Posted on 11/13/2007 3:41:43 PM PST by Ajnin
CALEXICO — Demonstrators participating in a weeklong anti-border protest that ended in violence over the weekend called the U.S. Border Patrol’s response “excessive” Monday.
A No Borders Camp demonstrator suspected of pushing an agent was detained Sunday evening, setting off a forceful response from Border Patrol agents near the border fence just east of the downtown Calexico Port of Entry.
Two more protesters were arrested for assaulting federal agents and there was no reported injuries, Border Patrol public information agent Quinn Palmer said Monday.
Around 5 p.m. Sunday, after the demonstrator was detained, agents deployed pepper-spray balls to disperse the crowd and “quickly gained control,” Palmer said.
Specific details are sketchy as the Border Patrol has yet to provide a thorough narrative of the incident. But a video taken by protesters shows a male demonstrator hopping up and down and brushing up against an agent. The demonstrator was subsequently wrestled to the ground by several officers, triggering agents to wield batons and shout “get back” while they fanned out in a confrontational stance.
Seconds later an agent is seen in the video, deploying numerous rounds of pepper-spray balls. As the agents advance at will, they could be seen tackling a demonstrator that appeared to be fleeing and applied a baton blow to his leg. The demonstrator appeared to struggle to get away as agents piled on him, the video shows.
Palmer said there was no agency inquiry investigating the conduct of the agents. But the video appears to depict a breakdown of command and formation.
Protesters said Monday the agents’ actions were excessive, “unnecessarily” endangering participants, including disabled ones who could not flee and were tumbled over, and the agents were indiscriminately firing pepper balls at the crowd.
“I think it’s an outrage. It shows how poorly they are trained and it raises a lot of question on how they treat people on a day-to-day basis when they are out of public view,” said Rich Matgurn, 26, a Calexico resident who participated in Sunday’s protest.
The two-minute melee came after agents forcefully separated demonstrators from the fence at Heffernan Avenue and First Street after a hole had been cut through the iron barrier, Palmer said. The Border Patrol does not know if demonstrators on the U.S. side or on the Mexican side had cut the hole. About 50 to 100 demonstrators in Mexicali had joined Sunday’s protest.
“As agents positioned themselves between the marchers and the breach in order to preserve the integrity of the border fence, several protesters physically assaulted the agents,” Palmer said. Palmer said last week the Border Patrol did not anticipate an increase in staff and that the agency’s operations would be “business as usual” during the protests.
The nature of the assault allegedly carried out by the two other arrestees was not known. They were transferred to the FBI and remain in custody at Imperial County jail. Demonstrators identified two of the arrested demonstrators as Erik Wackernagel and Steve Murphy.
The incident came after agents displayed much latitude toward the demonstrators during the week. They hung messages and scaled the border fence at their camp four miles east of Highway 111. The demonstrators are part of the No Borders Camp protest, objecting to what they say is the violence and exploitation that migrants and indigenous peoples of the world experience and that are exacerbated by political borders.
Matgurn said Sunday’s protest was to be the last of the five-day event. There have been no reported arrests preceding Sunday. On Friday protesters blocked Imperial Avenue in El Centro in both directions for about 20 minutes, protesting at the headquarters of the Border Patrol’s El Centro sector.
“After five days of relatively peaceful protest, the No Borders Camp protesters began defacing and destroying government property,” Quinn said.
Quinn said he did not know how many agents responded to the scene Sunday but said it as an “adequate” force. Witnesses said the agents numbered about 40 or 50 and the protesters numbered about 50.
“The officials (Border Patrol) looked agitated and aggressive,” said Terrie, 31, a merchant on First Street who declined to give her full name.
“It was an over force. For me, I don’t think it was necessary,” said Young Lee, a merchant at the corner of Heffernan Avenue and First Street.
Snicker
Not to worry. When we secure the border and all the illegal aliens have left or been deported, we won't be able to exploit them any more. It's a win-win!
They won’t need driver’s licenses after they are deported, either.
Deportation IS the solution ! Deportation IS the solution ! Deportation IS the solution !
Sure looks to me like Mr. Tambourine Man intentionally gets in the Officer’s space trying to edge him back.
Any contact with an Officer warrants a take-down. Any movement of others in the crowd that looks like an attempt to assist the one taken down also warrants a take-down. Any rush in the crowd toward the Officers warrants tear gas, pepper spray, rubber bullets, or other non-lethal action. Any brandishment of a weapon warrants lethal force.
This is how crowd control MUST happen. Anything less will embolden rioters and they’ll tear the Officers apart.
My only criticism would be that the Officers knew about the protest and should have arranged barriers between them and the crowd. Then it would be more obvious that the protesters were pushing into a space they shouldn’t.
Boy, what I would give to pound some sense into these morons (figuratively, of course).
Pathetic, they went looking for trouble and found it, now they are trying to drum up sympathy.
Is President Bush going to prosecute the Border Patrol officers?
Where is Robert Frost now that we need him??
And they should be agitated and aggressive. They have to defend the border with no support from Washington or their Administrators.
That's when they should have opened fire. This is our sovereign border, during a time of war.
Amen!
I’m with you. Crush the b@stards now or it will never end.
It may already be too late, but I still would fight.
Whats with the paintball guns in the video?
They are pepperball launchers. The projectiles are made of hard frangible plastic containing pepperpowder. The kinetic impact is more painful than a normal paintball system.
These unwashed hippie “open borders activists” that are causing trouble should be deported the hell out of the USA to some third world leftist paradise, say Sudan, Libya, North Korea, Syria, Myanmar (Burma), Zimbabwe. We don’t need low lifes like them in this country.
Bravo Border Patrol for kicking their sorry butts!
ping
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