Family of Mexican Immigrant to U.S. Settles Lawsuit Over Videotaped Abuse Marty Graham - Reuters
go to original February 26, 2017

Crossing the Line at the Border (PBSNeedtoKnow)

Family members of an illegal immigrant who died in 2010 following a brutal encounter with federal border agents that was captured on videotape have agreed to settle their lawsuit against the U.S. government for $1 million, court documents show.

Video footage of a U.S. Customs officer tasering Anastacio Hernandez Rojas at least four times while he lay on the ground handcuffed and surrounded by nearly a dozen agents has been widely broadcast and appeared in a PBS documentary about border deaths.

Hernandez’s five children sued the Department of Homeland Security and the agents over their father’s death.

Court documents filed this week indicate that the children will share a settlement of about $750,000. Their mother, Maria Puga, will receive nothing and the family’s lawyers will receive $250,000.

Hernandez, 42, and his brother were arrested by U.S. Border Patrol agents on May 28, 2010, after they were caught crossing the border from Mexico in the mountains east of San Diego.

The lawsuit, filed in January 2011, disputes federal authorities’ assertions that he became combative, saying instead that Hernandez became the victim of abuse when he asked to see an immigration judge.

Read the rest at Reuters

We invite you to add your charity or supporting organizations' news stories and coming events to PVAngels so we can share them with the world. Do it now!