US Border Agent Called for Non-Lethal Weapon Before Fatal Shooting Curt Prendergast - Nogales International
go to original November 26, 2013

Zelma Berenice Barron holds a photo of her son Ramses Barron Torres, who was killed by a Border Patrol agent on Jan. 5, 2011, during a protest in October 2012. (Curt Prendergast)

The Border Patrol agent who shot and killed 17-year-old Ramses Barron Torres in 2011 made a last-minute call for non-lethal weapons prior to shooting through the border fence into Mexico, according to a new account of the shooting.

The 10-page final report on the shooting from the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division, provided to the NI after a Freedom of Information Act request, cites a radio request by the unnamed agent for a pepperball launcher in the moments leading up to the fatal shooting near Escalada Drive on the east side of Nogales around 3 a.m. on Jan. 5, 2011.

The fact that the agent considered a non-lethal alternative to disperse alleged rock-throwers, yet had no immediate access to one, raises further questions about the Border Patrol’s interest in avoiding fatal shootings.

The Barron Torres incident, which came during a reported drug-smuggling attempt, was one of 19 instances in which Border Patrol agents have fatally shot suspected drug smugglers or illegal immigrants since 2010. And after 16 members of Congress asked last year for a review of the agency’s lethal force policy, the nonprofit Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) recommended that agents refrain from shooting live rounds in response to rock throwers and vehicle aggression.

However, the Associated Press reported on Nov. 5 that Border Patrol Chief Mike Fisher called the recommendation “too restrictive” and said the agency won’t change its use of force policy for rock throwers.

Read the rest at Nogales International

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