Because your Post to me was mostly for the benefit of those that have no connection with the BP, my reply serves the same purpose.
Ambush was drug related: Rip Crew, working theory, sub-contracted by the local cartel.
Cartels don’t want to start a war with the BP, that is correct, but Rip Crews don’t care and they ambushed the Agents. Remember Agent Brian Terry? Rip Crews also.
My son was ambushed years ago, dark night, no moon, and because the area, like the Big Bend area, is scrubby with lots of hiding places, and this made a great location for an ambush.
In this case, the Agents were not engaged in taking down a group when they were attacked. I can see why you think that but, no, they arrived at the sensor, saw it was activated and one Agent went back to either use the vehicle radio or bring the vehicle closer. The other Agent was assessing the sign when it happened.
Yes, caution is used all the time, heck, the entire southern border is an active drug smuggling area so the Agents use caution.
As I mentioned earlier, my son was ambushed while his partner was about a 1/4 mile away. Happened fast. He won, took down the three that attacked him.
Most people have no idea of the dangers and risks. Most people fuss about hwy check-points. They never have an answer about when do the BP stop looking? 50 miles inside the US? 10 miles? 100 yards? Just on the US side of the border? These people fuss about stops but at the same time, rant about illegal aliens flooding the US.
BP Agents are not “border guards,” they are highly trained and tough Agents, they have to be for reasons you cited.
By the way, 10-20 illegals is a relatively small number. My son’s sector routinely took down groups of a hundred or more, back in the day.
I agree a rip crew was my first guess as well because drug mules generally just drop the load and run same with regular illegal aliens.
However the fact that the agents were attacked with rocks implies that the perps were not armed a head of time. I can't see a rip crew going out unarmed. I hope we know more in the coming days.
Lets just hope the perps did not make it to a sanctuary city.