Thousands attend memorial for slain Border Patrol agent
Posted on Saturday, August 01 @ 00:13:53 EDT
Topic: Border Patrol American US Security
|
 The Border Patrol honor guard stands at
attention before carrying agent Robert Rosas' flag-draped coffin from a
memorial service at the Southwest High School theater in El Centro.
About 4,000 attend a service for Robert Rosas, who was shot dead
while on duty in eastern San Diego County. Mexican authorities have
detained five men in connection with the case....
July 31, 2009
by Don Bartletti
Los Angeles Times
EL CENTRO, CALIF. -- A Border Patrol agent who
was slain in a rugged, remote area along the Mexican border was buried
today after being remembered as a gregarious family man who dreamed
that his 2-year-old son would follow in his footsteps.
About 4,000 people attended a memorial service for Robert Rosas,
30, who was found dead with bullet wounds to his head and body on the
night of July 23 in Campo, about 60 miles east of San Diego. People
crowded the aisles of Southwest High School's theater, and many agents
arrived too late to get even a glimpse of the service on closed-circuit
television in the adjoining gym.
Photos: Remembering a fallen agentRosas' wife of two years,
Rosalie, told the crowd in a statement read by a relative that her
husband had talked of dancing with their 11-month-old daughter at her
wedding and attending their son's graduation from the Border Patrol
Academy.
Rosas lived in El Centro, the seat of a farming region with
sky-high unemployment rates across the border from the sprawling
industrial city of Mexicali. Like many people raised in California's
Imperial Valley, Rosas found a career in law enforcement. The Border
Patrol has grown to about 1,000 agents in the area, making it one of
the biggest employers.
Before joining the agency in 2006, Rosas was a state prison guard
for six years and a reserve officer in the El Centro Police Department
for two years.
Tony Duarte, a close friend and fellow agent, said Rosas was such a
familiar face around the city that people called him the mayor.
"Robert knew everyone in El Centro, and when I say everyone, I mean everyone," he said.
Senior law enforcement officials took turns speaking next to a
coffin draped with an American flag. A large screen flashed photos of
Rosas with his family and in uniform as a high school football player,
adult softball player and Border Patrol agent.
Border Patrol Chief David Aguilar drew applause when he vowed to bring the "cowards and the scourge of humanity to justice."
"The darkness that fell on all of us a week ago is still unbearable," he said.
Rosas, like many Border Patrol agents, was patrolling alone in his
vehicle about 9 p.m., working a busy corridor for illegal immigrants
and marijuana smugglers. Authorities haven't detailed what happened,
but Aguilar said Rosas responded correctly.
"There was no hesitation, no indecision and no ambiguity in Robert's action," he said.
Mexican authorities have detained five men in connection with the
case. They say Ernesto Parra Valenzuela, 36, had a 9-mm pistol when he
was captured walking alone near the scene of the shooting, an area of
white boulder-strewn hills blanketed with shrubs.
Erick Lara Cabrera, the public safety chief in Tecate, Mexico, said
Thursday that Parra admitted that he was a migrant smuggler when local
police found him about five hours after the killing, but he denied any
involvement with Rosas' death.
There are still speckles of blood on rocks lining a small crevice
under a border fence made of corrugated metal. Lara said the blood
apparently came from when Rosas' killer returned to Mexico.
Mexican authorities later detained four alleged migrant smugglers,
including two who are suspected of kidnapping and raping migrants. One
allegedly identified Parra as the Border Patrol agent's killer.
The FBI, which is leading the investigation, has not publicly
identified any suspects. It is offering $100,000 for information
leading to an arrest and conviction and $10,000 for help finding Rosas'
Border Patrol-issued 0.40-caliber gun.
Rosas is the first Border Patrol agent to be killed by gunfire
since 1998, according to the Officer Down Memorial Page, a website that
tracks deaths of law enforcement officers. It comes at a time of
increasing concern among U.S. authorities that a crackdown on drug
cartels by Mexican President Felipe Calderon will spill across the
border.
The streets of El Centro were filled today with law enforcement
vehicles, many of them arriving in caravans from San Diego's Qualcomm
Stadium. Ron Newhouse, a facilities manager at Southwest High School,
estimated the crowd between 4,300 and 4,800 people.
"Robert is now in a better place, a much cooler place," said Border Patrol Agent Edgar Rogel, a close friend.
Rosas was buried in an El Centro cemetery.
DISCUSS THIS ARTICLE WITH OUR ONLINE ACTIVISTS AT...
http://www.alipac.us/ftopicp-932303.html#932303
|
|
| |
| Article Rating | Average Score: 5
Votes: 7
| |
|
Contribute/Join
