Some Republican Congressmen are still complaining on behalf of two border patrol agents who shot a suspect and then tried to clean up the scene. Those complaints need to fall on deaf ears, and those Congressmen ought to be ashamed of themselves.
They fired multiple shots at a fleeing suspect. Then, after the shots were fired, they collected the spent casings from the rounds they fired - and never reported it. Collecting the casings and trying to cover up the fact they had fired shots indicates to me that they knew they had messed up at the time they had fired.
They apparently violated use-of-force policies. Given the circumstances, had they admitted they had fired shots, that would probably have netted them a suspension without pay. However, they tried to cover it up.
Ramos and Compean make Mark Fuhrman look good. They did not quite make Lon Horiuchi's league. But that was a matter of luck. When any jurisidction gives a cop a badge and a gun, they're giving out some powers. But those who are cops have the responsibility - the duty, even - to exercise them wisely, and for things like the use of deadly force (that is what firing bullets from a gun at a person is), there needs to be an accounting.
Ramos and Compean tried to thwart that accounting by hiding the evidence and not reporting the shooting. They, not the Bush Administration, betrayed the country and the agency they served. They need to spend every day of their sentence in prison - and take everything that comes with their sentence.
My only regret is that Lon Horiuchi isn't in prison as well.
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Let's face it, if the person the two BP agents went after was not an 'illegal' alien - from Mexico no less - you would not be hearing anything about this case. You also don't hear the fact that we have a serious problem with improperly vetted BP agents. You are going to see more and more of these stories.
What I find ironic is the fact that the people complaining about the 'unfair' break these men are getting are the same ones who were complaining about the activities of the ATF during the Clinton Era.
What I find ironic is the fact that the people complaining about the 'unfair' break these men are getting are the same ones who were complaining about the activities of the ATF during the Clinton Era.
Their complaints about the ATF and the FBI's Lon Horiuchi boiled down to "he went after one of our own."
I just thought of something.
I know of several incidents, related to me, personally. One is absolutely deplorable and involves the Border Patrol driving up to Hondo, NM to assist the US Marshals in arresting a man they decided was illegal because his driver’s license was stolen by some from Juarez and used in a murder. They held guns on he and his family while they proved they were not here illegally. There was no benefit of the doubt. He was then taken to our county jail until the family’s attorney called and put the fear of God (and a multi-million dollar false arrest and defamation lawsuit) into the arresting officers. My friends are Republican. Their family has been in New Mexico since the Conquistadors. This was the first time they have ever been asked to prove they were not illegal. The BP literally burst into the family home late in the evening, held my friend at gun point, and arrested his son. They held his family at gun point. According to my friend, he was terrified they were going to start shooting.
The worst part of it, they had a description of the murderer. In no way did it fit my friend’s son. The BP agents and US Marshals did not care. They refused to take the word of my friend and his wife because they weren’t sure if they were illegal or not. We’re talking military discharge papers, photos, birth certificates, etc.
Don’t ask me for sympathy for these two men.
I followed the link to here from
http://ramos-compean.blogspot.com/2006/12/ramos-compean-affair-what-really.html
I don't think this is an instance of a rogue couple of agents shooting first and then asking questions or Border Patrol overkill.
I've reviewed what's available on the internet and don't have access to court documents.
The basis of the Justice Department's case is flawed in a major way.
They gave the suspect immunity from prosecution and took his word that he did not possess a weapon or make a movement that might have caused the border patrol agents to believe he had a weapon!
isn't doing that an unprincipled way to prosecute anyone?
world net daily's coverage is helpful, including the recent Sutton interviews.
Border agents' prosecutor responds to critics
U.S. attorney: 'I understand the public relations problem the case has caused' Jan. 19, 2007
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=53837
Meet man who prosecuted jailed Border Patrol agents
'Reasonable people can argue about punishment, whether [it] was too harsh'January 20, 2007
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=53856
Having said that, I believe non-lethal weapons should be used by all law enforcement. One unnecessary death is one too many.
“piezoelectric” stun guns
http://www.inthesetimes.com/site/main/article/2978/
The basis of the Justice Department's case is flawed in a major way.
No, it isn't.
They gave the suspect immunity from prosecution and took his word that he did not possess a weapon or make a movement that might have caused the border patrol agents to believe he had a weapon!
Well, the Border Patrol agents changed their story. First time through: he didn't have a weapon, no shots were fired, he simply absconded into Mexico. Second time through: he stopped (with no discernable reason to do so) and pointed "something" at the agents.
Both of these stories cannot be true simultaneously. At least one of these stories is a lie. If one is a lie, the odds are that both are lies.
Additionally, these agents went back to the shooting and spent time removing the evidence.
This isn't a case of being lazy. It took about as much work to hide the evidence as it would have to document it properly.
isn't doing that an unprincipled way to prosecute anyone?
No, it isn't.
Horiuchi was never even tried-much less sentenced to 12 years in prison.
If you are consistent you will call for a reopening of the Horiuchi case. There is, of course, no statute of limitations on murder. And he could also be tried under those federal statutes used to prosecute Sixties Klansmen.
The feds went to great lengths to protect Horiuchi from prosecution. Maybe this was becuase Horiuchi's victims were "white supremacist" and "poor white trash" while the BP agents went after avery important Mexican drug smuggler.
Here is a description of
Horiuch's actions
(...)
The next morning, an FBI agent shot and wounded Randy Weaver. A few moments later, the same agent shot Weaver's wife in the head as she was standing in the doorway of her home holding a baby in her arms. The FBI snipers had not yet announced their presence and had not given the Weavers an opportunity to peacefully surrender.
(...)
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