Weber reports: "US Border Patrol agents opened fire Saturday along the Rio Grande on the Texas-Mexico border after being pelted by rocks and having a gunman point a weapon in their direction on the Mexican side of the river."
US Border Patrol agents opened fire along the Texas border in the latest of several such incidents in the past year. (photo: Jonathan McIntosh)
Border Patrol: Agents Fire Shots After Rock Attack
08 July 12
.S. Border Patrol agents opened fire Saturday along the Rio Grande on the Texas-Mexico border after being pelted by rocks and having a gunman point a weapon in their direction on the Mexican side of the river, an agency spokesman said.
Spokesman Henry Mendiola said no Border Patrol agents were injured in the incident Saturday near Brownsville. He did not know if anyone else was hurt. He said the Mexican government had been notified and was responding to the area. The FBI also was investigating.
The Border Patrol released little details about the morning gunfire, including what the suspects were doing on the river.
Mendiola said several people had been taken into custody but that he could not provide details about the suspects or charges they face.
One of the agents started shooting after being "unable to take cover" when rocks were thrown, while the other opened fire after seeing a suspect on the Mexican side of the river pointing a gun at him, Mendiola said.
He added that as rocks were thrown, "at least one of the agents feared for his life."
U.S. lawmen opening fire along the Texas border is not routine, but Saturday was the latest in several such incidents in the past year.
Border Patrol agents seizing 4,000 pounds of marijuana in March near Roma got into a shootout with drug smugglers. In that incident, it also was not known whether anyone on the Mexican side had been hit.
Last summer, authorities said Border Patrol agents and Rangers with the Texas Department of Public Safety exchanged about 300 rounds of gunfire with suspected drug smugglers. Officials said the suspects threw rocks at U.S. lawmen in that incident, too.
In 2010, a Border Patrol agent in El Paso shot and killed a 15-year-old Mexican boy across the Rio Grande. Investigators say the agent fired after being attacked by people throwing rocks.
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Either the Rio Grande must not be very grande or scouts for the major league baseball teams better start scoping out the Mexican rock throwers.
As to the armed Border Patrol agents "fearing for their lives," dontcha think they could have simply retreated to the north rather than firing across an international border into the sovereign state of Mexico? Or does the U.S. not respect [other] sovereign states anymore?
Can you imagine what would happen if the reverse situation transpired?
Puedes decir "estupida guerra?"
I don't think I saw anything in this article that said the rocks being thrown were thrown from the OTHER side of the river. Only that the suspected gunman was on the other side. And, if you retreat each time a rock is thrown, you will soon find yourself in International Falls. There is not enough information, in this article, to really know what the situation is. Perhaps you would like to buy some land along our side of the border and see for yourself?
And if the big boys who pay "our" candidates' campaigns need the money, "ain't nothin' goin' to change."
This is a world of grown-ups for grown-ups. TV has fed us way too much of that "good guy-bad guy" dichotomy as a substitute for real life--with the entertained, distracted audience as the loser.
By the way, whenever anyone in law enforcement fires a gun, protocols require s/he write down a report stating "why" s/he believed lethal force was "necessary."
The report gets written and, as a rule, the other law enforcement witnesses "who have each other's backs"/"thin blue line"/"band of brothers" (pick the internally sanctioned and coerced tribal phrase of choice) close ranks and corroborate the "report. Case closed.
The public is none the wiser.
I live in Arizona, and I am now thankful I don't live anywhere near the border; in case some of you who aren't from these parts are not aware of it, people who have property near the border live a nightmarish existence these days.
People can be killed or seriously injured by thrown rocks. Please don't just assume that our Border Patrol agents are automatically in the wrong without knowing all the facts.
USA and Apartheid Israel are prime examples. Especially when the border is the result of imperialistic land acquisition.
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