On Cain, Abel, and the Blood That Cries out
"What have you done?" God said, "For your brother's blood is speaking to me from the ground."
So, we know this passage from Genesis as the first murder committed between humans. But we don't often dwell on what happens next. God doesn't kill Cain. The Lord puts a mark on him. A sign. This is not shameful. This is protection. God will allow even those who take a life to be kept under his protection. The one who is killed and the one who kills are both protected by God. Both bodies are important to God.
God's Kingdom works in this way. It acknowledges blood crying from the ground and the person who spilled it.
This past Sunday, a Venezuelan man was shot in North Austin. Wilber Rafael Garces Perez, 28 years old. He was delivering something. An agent fired a gun at him. His blood has cried from the ground. He was wounded in the flesh of his body with the intention to take his life. But so is the man who shot him. His blood is also marked. These two people have been separated from the natural world they once inhabited.
We have seen this continue to happen since January 2025. There have been at least 22 people shot by agents working under DHS. At least 6 have died. Keith Porter Jr. was killed in Los Angeles. Renee Nicole Good was killed in Minneapolis; she was a U.S. citizen. Ruben Ray Martinez was killed in South Padre Island. Alex Pretti was shot 10 times in less than 5 seconds; he was an ICU nurse. Lorenzo Salgado Araujo was killed in Houston. Joan Sebastián Durán Guerrero was killed in Maine. Now Wilber Rafael Garces Perez has been shot in Austin.
Blood is crying from the ground, and we as a nation have turned a deaf ear.
What we believe about Incarnation
Why did God ask this question to Cain? There is only one answer in Christian Theology. Yes. We are each other’s keepers; this is very hard for most folks. Yet Scripture is clear on this one. Everyone is made in the image of God; and we are bound to protect human beings.
When you and I look at someone, you are looking at Jesus. There is no distinction between illegal aliens and removal targets. They are all made in the image of God; each is God’s personal concern. Through the Incarnation, God became flesh. We are to look at every human being and recognize them as such.
Taking a life has consequences
I am not sure, sociologically, what has happened to change the fact that killing someone does, in fact, create a moral injury in the human heart of the shooter; regardless of whether it is recognized now or later. Today we treat such people as heroes, deny that they have done something terrible, and deny our guilt in their action too (having elected, supported policy, and turned our face away). We see the repercussions of unanswered death and moral injury in the suicides and mental health of our combat vets. Whenever and wherever we kill someone (regardless of why), the ground cries out.
There are few words I can find that adequately describe what someone feels after taking a life. Even if that life was taken in self-defense. We know that sometimes we use deadly force to protect others from death. But that should never be celebrated. And, more importantly, what we know is that across 2025 and into 2026, roughly 65 to 73 percent of the people ICE has taken into custody or removed had no criminal conviction at all, and only about 5 to 8 percent had a conviction for a violent crime. Overwhelmingly, ICE agents are killing fathers, daughters, sons, and mothers who are not violent, have no record of being so, and are not criminals.
When someone says most of those being removed are criminals or illegal, the true statement underneath is that about a quarter of them have a conviction; most of those convictions are for things like driving to work without a license, and the great majority of the remainder have committed no crime at all, including the visa overstayers whose only offense is a status issue and is not criminal.
Regardless, the realities never remove the Christian Church’s requirement that when someone takes a life, they need to be held accountable for their actions, to repent, and go through the healing process that we currently don't allow for. We need to show mercy to those who have taken a life just as God showed mercy to Cain. Mercy, though, only comes after accountability to the facts and the clarity and honesty of repentance.
What Austin Needs
Mayor Kirk Watson is correct that we, as citizens of Texas and Austin, deserve to know what happened. We need the following from those in power.
All footage and information to be released to the public regarding this incident.
Texas Rangers and the FBI to work with Austin PD special investigations to scrutinize this incident.
ICE needs to stop sending armed officers to our neighborhoods.
I have called for immigration reform, accountability, and truth-telling with transparency, and I continue to do so. The ground cries out.
As in Houston, when this has happened in the Diocese of Texas, let our churches open their doors to anyone who wants to grieve this incident.
Prayer and Fasting
We must pray for those affected by this incident and call for repentance from both authorities and the officer. We as a Church need to gather around our altars and bring the one who bled and the one who took the life to God and present them to God in our prayers. We cannot allow them to fall outside of God’s grace.
We stand with those who are grieving for Wilber Rafael Garces Perez. You are not alone. Your grief is valid and justified.
We stand with those who have taken a life. There is blood on your hands, but there is blood on all of our hands because we allow this to happen day after day.
Let us remember the names of those who have lost their lives to immigration officers.
The Names (As of 9/21/2026):
1. Keith Porter Jr., 43, Los Angeles 12/31/2025
2. Renee Nicole Good, 37, Minneapolis 1/7/2026
3. Ruben Ray Martinez, 23, South Padre Island March 2025
4. Ryan Luis Mosqueda, 27, Texas 7/7/2025
5. Alex Pretti, 37, Minneapolis 1/24/2026
6. Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, 52, Houston 7/7/2026
7. Joan Sebastián Durán Guerrero, 26, Biddeford Maine 7/2026
8. Wilber Rafael Garces Perez, 28, Austin TX9/21/2026
At least 32 people have died while in ICE custody this past year, and 6 more in the first 5 days of 2026. The ground cries out.
Pray
Lord, we have failed to see you in those we have hurt. Please help us to see you in everyone we encounter. Help us to show mercy to those who have taken a life and help those who have lost loved ones to grieve. May we learn from these events and change the systems that have allowed this to happen. In Jesus ' name we pray. Amen.
C. Andrew Doyle, D.D.
IX Bishop of Texas
Jeff W. Fisher, D.D.
Bishop Suffragan
Kathryn M. Ryan
Bishop Suffragan
Brian R. Seage
Assisting Bishop
