Justice

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Border Patrol Agent Commits Atrocities While On Duty

 

“Texas Border Region: The Southern Border Communities Coalition (SBCC) expresses deep concern over recent events involving Border Patrol agent Esteban Manzanares who is reported to have assaulted three Honduran women immigrants, left two for dead, and then killed himself. We urge that the victims be protected, regardless of immigration status and receive fair treatment as survivors.

The following are statements from SBCC members in Texas.

 

Astrid Dominguez, ACLU of Texas:

This incident is one more in a pattern of CBP abuses in our border communities. Last September, the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) released a report on Border Patrol use of force, which identified key problems with training. This followed revelations by the Government Accountability Office of significant incidence of misconduct within CBP. We demand that DHS conduct a thorough and transparent investigation of this incident, in parallel to independent review by external investigators and determine what policy and training enhancements are necessary.”

 
See on soboco.org

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Groups Welcome Release of Customs and Border Protection’s Use-of-Force Policy as a First Step

 

“Some Texas-based advocacy groups say the release of U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s use-of-force policy for Border Patrol agents is a positive step for transparency. But they add that more could be done.”

 

“On Friday, U.S. Border Patrol Chief Michael J. Fisher instructed field agents to avoid shooting at vehicles that are only fleeing the scene and to consider all available alternatives to firing their weapons when “projectiles” are hurled at agents, including rocks, a common weapon for would-be crossers caught attempting to enter the country illegally.”

 

 

“Agents shall not discharge firearms in response to thrown or hurled projectiles unless the agent has a reasonable belief based on the totality of the circumstances to include the size of nature of the projectiles that the subject of such force poses an imminent danger of death or serious injury,” Fisher wrote in his directive, which he said clarified “existing guidelines.”

 
See on www.texastribune.org

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Oil companies dumping radioactive waste in ND

Don Morrison, of the Dakota Resource Council, talks with Rachel Maddow about the challenge of holding oil companies responsible for pollution in North Dakota.

 

Community Village‘s insight:

 

Europeans invade Native land then dump radio active waste all over it.

See on www.msnbc.com

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Testimony: DHS agents admit reports falsified

A special agent who replaced a Department of Homeland Investigations-Office of Inspector General supervisor in McAllen testified Monday that he couldn’t believe several agents told him they falsified reports.

 

Community Village‘s insight:

 

I didn’t see in the article what information was falsified.

 

However, the article goes on to say:

 

“As part of that process, Green would fill out a file review worksheet and place it with the case file, he testified. The file review worksheet would identify what work had been done on cases and set goals for agents to work toward.

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In March 2012, when Green was set to conduct his second round of file reviews, he discovered that most of the 100 or so cases were missing the worksheets, which had been there during the first review, he testified.”

See on www.brownsvilleherald.com

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There Are 400,000 Unprocessed Rape Kits in the U.S. How Can This Be?

Actress Mariska Hargitay is producing a documentary about America’s rape kit backlog.

 

“Nora Caplan-Bricker of the New Republic notes:

 

After New York City processed its 17,000-kit backlog in 2001, the arrest rate for rape cases jumped from 40 percent to 70 percent, reports Erin Delmore at MSNBC. In Ohio, going through 4,000 kits led to 58 cases, and in Detroit, where an 11,000-kit backlog remains, analyzing the first 10 percent of kits led law enforcement to 46 serial rapists.”

See on www.slate.com