Mexico teen killed by US Border Patrol, anger high

CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico – A U.S. Border Patrol important agentfatally shot a 15-year-old Mexican boy after a group trying to illegally enter Texas threw rocks at officers near downtown El Paso, U.S. authorities said Tuesday.
The shooting, which happened Monday evening beneath a railroad bridge linking the two nations, drew sharp criticism from Mexico, where President Felipe Calderon said Tuesday that his goverment "will use all resources available to protect the rights of Mexican migrants."
The government "reiterates its rejection to the disproportionate use of force on the part on U.S. authorities on the border with Mexico," the president added in a statement.
It was the second death of a Mexican at the hands of Border Patrolofficers in less than two weeks, and the case threatened to swell into a full-blown international incident when U.S. and Mexican officials traded suggestions of misconduct.
Arturo Sandoval, a spokesman for the Chihuahua Attorney General's office, said a spent .40-caliber shell casing was found near the body — raising the question of whether the fatal shot was fired inside Mexico, although he did not explicitly make that suggestion. That would violate the rules for Border Patrol agents, who are supposed to stay on the U.S. side of the border.
A U.S. official, meanwhile, said video shows the Border Patrol agent did not enter Mexico.
The official, who agreed to discuss the matter only if not quoted by name, said the video also shows what seem to be four important]Mexican law enforcement important]officers driving to the edge of the dry but muddy bed of the Rio Grande, walking across to the U.S. side, picking up an undetermined object and returning to Mexico near the area where the boy's body was. Like their U.S. counterparts, Mexican law officers are not authorized to cross the border without permission.
According to the FBI, Border Patrol agents were responding to a group ofsuspected immigrants being smuggled into the U.S. near the Paso Del Norte bridge, across from Ciudad Juarez around 6:30 p.m. Monday.
One suspected illegal immigrant was detained on the levee on the U.S. side, the FBI said in a statement. Another Border Patrol agent arrived on the concrete bank where the now-dry, 33-feet (10-meter) wide Rio Grande is, and detained a second suspect. Other suspects ran back into Mexico and began throwing rocks, the FBI said.
At least one rock came from behind the agent, who was kneeling beside the suspected illegal immigrant who he had prone on the ground, FBI spokeswoman Andrea Simmons said.
The agent told the rock throwers to stop and back off, but they continued. The agent fired his weapon several times, hitting one who later died, said the FBI, which is leading the investigation because it involved an assault on a federal officer. The agent was not injured, Simmons said.
Border Patrol Special Operations Supervisor Ramiro Cordero said preliminary reports showed Border Patrol agents on bicycle patrol "were assaulted with rocks by an unknown number of people."
"During the assault at least one agent discharged his firearm," he said. "The agent is currently on administrative leave. A thorough, multi-agency investigation is currently ongoing."
The U.S. State Department said in a statement that it regretted "the loss of life" and directed all further questions to the FBI and Border Patrol.
Chihuahua state officials released a statement Tuesday demanding a full investigation into the death of the boy, identified as Sergio Adrian Hernandez Huereka.
The boy was shot once near the eye, Sandoval said. Authorities are still investigating the bullet's trajectory, he said.
Sandoval said he couldn't comment on the video reported by the U.S. official because he didn't know anything about it.

"I am unaware about those hypotheses," he said. "What I can tell you is that there is an ongoing investigation."
Sandoval said investigators were questioning three teenagers who were with the victim at the time of the shooting.
The boy's sister, Rosario Hernandez, told Associated Press Television News that her brother was playing with several friends and did not plan to cross the border.
"They say that they started firing from over there and suddenly hit him in the head," she said Monday.
His father, Jesus Hernandez, asked for justice during the boy's wake at the family's two-room adobe house attended by some 30 friends and relatives.
"They killed my little boy and the only thing I ask is for the law" to be applied, Hernandez said sobbing.
Earlier Tuesday, the boy's mother, Maria Guadalupe Huereka, told Milenio TV in Mexico that her son had gone to eat with his brother, who handles luggage at a border customs office. While there, he met up with a group of friends and they decided to hang out by the river, she said.
"That was his mistake, to have gone to the river," she said. "That's why they killed him."
She said he ran and hid underneath one of the bridge's pillars upon hearing gunfire.
"He was a boy, and even then they killed him," she said. "I ask that they punish them. ... They left me without anything."
Mexico's Foreign Relations Department said its records indicate the number of Mexicans killed or wounded by immigration authorities rose from five in 2008 to 12 in 2009 to 17 so far this year, which is not half over.
T.J. Bonner, president of the union representing Border Patrol agents, said rock throwing aimed at Border Patrol agents are common and capable of causing serious injury.
"It is a deadly force encounter, one that justifies the use of deadly force," Bonner said.
The violence in Mexico combined with assaults on Border Patrol agents in the U.S. has increased the level of apprehension agents have about their safety, Bonner said.
Less than two weeks ago, Mexican migrant Anastacio Hernandez, 32, died after a Customs and Border Protection officer shocked him with a stun gun at the San Ysidro border crossing that separates San Diego and Tijuana, Mexico. Last week the San Diego medical examiner's office ruled that death a homicide.




Thoughts?

 

yeah, its all over the news, and thanks for posting

how is that a highly trained officer responds with bullets (headshot) to a rock throwing attack???

 

rocks are pretty hard

 

just edited the HTML crap out, sorry for that. I say good on the officer, rocks can be considered deadly weapons. Again its a damn tough situation that I would not want to be in. I'd really like to know what the Mexican officials picked up on our side of the border though.

 

I'm thinking rock throwing is similar to charging an officer in a vehicle...both can be deadly...look up the stoning penalty in the islamic world if you don't believe it. I'd call it justified...

 

X2!

 

When they throw rocks and subject the officers to harm, they are playing with fire, and when you play with fire you will get burned. No shots would have been fired in the first place if they weren't throwing rocks at the officers, putting them in danger. Secondly, they shouldn't have been trying to enter the country illegally... Good for border patrol!

Just my opinion...

 

really?? headshots to a kid??? wow....

 

Judgement.


Justified? Possibly.


Necessary? No.



I'd say bad judgement.

 

We have a right to defend our lives. I am speaking on behalf of my fellow agents. we have the right to go home after protecting you Americans. i dont care what the age or nationality is of the person that endangers my life. i have the right to go home above all else. the agent is in the right to protect his life. its common for illegals to rock us agents then take our weapons and kill the agents. after the incident in california where one of our agents were murdered. we all have become more aware and we do plan on protecting our life. illegals dont take us seriously. i hope that our government will protect him.

 

this..

 

Hell when cops kill kids for no reason they dont make a big deal of it, when the cop(border patrol) actually has a reason its world news.

 

is it really that hard to come here legally? everyone's angry but why? because punk ass kids got caught trying to smuggle themselves into our country..give me a break. go throw rocks at the next police officer you see and see what happens.

 

My step father is a Fed. Agent out here with ICE, I'm gonna have lunch with him tomorrow and ask him his thoughts and seeif I can't gain some insight. I'm going to try to limit my opinion on this...for now, but I will say: (ladies please excuse me) WHO THE FUCK IS THE MEXICAN PRESIDENT TO QUESTIONS US?!? Seriously, screw that guy.

 

x2. How is that the mexican president always encourages the illegal entry? Whenever he issues a statement, he criticizes the U.S for stopping anybody from coming here illegally. Playing by the river eh??

 

I say good job. If he was on this side illegally then this is what is supposed to happen, especially when throwing rocks at agents. I challenge one of you to walk to Mexico and throw rocks at their officers? Any takers? I'm sorry that a child had to die but We already have enough illegals.

 

don't mind the president, we don't even like him..... but he doesnt encourages illegal immigration, he encourages a fair treatment to those who are illegally up there.... its very different.

 

Just to top it off, his country's immigration laws are 10 times tougher than ours.

I don't think illegals deserve anything more than a deportation back to where they came from, wether it be Mexico or Canada for that matter. Being here illegally is a crime (hence being "illegal") and no exceptions will be given to you.

 

good way to put it. Not good that the kid was killed though.

 

haha yes. im not sure i like this felipe fellow. he criticizes our immigration and our gun laws(trying to get us to go back to the 1994 ban) and yet he acts as if we have to change all of our ways because there is trouble in his country. im pretty sure mexico has immigration officers too. mexican immigration reform.. i wouldn't dare mention that..