The dispute over the 15-year-old boy killed by the El Paso-Juárez line by an American Border Patrol officer grows more heated by the hour. The FBI says that Mexican army officers pointed their weapons at the Border Patrol when they arrived on the scene, which the Mexican army denies. Calderón issued a request to Obama to avoid using excessive force when dealing with Mexican migrants. PRD boss Jesús Ortega has urged Calderón to seek the extradition of the offending officers, which, the impossible politics of such an eventuality to one side, seems inappropriate for the Anastacio Hernández case (why would Mexican courts have jurisdiction over a murder indisputably committed in the US?), and likely so for the Juárez killing as well (unless it turns out the Border Patrol agent jumped the border to shoot the kid).
Update: The White House has now commented on the death, calling it "deeply regretful", or something along those lines, since I'm working on a translation of a translation.
2 comments:
It looks like the Mexican police did draw their weapons, when FBI agents attempted to enter Mexico. Of course, having just responded to a firearms attack from armed U.S. agents, firing from the U.S. into Mexico, armed agents of the U.S. entering Mexico would be stopped.
Somehow I doubt the FBI had permission to enter Mexico, with or without firearms. The Mexican police at least showed better restraint (and discipline) than the Border Patrol.
I'm hesitate to pass judgment because there may be parts of the story that are still hidden from the public, but as far as the Border Patrol's discipline, under the very best of circumstances, it seems as though the agent killed someone where shooting to kill wasn't necessary. I don't think there's much question that this was an avoidable tragedy.
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