are separate. The lab result does not establish what happened in the moments before the shot, and nothing in this record does.
What it establishes is that a sworn federal document asserted something about the contents of the van that the laboratory says is not true - and that the assertion travelled, uncontested, for seventeen days.
