The federal complaint alleged that Border Patrol agents on the USA side of the border fired between 14 to 30 shots into Mexico and struck Rodriguez at least 10 times.
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Lee Gelernt, an attorney with the ACLU who filed the civil lawsuit alleging Rodriguez’s Fourth and Fifth Amendments rights were violated, said this is the first indictment of a Border Patrol agent for a cross-border shooting that he’s aware of.
A poster in the likeness of Jose Antonio Elena Rodriguez in Nogales, Mexico.
Swartz is expected to plead not guilty in an October 9 arraignment.
Border Patrol deferred to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Arizona, which also declined a request for comment. His family says the boy was walking home from a basketball game with friends and was not armed or throwing rocks.
A U.S. Border Patrol agent has been indicted for murder in a cross-border shooting of a Mexican teenager in 2012 in what an attorney for the victim’s family on Thursday called an unprecedented move.
Pursuant to Title 17 U.S.C. 107, other copyrighted work is provided for educational purposes, research, critical comment, or debate without profit or payment. “There are lots of claims of abuse where Border Patrol has not taken action”.
“It is unfortunate that following 3 years and right after getting investigated by a number of regional, state and federal agencies and then returned to the field to perform, Agent Lonnie Swartz is now facing criminal charges”, the union said in a message posted on their site.
The case sparked national outrage, calling into question use-of-force policies by law enforcement and border patrol officers. Border Patrol agents are generally allowed to use lethal force against rock throwers because rocks can be deadly.
There are now more than 21,000 federal agents guarding the borders – almost 10 times the total in 1980.
In a similar case in Texas, a federal appeals court ruled that a teen killed in Mexico by a border agent in El Paso does not have protection under the Constitution. Authorities said Mesa was trying to arrest immigrants who had illegally crossed into the country when rock-throwers attacked him. Mesa fired his weapon across the Rio Grande, striking the teen twice.
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A three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals originally said Hernandez Guerecas family could sue Mesa.
