Experts: Pressure from advocates, press led to murder charges against Border Patrol agent in teen's
Experts: Pressure from advocates, press led to murder charges against Border Patrol agent in teen's death
Rob O'Dell, The Republic | azcentral.com 9:05 p.m. MST September 26, 2015
Jose Antonio Elena Rodriguez, 16, was killed in Nogales, Mexico, on Oct. 10, 2012,
after Border Patrol Agent Lonnie Swartz fired 12 rounds from his .40-caliber pistol
through the Mexican border fence.
(Photo: Charlie Leight/The Republic)
It was an indictment that many never imagined would be brought down: a U.S. Border Patrol agent charged with second-degree murder for firing across the border into Mexico and killing a teenager.
Josiah Heyman, the director of the Center for Interamerican and Border Studies at the University of Texas-El Paso, has studied the border for 30 years. He said he didn't believe the agent, Lonnie Swartz would ever be indicted.
"I feel like people sort of take it for granted that they (the agents) are protecting country and it's a very dangerous job," he said. "I didn't expect it to happen ... it definitely sends a message."
Experts said the difference in the Jose Antonio Elena Rodriguez case was an egregious set of facts and a sympathetic child victim who had no ties to drug dealing.
On Oct. 10, 2012, the agent emptied his .40-caliber pistol through the slats in the border fence into Mexico, hitting the teenager 10 times in the back and head, leaving him face-down in a pool of his own blood, according to court documents.The Border Patrol said he was throwing rocks; witnesses said he was just walking down the street.
More:
http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/politics/immigration/2015/09/27/border-patrol-agent-indictment-jose-antonio-elena-rodriguez-pressure-murder/72816198/
Good reads:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1016133168
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