Parents of dead Mexican teenager sue U.S. government for $25M

Parents of dead Mexican teenager sue U.S. government
By Jim Forsyth Jim Forsyth – Mon Jan 17, 5:34 pm ET

SAN ANTONIO, Tex. (Reuters) – The parents of a Mexican teenager allegedly killed last year by a bullet fired by a U.S. Border Patrol agent across the Rio Grande river, on Monday sued the U.S. government for $25 million.

The U.S. Border Patrol says Sergio Hernandez Guereca, 15, was pelting U.S. agents with rocks from the Mexican side of the Rio Grande river last June when Border Patrol agents on the U.S. side shot him to death.

But Bob Hilliard, attorney for the Mexican family, said today that the boy was the victim of "brutality" on the part of the federal agents, and was "shot in cold blood."

"We have seen brutality captured on video tape that stuns us as a country, when we think that law enforcement are trained and should not do that," Hilliard said.

The incident was videotaped by several individuals and was broadcast on the Spanish-language Univision television network, and posted on the internet. It has come to represent the lawless nature of the violence along the Texas Mexico border. It is unclear from the grainy cell phone video whether the boy was throwing rocks at the time.

"Part of this lawsuit seeks to require the government to turn over the border camera video and see it and get a better look at it," he said.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in El Paso, names the Department of Homeland Security, The U.S. Border Patrol, the U.S. Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and an "unnamed agent" of the U.S. Border Patrol as defendants.

"The parents are hopeful that the main thing they get is an accounting of the Border Patrol's conduct," Hilliard said, adding he is hoping that criminal charges will be filed against the agent.

The case has widened a gulf between the Border Patrol and activist groups who say the U.S. uses a heavy hand in dealing with issues regarding immigration and human smuggling.

The FBI has claimed that Hernandez was a known immigrant smuggler who had been pressed into service by smuggling gangs taking advantage of his youth. They said that Hernandez guided illegal immigrants into the United States, and they have said that he was attacking the border agents with rocks at the time.

"It was clear from the witness statements early on that something had happened that should not have happened," Hilliard said. "The U.S. Attorney General, Eric Holder, actually said an investigation into this young man's civil rights is ongoing. This is a serious international incident."

Hilliard said that since the gunman was a U.S. federal agent firing from U.S. soil, and the bullet traveled into another country and killed a person, jurisdiction will also be a major issue in this case. The shooting has been condemned by Mexico's president Felipe Calderon and has been the cause of demonstrations in Juarez, which is located across the river from El Paso and is one of the most violent cities in the world due to the ongoing war between powerful smuggling and drug gangs.

The agent who shot Hernandez has never been identified.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/us_mexico_lawsuit

 

Tragic, no doubt. However, why was he throwing rocks at the border agents? Does the tape show him throwing rocks? I can't imagine it would be impossible for that to happen to me if I were throwing rocks at police officers in the USA. The major issue is, the border is practically a war zone. Many full fledged gun battles transpire on the border which never make it to the media. Few people know what it's really like down there. The media simply doesn't portray it as it is, and hides how frequent these shoot outs are.

 

I have seen the video, and in this incident it was a clear cut case of an overzealous cop wanting to use his gun. Unfortunately there are too many overzealous cops like this. However the mom deserves nothing as well as her son was a piece of shit lobbing rocks at border patrol agents.

No one was innocent in this situation, i say the cops should be in jail, the kid already died, and that is the end of it, a couple pieces of shit ended up crossing paths and low and behold it ended up ugly.....No surprise here, thats life...

 

That Border Patrol Agent should get a medal, promotion, and pay raise!!!! Job well done!!!!!

 

America should protect our borders like N. Korea does theirs.

 

The teenager and his extended family isn't worth $1 million.

 

Border Patrol Is Justified In Using Deadly Force Against Rock Throwing Teenagers
Jan 8th, 2011 | By Howie Katz |

“When you pick up a rock and throw it at a police officer you should expect to have deadly force directed back toward you.” That’s what T. J. Bonner said on NBC Nightly News last night in responding to the anger over the death of a Mexican teenager who was shot by a Border Patrol officer.

Bonner is the President of the National Border Patrol Council, the union that represents America’s Border Patrol agents. Last June, after the shooting deaths of two Mexican teenagers, Bonner said rock attacks, a common danger faced by border agents, have the “capacity to inflict serious damage, if not death.”

You can expect the head of a police union to say that, but Bonner is exactly right. Much is made of the fact that several teenagers have been shot just for throwing rocks at officers. But a good sized thrown rock is definitely a deadly weapon and, as Bonner said, the rock thrower should expect that officers will defend themselves by using deadly force against him. It makes no difference if the rock thrower is a teenager or an adult – it’s the deadly rocks that are the issue here.

The young rock throwers are not innocent children just out having a ball harassing some cops. Many of them are paid by the drug cartels and immigrant smugglers to cause a distraction and redeployment of Border Patrol officers, thereby facilitating the smuggling of drugs and illegals across the border elsewhere.
It is real easy to condemn the Border Patrol officers if you’re not the one being pelted by large rocks. Fight or flight is their only choice and their jobs do not allow them to flee.

http://www.pacovilla.com/?p=48718

 

America should quit putting on the image of being a PC PUSSY to the rest of the world. Should be, "Mess with the bull, you get the horn"...

 

Exactly. This bullshit of everyone being a victim, even when they're assaulting us or invading our borders, has got to stop. It only exists because we enable it. Maybe Eric Holder will join the lawsuit on behalf of the "victims."

What would happen to a group of Americans raining rocks on Mexican authorities? How does Mexico treat their illegal invaders?

P.S. Most at fault IMO are the kid's parents and no way should they cash in on their failure.

 

For anyone not familiar with what the Border Patrol faces:

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