Thread: Armed Mexican troops question American soldiers on US side of border

Armed Mexican troops question American soldiers on US side of border


By Ryan Browne, CNN
Updated 6:42 PM ET, Fri April 19, 2019

(CNN) Two US soldiers were questioned by Mexican troops earlier this month while conducting a surveillance operation on the US side of the southern border, two US defense officials tell CNN.

"On April 13, 2019, at approximately 2 p.m. CDT, five to six Mexican military personnel questioned two U.S. Army soldiers who were conducting border support operations in an unmarked (Customs and Border Protection) vehicle near the southwest border in the vicinity of Clint, Texas," US Northern Command told CNN in a statement.

"The US soldiers were appropriately in US territory" during the encounter, the statement added.

During the incident, the Mexican soldiers pointed their weapons at the US troops, removing a soldier's sidearm and returning it to the unmarked US vehicle, the officials said.

The Mexican troops were armed with what appeared to be assault rifles, according to one official.

Officials said that the US soldiers allowed the weapon to be taken "in an attempt to de-escalate a potential volatile situation."

"Throughout the incident, the US soldiers followed all established procedures and protocols," Northern Command said.

The encounter took place south of the border fence in the area but north of the Rio Grande River, the officials said.

However, the officials said the river in that area consists of brush-filled and dried-out riverbed, making it "very easy" for people to be confused as to what side of the border they are on.
One of the American soldiers spoke some Spanish and was able to explain the situation to the Mexican forces. The two sides talked the incident over and promised to de-conflict in the future, the officials said.

"An inquiry by (Customs and Border Patrol) and (the Department of Defense) revealed that the Mexican military members believed that the US Army soldiers were south of the border," Northern Command said while adding that the US troops were north of the border.

"Though they were south of the border fence, US soldiers remained in US territory, north of the actual border," the statement said, adding that "after a brief discussion between the soldiers from the two nations, the Mexican military members departed the area."

President Donald Trump had previously ordered the active duty military to support border security and the US has some 3,000 active duty troops supporting the Department of Homeland Security on the southern border with Mexico in addition to some 2,000 National Guard troops.

The Pentagon expects additional troops to be sent to the border to support additional pending requests for assistance from DHS.

On Friday, acting Secretary of Defense Pat Shanahan told reporters at the Pentagon that he did not "have a finite number" in terms of how many additional troops would be sent but said the Pentagon was "looking at anticipating" what DHS needs prior to the receipt of a formal request for assistance.

"Where DHS loses its capacity is in the migrant family processing, when you think about their finite ability to do apprehensions they're really kind of trapped back in the processing side of things so working with the joint staff, we're finding a way to how do we do more monitoring and detection for them, do we maybe take that on as a mission," Shanahan said.

https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/19/polit...der/index.html

Mexican Soldiers Question, Disarm Two U.S. Army Troops in Apparent Confusion About Border Location, Incident Documents Reveal

By James LaPorta On 4/19/19 at 7:58 PM EDT
U.S. Border Patrol vehicles leave the scene after detaining and processing a group of migrants near the Paso Del Norte International Bridge connecting the U.S.-Mexico border cities of El Paso, Texas, and Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, Thursday night, April 18, 2019 in El Paso. PAUL RATJE/AFP/Getty Images U.S.

Two U.S. Army soldiers sat in an unmarked Chevrolet Tahoe owned by U.S. Customs and Border Protection on the west side of an El Paso County, Texas, Colonia known as Las Pampas.


It was April 13, and the Army sergeant and private had set up a hasty observation post north of the Rio Grande River, but south of the border fence in U.S. territory. The soldiers were members of B Battery, 1st Battalion, 37th Field Artillery Regiment, out of Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington.


The unit, part of the southwest border mission President Donald Trump first ordered in October 2018, recently had their deployment extended to September.


At roughly 2:00 p.m. local time, the soldiers observed five to six individuals dressed in green pixelated military camouflage uniforms and carrying weapons, which appeared to be FX-05 Xiuhcoatl, an assault rifle designed and built for the Mexican armed forces.

The armed men swiftly approached the U.S. service members, crossing over from the Mexican side of the Rio Grande River into U.S. territory, ordering the soldiers out of their vehicle at gunpoint.


What transpired on that afternoon of April 13 near the small town of Clint, Texas, underscores the confusion between the physical location of the border fence and where the geographical U.S.-Mexico border begins and ends.


In Texas, the border fence does not align perfectly with the topography of the precise location of the U.S.-Mexico border—this creates a buffer zone between the actual, often invisible, border and the fence.


Additionally, while parts of the Texas border with Mexico are fenced, much of it is not because of a variety of issues, including ongoing litigation, private-property rights, treaty provisions, and floodplains.
A screenshot from Google Earth of the location where two U.S. Army soldiers were temporarily detained by Mexican military members believing the U.S. service members were in Mexico when in fact, the Mexican soldiers had crossed into the United States. Google Earth

Newsweek obtained a copy of the serious incident report generated 30 minutes after Mexican military members briefly detained and held at gunpoint U.S. military service members after believing the U.S. Army soldiers were in Mexican territory when in fact, the Mexican military had unknowingly crossed into U.S. territory. The report was reviewed by U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel Timothy D. Gatlin, the commander of 1st Battalion, 37th Field Artillery Regiment and briefed to U.S. Army Lieutenant General Jeffrey Buchanan, the commanding general of U.S. Army North.


The U.S. Army soldiers said the Mexican soldiers moved tactically fast on the unmarked CBP vehicle. The Army soldiers did not have enough reaction time to activate a 911 emergency on their Nano Shout, a cell-phone size two-way satellite GPS tracking device, which also doubles as an emergency beacon when soldiers are in need of additional U.S. military units.


Speaking in Spanish, the Mexican soldiers instructed the sergeant and the private to move to the front of their vehicle where they were “gently searched," according to the incident report.


The sergeant’s service pistol, the Beretta M9, was removed from his hip by the individuals and thrown inside the unmarked U.S. government vehicle.


The U.S. service members reported they did not see “any identifiable seals or symbols on the individual’s vehicle,” and “could not identify any patches or name tapes on the uniform except for the Mexican flags.”


The Deputy Director of public affairs for NORAD and U.S. Northern Command John Cornelio said in a statement to Newsweek on Friday a joint inquiry by U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the Defense Department revealed the gunmen to be Mexican military members, who believed the U.S. Army soldiers were south of the Mexican border.


“After a brief discussion between the soldiers from the two nations, the Mexican military members departed the area. The U.S. soldiers immediately contacted CBP, who responded quickly. Throughout the incident, the U.S. soldiers followed all established procedures and protocols,” the statement said.


The U.S. service members reported hearing someone from the south side yell “Vamonos” in Spanish. The Mexican military members went back to their vehicle, described as a “dark blue Ford pickup truck with a tactical rack in the back.”


The Ford pickup departed the area, heading westbound on the Mexican levee. The U.S. service members did not see any identifiable seals or symbols on the dark blue pickup truck.


After the encounter, the service members notified CBP agents. The two U.S. Army soldiers informed their chain of command about CBP agents not responding to their location until roughly 10-12 minutes after the incident.


Once on site, the CBP agents back-tracked the footprints of the Mexican military members and determined the individuals entered U.S. territory about 50 feet north of the Rio Grande River, said the Army’s serious incident report.


Members of 1st Battalion, 37th Field Artillery Regiment responded to the location to check on the well-being of their soldiers.
Newsweek contacted U.S. Customs and Border Protection about the April 13 incident, but no reply was returned before publication.

https://www.newsweek.com/mexican-sol...-about-1401939

Originally Posted by stoptheinvaders

Mexican Soldiers Question, Disarm Two U.S. Army Troops in Apparent Confusion About Border Location, Incident Documents Reveal


The armed men swiftly approached the U.S. service members, crossing over from the Mexican side of the Rio Grande River into U.S. territory, ordering the soldiers out of their vehicle at gunpoint.

Surprise! Surprise! I can only find 2 articles about this on the entire web. Of course it was just caused by confusion. Surely, no one would expect a Mexican troop to recognize a US Military uniform, and asking them to know when they crossed the Rio Grande into US territory is asking way too much.

Compare to this----dozens of articles about Armed Militia rounding up Migrants (Invaders) at Southern Border, all articles being very critical, and demanding they STOP, don't want any flashlights shined in the invaders eyes, it stresses them out.

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Armed Mexican troops question American soldiers on US side of border

CNN.com
14 hours ago



Mexican Soldiers Question, Disarm Two U.S. Army Troops in Apparent Confusion About Border Location, Incident Documents Reveal

Newsweek
15 hours ago


U.S. Soldiers Had Tense Standoff With Armed Mexican Troops At The Border

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10 hours ago


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9 hours ago - 2 posts - ‎2 authors
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11 hours ago - Armed Mexican troops question American soldiers on the US side of the border https://t.co/Xs1V1kla7I pic.twitter.com/nQDF34uxSj.



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https://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3743300/posts



1 day ago - 17 posts - ‎15 authors
(CNN)"On April 13, 2019, at approximately 2 p.m. CDT, five to six Mexican military personnel questioned two U.S. Army soldiers who were ...



Armed Mexican troops question and DISARM American soldiers on US ...


https://www.ar15.com/.../Armed-Mexican-troops-question...American-soldiers...US.../...



9 hours ago - 35 posts - ‎32 authors
"On April 13, 2019, at approximately 2 p.m. CDT, five to six Mexican military personnel questioned two U.S. Army soldiers who were conducting ...



Armed Mexican troops question American soldiers ... - NewsstandHub


https://www.newsstandhub.com/...us/.../armed-mexican-troops-question-american-sold...



19 hours ago - (CNN)Two US soldiers were questioned by Mexican troops earlier this month while conducting a surveillance operation on the US side of the ...

Originally Posted by JohnDoe2

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Armed Mexican troops question American soldiers on US side of ...


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I don't count images as a news article, and don't consider reddit as news source.

The AARP link goes to a discussion of what happened, not a news article.

The Free Republic link appears to go to discussion of the CNN article.

The newshub link is a copy of the CNN article.

I stand by what I posted! Using google as a search engine with "Mexican Soldiers" only 3 articles come up and one of those was since my earlier post.

Where is the headline "Mexican soldiers DO NOT question illegal aliens and get paid off by the cartels"!!!

They usher them across our border.

Mexico is corrupt! Shut the damn border down and turn them away.

They are paying for the buses to dump them on us!

We do not want them, their UACs, their diseases or their pregnant ones! Send them back!

Mexican troops drew weapons on American soldiers on US side of the border

Washington Examiner
Mexican troops questioned two U.S. soldiers along the two countries' border earlier this month. The American soldiers were on the U.S. side of the ...


Mexican Troops Drew Guns on American Soldiers on US Side of Border

https://www.infowars.com/mexican-troops-drew-guns-on-american-soldiers-on-us-sid...


4 hours ago - Mexican troops questioned two U.S. soldiers along the two countries' border earlier this month. The American soldiers were on the U.S. side of the border conducting a routine surveillance operation, defense officials say. ... They drew their weapons when they saw the two U.S. soldiers and ordered the U.S. ...


REPORT: Mexican troops drew weapons on American soldiers on US ...

https://dmlnews.com/report-mexican-troops-drew-weapons-on-american-soldiers-on-u...

4 hours ago - Mexican troops questioned two U.S. soldiers along the two countries' border earlier this month. The American soldiers were on the U.S. side of the border conducting a routine surveillance operation, defense officials say...

MSN

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Mexican troops drew weapons on American soldiers on U.S. border http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/mexican-troops-drew-weapons-on-american-soldiers-on-us-side-of-the-border/ar-BBW85EB?ocid=ob-tw-enus-677 …

9:12 AM - Apr 20, 2019
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Mexican troops drew weapons on American soldiers on US side of the border

Mexican troops questioned two U.S. soldiers along the two countries' border earlier this month. The American soldiers were on the U.S. side of the border conducting a routine surveillance operation,...
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Mexican troops confront US soldiers in Texas ​ wtvr.com “On April 13, 2019, at approximately 2 p.m. CDT, five to six Mexican military personnel questioned two U.S. Army soldiers who were conducting . . .

Armed Mexican troops question American soldiers on US side of border fox5sandiego.com CLINT, Texas — Two US soldiers were questioned by Mexican troops earlier this ... “An inquiry by (Customs and Border Patrol) and (the Department of ...