There was no question about it.
The three Guatemalans riding in the back of a pickup truck hiding under a blanket were brazenly breaking the law and pretending they were bricks of marijuana when a Department of Public Safety trooper opened fire on them killing 29-year-old Marcos Antonio Castro Estrada and 32-year-old Jose Leonardo Coj Cumar.
A third man also riding in the back of the truck was injured in the shooting.
That was nearly a year ago.
Just yesterday, a grand jury from Hidalgo County decided that the trooper Miguel Avila had suffered enough and decided to no-bill him on criminal charges of deadly conduct and tampering with evidence in connection with the October 2012 incident when he fired at the back of the pickup truck because he thought the pickup was carrying drugs.
Hidalgo County District Attorney Rene Guerra said Wednesday that he has closed the criminal investigation.
“The grand jury looked at everything,” Guerra told the wire services. “It’s over.”
The Guatamalan men were in a group of immigrants hiding under a blanket in a pickup near the South Texas town of La Joya when officers gave chase. The occupants were apprehended but no drugs were found.
Law enforcement experts around the country said that other police agencies do not allow officers to shoot from helicopters because it’s too risky.
As a result of the shootings, DPS Director Steven McCraw said the agency had revised its policy to allow firing from an aircraft “only when an officer reasonably believes that the suspect has used or is about to use deadly force by use of a deadly weapon against the air crew, ground officers or innocent third parties.” Reckless driving, a misdemeanor, is not considered sufficient cause to shoot defenseless bundles of drugs.
With these two deaths, we add yet one more sad incident of law enforcement – both local and federal – who have been given a free hand to shoot now and ask questions later.
This follows the incident of the man who was shot by Border Patrol agents from one side of the river to the other because they said he was throwing rocks and they were in fear for their lives. But of course, a rock hurled from some 150 yards away might just make it across the river and strike someone hard enough to leave an impressive bruise.
One must assume that the guy on the Mexican side of the river was a Major Leagues prospect who could throw a rock like a rocket across that wide span. Try it. I have. There just is no way it can be done at the spot where the agents said the man was standing.
This is just as ludicrous as packages of marijuana assaulting a DPS trooper flying shotgun above in a helicopter. But who cares? And besides, they were illegal.
1 comment:
A couple of soldiers shoot a high school aged Hispanic goat herder that didn't even know they were there, No indictment. Border Patrolmen shoot across the border and kill a couple of rock throwing kids. No problem. A DPS officer shoots and kills a couple of Central Americans he did not know were there and who were no threat to him. It's okay. A civilian taking target practice accidently shoots a couple of kids he did not know were there and is now awaiting trail. And he should be. So should the others. Justice is not fair in South Texas. Never has been.
Post a Comment