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  1. #1
    Senior Member elpasoborn's Avatar
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    Mexico Blasts Fatal Shooting by Border Patrol Agent- Update

    http://www.elpasotimes.com/ci_15256386

    Mexico blasts fatal shooting by Border Patrol agent
    Rock throwing led to teenager's death, US says
    By Daniel Borunda and Maggie Ybarra / El Paso Times
    Posted: 06/08/2010 10:38:18 PM MDT

    EL PASO - The fatal shooting of a 15-year-old Juárez boy by a U.S. Border Patrol agent on the banks of the Rio Grande on Monday has sparked a diplomatic rift between the U.S. and Mexico.

    The teenager, Sergio Adrian Hernandez Güereca, was shot in the head, Mexican officials said.

    U.S. authorities said Hernandez was part of a group throwing rocks at Border Patrol agents who were trying to detain two men who had illegally crossed the border near the Paso del Norte Bridge in Downtown El Paso.

    Chihuahua state police said the boy died on the Mexican side of the border from one gunshot wound to the head. A .40-caliber casing was seized by investigators.

    The shooting is under investigation by the FBI and Mexican authorities.

    Mexican President Felipe Calderón condemned the teen's death and the Mexican secretary of state said the use of firearms to respond to a rock attack was a "disproportionate use of force."

    But U.S. authorities said the agent, who was not named but was placed on administrative leave, was defending himself.

    Alan Bersin, U.S. Customs and Border Protection commissioner who was in El Paso, said that the investigation into the shooting would be transparent and fair.

    Bersin said he could not talk about the investigation because it was ongoing.

    "We cannot and should not jump to conclusions," Bersin said.

    Bersin added that cooperation and communication is healthy between both nations, including working together to stop the violence in Juárez.

    The U.S. State Department said in a statement Tuesday that it regretted the loss of life and that the slaying was under investigation.

    The death of Hernandez was a blow to his family members, who were angered and distraught.

    His father, Jesus Hernandez, described his youngest son as a student who was just hanging out on the river but not part of a group that had crossed illegally into the U.S. and was pelting Border Patrol agents with rocks.

    "He shouldn't have gotten close to those cowards - what this dog did - shoot into Mexico," Jesus Hernandez said before breaking down crying during a telephone interview.

    Jesus Hernandez said he asked the forensic office in Juárez to do a drug test on his son to prove he didn't use drugs.

    "He had a clean body, not even tattoos," his father said while sobbing. "He wasn't a troublemaker. He didn't have vices."

    El Paso FBI spokeswoman Andrea Simmons said Sergio Hernandez was thought to be part of a group that had illegally crossed the border. The FBI is handling the case because it investigates assaults on federal agents.

    According to the version by the FBI, Border Patrol agents stopped one man on the river levee by a railroad bridge known as the Black Bridge.

    Another agent arrived on his bicycle along the concrete apron that forms the riverbank on the U.S. side. The agent on the bicycle detained a second man, but the other men in the group ran into Mexico and began to throw rocks.

    The agent on the bicycle, who had a man on the ground, gave orders to the men who returned to Mexico to stop throwing rocks and to leave the area.

    However, the men continued to throw rocks at him, officials said. The agent then opened fire, shooting several times.

    Bobbie McDow, 53, said shewitnessed the shooting while walking across the Paso del Norte Bridge. She said she had stopped to look down and to view a group of young men try to cross the border.
    Border Patrol agents arrived and detained two men, but the others scampered back into Mexico, she said.

    McDow, a U.S. citizen, said she saw one young man make a throwing motion before the agent opened fire.

    "At first, I didn't think anyone was hit. I thought he had missed," she said. "As I was looking down there, I saw something lying by the Black Bridge, then I realized the body was not moving and I got very upset."

    McDow said she called 911 in El Paso and has since spoken with the FBI.

    She said the man who made the throwing motion was not the one who was shot.

    She said the man who was shot was on the Mexican side of the border.

    "Where he was clearly on the Mexican side when he got shot," she said.

    "I never expected it to escalate like that. I never saw that coming, that there would be a shooting over this," she said. "I'm not saying they (the teens) did the right thing, but kids are kids. It's like a little game of cat and mouse."

    But Border Patrol agents have said that rock attacks have become frequent and can be deadly. The El Paso Border Patrol reported more than 30 attacks against agents in fiscal-year 2009, which began Oct. 1 and ended Sept. 30.

    Border Patrol spokesman Agent Ramiro Cordero said no agents were hurt in Monday's confrontation.

    The area is monitored by border surveillance cameras, but if there is a video of the shooting, it is now in the hands of the FBI.

    T.J. Bonner, president of the National Border Patrol Council and who retired earlier this month from the Border Patrol, said assaults on agents have been a concern.

    Bonner said agents are not trained to fire into the air, because that could result in a stray bullet that injures an unintended target.

    "They have a split second to decide what to do," Bonner said. "There's an old adage in law enforcement, that it's better to be tried by 12 than to be carried by six."

    The border between the U.S. and Mexico has been the focus of disagreement over recent issues such as the Arizona anti-illegal immigration law, the fatal shooting of a rancher near Douglas, Ariz., the death of a Mexican immigrant in the San Diego area, the order by President Obama to deploy 1,200 National Guard soldiers to the U.S.-Mexico border, the deployment of aerial drones to watch the border.

    The shooting death Monday drew strong reaction on the Mexican side.

    Juárez Mayor Jose Reyes Ferriz said such incidents cannot be tolerated.

    He said authorities should review videos of the incident, which occurred at a favorite spot for smugglers.

    And the governor of Chihuahua on Tuesday condemned the killing and charged that the death was due to the "xenophobic and racist conduct derived from the approval of the anti-immigrant law S.B. 1070 in Arizona."

  2. #2
    Senior Member Texan123's Avatar
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    Mexico Blasts

    OK. I would like to take Mexican President Calderon, give him a pistol, and let a dozen 'Mexican hating' young men throw 5 pounds rocks at him. Lets just see how long before he decides to use the weapon to defend himself.

  3. #3
    Senior Member Tbow009's Avatar
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    When

    When do we say enough already with regards to our rotten neighbors to the south?

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