Thread: SHOULD BORDER PATROL AGENTS BE ALLOWED TO SHOOT .....CLOSED

Should Border Patrol agents be allowed to shoot fleeing suspected drug traffickers?

Yes (30 Votes, 91%)

No (3 Votes, 9%)

Not sure (0 Votes, 0%)


POLL ON FRONT PAGE LOWER RIGHT SIDE
POLL SHOULD REMAIN UP UNTIL 5:00PM PDT ON THURSDAY JULY 19, 2007

http://www.nctimes.com/

YES 35
NO 3

Should Border Patrol agents be allowed to shoot fleeing suspected drug traffickers?

Yes
(36 Votes, 92%)

No
(3 Votes, 8%)

Not sure (0 Votes, 0%)

Should Border Patrol agents be allowed to shoot fleeing suspected drug traffickers?
Yes
(40 Votes, 93%)

No
(3 Votes, 7%)

Not sure
(0 Votes, 0%)

I think they should be allowed to shoot and disable Mexican paramilitaries, army personnel making incursions across our border, gang leaders, etc., like the creep that Ramos and Campeon tried to detain. Or OTMS that might be suspected terrorists. In other words, people that pose a direct threat to our security or the lives of BP agents.

I don't think it's necessarily worth it to shoot mules, most of whom are dragooned into service by the Mexican drug cartels-military. They're not the threat, in my opinion, but symptomatic of a much wider, more insidious problem.

yes 42
no 3
not sure 0

Should Border Patrol agents be allowed to shoot fleeing suspected drug traffickers?

Yes
(44 Votes, 94%)

No
(3 Votes, 6%)
Not sure (0 Votes, 0%)

Senator wants rules loosened for use of deadly force by Border Patrol agents

By: SUZANNE GAMBOA - Associated Press

WASHINGTON -- Border Patrol agents should be allowed to shoot at fleeing drug traffickers, a Republican senator suggested Tuesday.

The patrol's deadly force rules were questioned at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing concerning the conviction of two agents who shot a fleeing, unarmed drug trafficker and covered it up.

"Why is it wrong to shoot the (trafficker) after he's been told to stop?" asked Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla.


Johnny Sutton, the U.S. attorney for the Western District of Texas, said the Supreme Court has ruled that using deadly force in that way is illegal. Agents also may not know if the fleeing person is a trafficker, he said.

Agents can return fire to defend themselves, their partners or other people, Border Patrol Chief David Aguilar said.

Former agents Ignacio Ramos and Alonso Compean are serving 11- and 12-year federal prison sentences, respectively, for the 2005 shooting of drug trafficker Osvaldo Aldrete-Davila on the Texas border near El Paso.

Two other agents involved in the incident have been fired and one was forced to resign, Aguilar said.

The agents' convictions and tough sentences have become a cause celebre on talk radio and among some members of Congress. Some lawmakers want President Bush to commute the agents' sentences.

"I think this is a case of prosecutorial overreaction," said Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the only Democrat at the hearing.

But Sutton defended the prosecution

"Border Patrol agents are American heroes. They arrest 1 million people a year. Somehow they are able to do that without shooting people in the back," he said.

Feinstein said she wants to change a law used by Sutton that required the agents receive at least 10 years for firing their weapons.

Sutton acknowledged it was unwise to have given Aldrete a visa that allowed him to enter the U.S. freely while he was cooperating with investigators.

On the Net:

Friends of the Border Patrol: http://www.FriendsOfTheBorderPatrol

U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton: http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/txw/us--attorney/index.html

http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2007/07 ... _17_07.txt

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SEND SUTTON TO PRISON!!!!!

Comments On This Story

Note: Comments reflect the views of readers and not necessarily those of the North County Times or its staff.

PARDON THEM wrote on Jul 17, 2007 11:02 PM:" Both of these agents should have been given administrative punishment or removal from their position - not jail time. For goodness sake, murderers don't get this much time in prison. Soldiers on trial, Border Patrol Agents sent to prison - what are we doing to ourselves and those that protect us???? "

American woman wrote on Jul 18, 2007 5:46 AM:" Johnny Sutton and Co. are some of the slimiest of George Bush's reptilian family members. I sure wouldn't recommend taking his word for ANYTHING. If justice is served, Sutton will be booted out on his butt. However, if Bush is successful [again], both he and Sutton will have gotten away with destroying the lives of two U.S. border agents and their families. I attended the hearing yesterday, and heard every word of the testimony of Mr. Sutton. The man is a disgrace. "

Duh??? wrote on Jul 18, 2007 7:48 AM:" If I was an officer and I told someone to stop and I have no way of knowing if they are armed, I am shooting to kill! Sorry but I have a family to go home to at night! "

To Pardon Them wrote on Jul 18, 2007 7:50 AM:" We are turning our military and border patrol against our government! What our government fails to understand is that ex military have been trained to snipe and kill, go figure stupid politicans at work! "

Fran , wrote on Jul 18, 2007 8:24 AM:" Ramos and Compean should have had the charges thrown out. Why won't we let law enforcement do their job? These two brave Agents are in prison and that scum illegal alien drug smuggler is free to smuggle in more drugs that harm our kids. Do you think that some terrorists might pay that scumbag to smuggle them into the USA? "

sLAb wrote on Jul 18, 2007 10:45 AM:" What a bizarre notion!! Allow law enforcement in hot pursuit to use their weapons!! SIMPLY CAPITAL NOTION!!! Bring it on!! "

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http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2007/07 ... _17_07.txt