E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSS
AP file
Friends and relatives of Sergio Hernandez Guereca, 15, carry his coffin before his burial in the northern border city of Juarez, Mexico, June 10, 2010.
The federal government will not pursue charges against a U.S. border patrol agent who shot and killed a 15-year-old Mexican national two years ago, the Justice Department said on Friday.
The shooting of Sergio Hernandez Guereca took place in a spillway of the Rio Grande along the border on June 7, 2010, as the agent was dodging rocks thrown at him while he was trying to detain a suspected smuggler.
The death of Hernandez Guereca, who was on the Mexico side of the border when he was shot, sparked protest from rights groups and the family filed a lawsuit against the U.S. government.
The Mexican government condemned the shooting and called for a swift response. Mexican President Felipe Calderon called on Washington "to investigate fully what happened and punish those responsible."
Investigators say they interviewed more than 25 witnesses, analyzed videos, listened to 911 recordings and law enforcement radio traffic, reviewed border patrol agent training and use-of-force materials, and reviewed the officer's history.
'Reasonable use of force'
They concluded that there was insufficient evidence to prosecute the Customs and Border Patrol agent for homicide. The agent has never been identified.
Instead, a Justice Department statement says, what they found indicated "that the agent's actions constituted a reasonable use of force or would constitute an act of self-defense in response to the threat created by a group of smugglers hurling rocks at the agent and his detainee."
They also lacked evidence to prove that "the CBP agent acted willfully and with the deliberate and specific intent to do something the law forbids," which would be required to prove a civil rights violation. The Justice Department said that an "accident, mistake, misperception, negligence and bad judgment are not sufficient to establish a federal criminal civil rights violation."
"The U.S. government regrets the loss of life in this matter," the Justice Department said.
More content from msnbc.com and NBC News:
- Lawyer: Autistic boy's teacher didn't call him 'bastard'
- World record holder for 'longest time to live with a bullet in the head' dies
- Guess who's coming to dinner? Navy family starts unique deployment ritual
- Attorney: Zimmerman's website raised more than $200,000
- Which dress will get you barred from this prom?
Follow US News on msnbc.com on Twitter and Facebook
Leave a Comment:
Call on Felipe Calderon "to investigate fully what happened and punish those responsible" for drug smuggling.
why not call for those who use drugs to be held responsible for their actions. drug smugglers, drug dealers and drug users should all be put in jail
this is tragic. Killing a 15 yrs old for throwing rocks????! This is disgusting. Deadly force is not reasonable force in this situation. Call for backup, get a shield, shoot his foot, but take his life? That's just sick.
Sorry, Tish, but when that teen is one of a group throwing, not just pebbles that will bounce and sting, but rocks big enough to do some real damage, and you are already busy trying to get another man down and keep him there, you shoot at center body mass of one or more of those throwing things and hope it will stop. Apparently, it did, as the agent, and the man he was arresting, survived, which was NOT the intention of the rock throwers.
I agree with Tish all the way!
There is a case to be made for why the Mexican border guards were not actively seeking to prevent their citizens from
A. drug smuggling.
B.Throwing stones across and International border at our law enforcement officers, while enforcing the laws pertaining to sovereignty of USA right to control passage in and out of our country.
C. Stoning is an effective and legal form of execution; it is still in use in several countries to this day. So assume that throwing rocks is merely social protest action is totally erroneous - it can kill its target and is used to perform that function - often.
Mexico has a duty to assist officers on the US side of the border. Instead they appear to frequently have
"pressing" duties - anywhere, except at locations where drug smuggling is rampant.
I have no idea of what the common approved public response to law enforcement might be inn Mexico, but assaulting police or federal authorities - is definitely not on the approved list in the USA.