Here are the FACTS of the matter:
There was a drug dealer trying to smuggle drugs across our border.
Agents Compean and Ramos told him to stop. Repeatedly.
He refused to do so and pulled out something that the agents believed to be a gun.
There was a noise.
When Compean got there, his partner wa on the ground.
The alien was ordered to stop but kept right on running.
They shot him.
So far, I fail to see anything wrong. This is what they get for doing their jobs, just like the Pendleton 8.
If that were the end of the story, no one I can think of on FR would have a problem. I certainly would not. I will take the word of two HONEST cops over a punk drug dealer any day. However, the operative word here is HONEST. They clearly were not honest. They lied and tried to cover up what happened (whatever it was). All the hysteria about porous borders and agents under pressure and drugs and terrorists and other stuff is just extraneous fecal matter muddying the water. Had the agents been honest from the get-go, the perp would have been in jail for trafficking and the agents would have gotten off with a slap on the wrists.
Let me type this R-E-A-L S-L-0-W for you folks so you can try to follow it: THEY TRIED TO COVER IT UP, SO THEIR RELIABILITY AS WITNESSES IS SUSPECT. Therefore, the testimony of a scumbag drug dealer trumped theirs. Do I think it despicable that he was given amnesty to testify? Sure. But these two cops have no one to blame but themselves.
We don't know what the facts are. The agents admitted to trying to cover up the scene and failed to disclose critical details on their report. They claim they thought he had a gun. They probably figured nobody would hear from the smuggler again. A jury of their peers (and juries are notoriously sympathetic towards cops) felt they broke the law.