Thread: Agents assaulted before shooting, U.S. officials say

Agents assaulted before shooting, U.S. officials say
Probe sought after Mexican man dies

By Anna Cearley
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
August 30, 2006

U.S authorities said yesterday that the fatal shooting of a Mexican citizen along the border in Imperial County occurred after someone threw rocks at Border Patrol agents.

Mexican authorities are nonetheless calling for a thorough investigation into the Aug. 26 incident.

“We are extremely concerned about this new incident in which a person died, and we have solicited an exhaustive investigation into it,” Mexican Consul General Luis Cabrera said.

Border Patrol officials said the late-night incident started on the U.S. side when agents assigned to the Yuma station investigated a suspicious car near the Andrade Port of Entry in California.

The Yuma sector straddles eastern California and western Arizona.

The driver of the car ran into Baja California and ended up in a pond near the Colorado River where he started to flail, Border Patrol authorities said.

Agents – still on the U.S. side – threw a flotation device and attempted to rescue him, said Chris Van Wagenen, Border Patrol spokesman for the Yuma sector.

Someone started throwing rocks from the Mexican side of the border, about 10 feet away from the agents, Van Wagenen said, and one of the agents was hit in the head.

An agent fired a shot when he saw that someone was about to throw another rock, Van Wagenen said. He said he wasn't sure if it was the same agent who was hit by the rock.

The shooting victim, identified by Mexican authorities as Antonio Pérez Ramírez of Veracruz, died at a Mexican hospital.

Van Wagenen said frustrated criminals and smugglers are provoking situations along the border and assaulting agents because of increased enforcement in the region. The number of Yuma sector agents has grown to 700 from 300 in the past year, he said.

We can not tolerate the assault of our agents. Where are the National Guard troops with their M-16s? We need somebody to "explain" that their behavior is not appropriate.

We can not tolerate the assault of our agents. Where are the National Guard troops with their M-16s? We need somebody to "explain" that their behavior is not appropriate.

Heck with the NG, let's fully militarize the border with active duty soldiers. We have tens of thousands of soldiers serving on bases throughout the world, let's bring about 20,000 of them home for border duty.

Originally Posted by MW

We can not tolerate the assault of our agents. Where are the National Guard troops with their M-16s? We need somebody to "explain" that their behavior is not appropriate.

Heck with the NG, let's fully militarize the border with active duty soldiers. We have tens of thousands of soldiers serving on bases throughout the world, let's bring about 20,000 of them home for border duty.

This will happen eventually because Illegals will use violence and weapons to intimidate the border guards as they grow in numbers. I also predict that the mexican government will start secretly giving illegal aliens weapons to further provoke problems. We need a full scale Military deployment on the border with Troops having the power of arrest, permission to engage if fired upon. Only something of this scale would send a clear message that the party is over.