Man killed by Border Patrol agent identified as Mexican, had prior drug arrest
Man killed by Border Patrol agent identified as Mexican national, had prior drug-related arrest
Posted: 02/20/2014
Last Updated: 5 hours ago
SAN DIEGO - A rock-throwing man who was suspected of having entered the United States illegally and who was shot to death by a U.S. Border Patrol agent in the rugged southern reaches of San Diego County this week was identified as a 41-year-old Mexican national with a prior drug-related arrest.
Jesus Flores-Cruz suffered two gunshot wounds around 6:40 a.m. Tuesday in the White Cross area of the Otay Mountain Range, roughly four miles east of the Otay Mesa Port of Entry, said San Diego County sheriff's Lt. Glenn Giannantonio in a statement,
The suspect was identified through his fingerprints, which were recorded during a 1996 arrest by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, according to the lieutenant.
Shortly before the shooting, the agent and another U.S. Border Patrol agent were attempting to apprehend two other immigrants suspected of illegal entry into the U.S. when the agents split up to cut off the fleeing suspects, Giannantonio said.
The agent who later fired his weapon saw a third suspect unrelated to the two already being chased.
"He ordered the man to stop in English and Spanish but he fled on foot," Giannantonio said. "The agent chased after him, following him down a ravine and back up the opposite hillside."
While above the agent on a hillside, the suspect picked up fist-sized rocks and began throwing them at the agent despite repeated orders in English and Spanish to stop, Giannantonio said, noting the rocks being thrown got progressively bigger, reaching the size of a basketball.
"One of the larger rocks struck the agent in the head," he said. "Fearing that another rock strike to the head could kill or incapacitate him, the agent fired his duty pistol at least twice at the man, striking him."
Flores-Cruz was pronounced dead at the scene.
The agent, who deflected some of the rocks with his hands, was treated for minor injuries at a local hospital.
http://www.10news.com/news/man-kille...-arrest-022014
Mexico condemns Border Patrol's lethal force against migrant
We knew this was coming. How about Mexico help us to secure the borders so such incidents are less apt to happen? They aren't at fault for anything it seems
~~~
By Michael Martinez, CNN
updated 8:14 PM EST, Thu February 20, 2014
(CNN) -- The Mexican government condemned the U.S. Border Patrol's use of lethal force that resulted in the death of an apparently undocumented migrant on the California-Mexico border this week.
The migrant was identified by Mexican authorities as Mexican national Jesus Flores Cruz.
"We also firmly reiterate that the use of lethal force in border control operations is unacceptable. The Government of Mexico expects the results of the investigations and that those responsible be held accountable," the Secretariat of Foreign Relations said in a statement Thursday.
The Mexican government is seeking a thorough investigation of the incident.
Since January 2010, at least 28 individuals have died as the result of an encounter with U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials, said the activist group Southern Border Communities Coalition. At least 27 deaths resulted from the use of lethal force, and one person died after not receiving adequate medical attention, the group said.
On Tuesday, a Border Patrol agent shot and killed an apparently undocumented migrant who allegedly threw rocks at the agent, striking his face, on the border near San Diego, authorities said.
A social justice advocacy group criticized the Border Patrol's use of deadly force in the incident, saying there's a disturbing trend of Border Patrol "killings of rock throwers, some of whom were teenagers and some whom were U.S. citizens" on the U.S.-Mexico border, said Andrea Guerrero, executive director of Alliance San Diego.
The Border Patrol declined to comment directly on this week's incident, which is under investigation by local authorities, but in the past, the agency has highlighted how agents are seriously injured in rock-throwing incidents and resort to lethal force to protect themselves.
Guerrero said, however, some police experts advise using nonlethal force such as pepper-ball guns to respond to rock throwings.
"Border agents should adhere to best policing practices and only use lethal force as a last resort, not the only resort," Guerrero said.
Rock-throwing incidents have been controversial on the U.S.-Mexico border, particularly when Mexicans have thrown projectiles from the Mexico side of the international line toward Border Patrol agents on the U.S. side.
In some cases, U.S. Border Patrol agents have fired their guns at the rock throwers on the Mexico side of the border, killing the rock thrower. Mexican officials have condemned the Border Patrol's use of lethal force as excessive.
The U.S. Border Patrol said the incident occurred in a rugged section of the Otay Mountains near San Diego where the agent was trying to arrest several immigrants who crossed the border illegally.
Two other undocumented migrants were arrested and in custody, the agency said.
The San Diego County Sheriff's Department, which is investigating the killing, said in its account that two Border Patrol agents were trying to detain a group of suspected undocumented migrants in rugged terrain in the mountain's White Cross area about four miles east of the Otay Mesa border crossing.
The border patrol agent who fired his service weapon suffered minor injuries, the sheriff's homicide unit said.
http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/20/us/cal...hrowing-death/
Left Renews Attack Against Border Patrol Agents
by Kristin Tate 21 Feb 2014
breitbart.com
http://cdn.breitbart.com/mediaserver...Border-Bob.jpg
On Tuesday in Milton, Texas, 41 year old Jesus Flores-Cruz was shot and killed after he threw large rocks at a U.S. Border Patrol agent. The agent claims his life was being threatened.
Flores-Cruz, a Mexican citizen who investigators claim was most likely in the U.S. illegally, began throwing rocks at the agent from a hillside. The rocks being thrown gradually got larger - one was the size of a basketball - and some even hit the agent in the head. The agent, who remains unnamed, claims that he fired warning shots two times when he began to fear for his life. After Flores-Cruz refused to stop throwing rocks, the agent shot him dead.
The agent was alone at the time of the incident. He and another agent had separated earlier that morning to track down two individuals who were suspected of entering the U.S. illegally from Mexico.
Although the Department of Security (DHS) refused to comment on the specific incident, the department's Deputy Security Alejandro Mayorkas said, "We are committed to ensuring the safety of our men and women who put their lives on the line on the border. At the same time we are committed to ensuring that our use-of-force policies are a reflection of best practices."
In 2012, rock attacks were the second-most-common type of assault on agents -- there were 185 separate rock attacks in that year alone. Agents responded with deadly force 22 times.
Despite the prevalence of such attacks, many on the left argue that Border Patrol agents should not be allowed to respond with deadly force while being attacked with improvised weapons like rocks and bottles. An attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Mitra Ebadolahi, argued that Flores-Cruz's shooting may not have been justified.
Sylvia Longmire, Breitbart Texas’ Contributing Editor on border security expert and author of "Border Insecurity: Why Big Money, Fences, and Drones Aren't Making Us Safer," said that in the media "Border Patrol agents are made out to be the bad guys, shooting at innocent Mexican migrants who are ostensibly just tossing pebbles."
She did point out, however, that in the recent Milton case, all of the known information about what conspired came solely from the agent since there were no witnesses. Longmire said, "It's up to the investigators and Border Patrol supervisors to decide, based on the agent's testimony and available physical evidence, if the agent's account of events is accurate. If so, then it should be broadly understood that this agent took measures to defend his life against a lethal threat. If not, then appropriate disciplinary actions should be transparently taken against the agent, and measures initiated to prevent such an incident from happening again."
Shawn Moran, a spokesman for the union representing Border Patrol agents, insisted that the debate at hand wouldn't be necessary if the root of the problem were focused on and addressed. He said, "The easiest way to stop these incidents from happening is to stop attacking Border Patrol agents."
Breitbart News’ Managing Director has written extensively on this issue of rock throwing and Border Patrol use of force policy. He revealed that often left-of-center efforts were disingenuously attacking the men and women of Border Patrol in an effort that would have resulted in huge swaths of the U.S./Mexico border being left wide open. His reporting detailed the circumstances Border Patrol operates within—that most agents are alone, miles from another person or backup and often without the ability to use their radios due to lack of communication towers.
Darby’s analysis was further reinforced given that U.S. Senator John Cornyn believes that agents deserve the right to defend themselves, especially if they are alone and outnumbered in a desolate area where their radios often do not work. Cornyn told Breitbart News, "There are attacks against Border Patrol Agents and they need to be able to defend themselves. Many of [the Border Patrol Agents] are out in ones or twos, there is not the same backup available that metropolitan police settings allow."
http://www.breitbart.com/Breitbart-T...-Border-Patrol
