The Border Patrol Inquisition

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The Border Patrol Inquisition

BE A BORDER Patrol agent: Do your job, go to prison. That's how the job must look to agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean.

In February 2005, the agents tried to stop a van driven by drug smuggler Osvaldo Aldrete-Davila near the Mexico border. After a scuffle with Compean, Aldrete-Davila fled on foot. Ramos says he saw a gun -- which the smuggler denies. Both agents fired at Aldrete-Davila, who fell, but continued his escape across the border. After he got away, Ramos and Compean filed a report on the 743 pounds of marijuana they found in the van, but not on the gunfire. As it turns out, Ramos had shot Aldrete-Davila in the butt. A Homeland Security agent heard about the episode, went to Mexico and offered Aldrete-Davila immunity, if he testified against Ramos and Compean.

U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton, a Bush appointee, prosecuted the agents. In March, a jury found them guilty of assault with a dangerous weapon, discharge of a firearm during a violent crime, obstructing justice, lying about the incident and willfully violating Aldrete-Davila's Fourth Amendment right to be free from illegal seizure. Because there was gunfire, the mandatory-minimum prison sentence the agents will serve is 10 years. The U.S. Probation Office in El Paso, Texas, has recommended 20 years -- 20 years away from their wives and children, and among the type of people they've put behind bars.

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What a fascinating article...

If true, I'm amazed by what it implies about Bush's agenda on this issue.

Interesting indeed.

[edit on 2-9-2006 by loam]

This sucks. Our borders should be more secure than they are.

But so that both sides are presented, here is the attorney's rebuttal (pdf)

As will be demonstrated by the summary below, the defendants were prosecuted because they had fired their weapons at a man who had attempted to surrender by holding his open hands in the air, at which time Agent Compean attempted to hit the man with the butt of Compean’s shotgun, causing the man to run in fear of what the agents would do to him next. Although both agents saw that the man was not armed, the agents fired at least 15 rounds at him while he was running away from them, hitting him once.

Well if the man's story is true, then I understand the prosecution somewhat more.

However, I remain stunned that the government has a policy of not apprehending any fleeing illegal. That makes no sense to me.

The United States of America has become the legal dumping ground for the mexican people, face it, the current administration (Your Presidente', not mine) is operating a corrupt and illegal government that allows a continuous Mariel Boatlift to operate from mexico. It's truly sad that mexico in near the top of most dangerous countries for United States citizens to visit (according to the U.S. State Department), but mexico should be left to mexico's problems, and if they require a major culling via a popular armed revolution then so be it. The People of the United States of America have got to begin APPOINTING people for election that believe in the United States of America and stop allowing popular POLITICIANS to run for posts that will let them appoint their cronies to important offices.

Don't the border patrols have to account for their ammunition? Or is every day on patrol like a day at the firing range?

For some of them, I would suspect that is the attitude they carry to their work.

The border patrol didn't do their job correctly; they didn't put the guy in cuffs before they proceeded.

I'm apalled that our own DHS offered this guy immunity to testify against our own patrol.

I'm stunned by these charges: a jury found them guilty of assault with a dangerous weapon, discharge of a firearm during a violent crime, obstructing justice, and willfully violating Aldrete-Davila's Fourth Amendment right to be free from illegal seizure.

Lying about the incident, OK, I'll give them that one. And the fallout charge, obstructing justice.

And 10-20 years? What about the 743 pounds of weed? Did the DHS FEDEX that back to Mexico for the guy?

The only problem I have with all this is that the waited to shoot him until he was fleeing; they should have shot him on his way into the country.

Why are other countries allowed to protect their borders and shoot at anyone who crosses illegally but not the USA?

[edit on 2-9-2006 by craig732]