Border securityQuestions about killing of 15-year old Mexican boy by U.S. Border Patrol agent
A 15-year old Mexican, Sergio Hernandez, was shot dead by a U.S. Border Patrol agent; the agent was on the U.S. side of the border, and Hernandez and his friends on the Mexican side; unnamed U.S. sources say Hernandez was a known ” juvenile smuggler,” and that in 2009 he was charged with alien smuggling; he was also on a “most wanted” list of juvenile smugglers compiled by U.S. authorities in the El Paso area; the Border Patrol says its agents came under “assaulted with rocks” by Hernandez and his friends; the Mexican government wants to know whether it was necessary to shoot a teen-ager dead for throwing rocks
Mexico demanded an investigation into the apparent shooting death of a Mexican teenager by a U.S. border patrol agent, an incident bound to stoke cross-border tensions over illegal immigration.
A bystander told Reuters TV that Hernandez was hanging around with friends when the agent shot him. “We energetically condemn the death of a minor … near the international border crossing in Ciudad Juarez, when a border patrol official shot at a group of migrants who were apparently throwing rocks,” the Mexican foreign ministry said.
“Using firearms to respond to an attack with rocks is a disproportionate use of force, particularly coming from officials that are specially trained,” it said in a statement.
The FBI, which is leading a multi-agency investigation into the incident, said the agent shot during a confrontation with “suspected illegal aliens” trying to enter the United States. It said two suspects were arrested and the remainder retreated into Mexico, throwing rocks at the U.S. agents.
“(The) agent … gave verbal commands to the remaining subjects to stop and retreat. However, the subjects surrounded the agent and continued to throw rocks at him. The agent then fired his service weapon several times, striking one subject who later died,” the FBI said.
Mexico is a top U.S. trade partner and Washington says the border between the two countries is the busiest in the world. Hundreds of thousands of Mexicans cross the border illegally into the United States each year to look for work. Many are sent straight home after being caught by U.S. border agents.
U.S.-Mexican relations have been tense since Arizona, a border state, approved a crackdown on illegal immigrants. Mexican president Felipe Calderon criticized the crackdown during a recent trip to the United States.
Mexico’s foreign ministry urged security forces on both sides of the border to reconsider use of lethal force. Washington has beefed up border security forces due to spiraling drug violence in northern Mexico.
Lou Patch, a supervisory U.S. border patrol agent in El Paso, said agents may use deadly force when they fear “grievous bodily harm or death to ourselves or another.” He said the agent was put on leave.
Andrea Simmons, an FBI spokeswoman in El Paso, said the agent “was on the U.S. side of the border and never left.”
A witness who spoke to Reuters TV said he saw half a dozen youths being chased back into Mexico after they had briefly crossed the dividing line under the bridge.
“They were not carrying anything. They weren’t carrying weapons, packages, backpacks, only the clothes they were wearing, that’s it,” the man, who declined to be named, said.
“This one (Hernandez) hid behind the wall. He looked out and that’s when (he) was shot,” he said. “The agent shot at him twice … He shot at him once, which left him stunned, and then he shot him again. It seems he was hit in the head.”
Fox News reports that 15-year-old Hernandez was known to U.S. authorities as a juvenile smuggler. He was charged with alien smuggling in 2009, according to sources who spoke with Fox News but who requested anonymity. Further details were not immediately available.
“He is a known juvenile smuggler,” a source told Fox News. He was also on a “most wanted” list of juvenile smugglers compiled by U.S. authorities in the El Paso area, sources said.
Border Patrol Special Operations Supervisor Ramiro Cordero said preliminary reports indicate that U.S. officers on bicycle patrol were “assaulted with rocks” by an unknown number of people before Hernandez was shot.
“During the assault at least one agent discharged his firearm,” Cordero said. “The agent is currently on administrative leave. A thorough, multi-agency investigation is currently ongoing.”
A U.S. official told the AP that video of the incident shows the Border Patrol agent did not enter Mexico.
The unidentified official said the video also shows what seem to be four Mexican law enforcement officers driving to the edge of the 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 lay.
Like their U.S. counterparts, Mexican law officers are not authorized to cross the border without permission.
