A poster in the likeness of Jose Antonio Elena Rodriguez in Nogales, Mexico.
Valeria Fernandez / ASSOCIATED PRESS
Federal authorities charged a U.S. Customs and Border Protection agent with second-degree murder in the 2012 shooting death of a Mexican teenager across the border.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office alleged that Lonnie Ray Swartz unlawfully shot Jose Antonio Elena Rodriguez with a semi-automatic pistol, according to a federal indictment filed on Wednesday.
Rodriguez's family also filed a federal lawsuit, alleging that the killing of the 16-year-old was “unreasonable” and “excessive.”
Rodriguez was shot on Oct. 10, 2012 as he walked on a street that runs parallel to the U.S. border fence in Nogales, Mexico. The federal complaint alleged that Border Patrol agents on the U.S. side of the border fired between 14 to 30 shots into Mexico and struck Rodriguez at least 10 times.
Border Patrol said its agents were chasing a group of people they believed were trying to enter the U.S. illegally and fired across the border after rocks were thrown at them.
Rodriguez’s family said Jose was walking home from playing basketball when he was shot and did not throw rocks.
In 2014 a federal appeals ruled that a Mexican teenager killed in another cross-border shooting near El Paso, Texas, was protected by the Fifth Amendment. The ruling allowed the teenagers family to file a claim against Border Patrol agents.
Read the indictment.
LINK: Family Of Mexican Teenager Shot By Border Patrol Sues Agents
LINK: Mexico Hails U.S. Court Decision Opening U.S. Border Patrol Up To Lawsuits In Cross-Border Shootings
from BuzzFeed - USNews http://ift.tt/1KxFAoX
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