FBI identifies agent in shooting (of innocent man in Maryland)

Baltimore Sun ^ | March 9, 2002 | Gail Gibson, Michael James and Laura Barnhardt

[ActionNewsBill]

When Braga returns to duty, he is expected to be placed on assignments unlikely to involve armed confrontation, FBI officials have said. The other three agents, whose names have not been released, remained on duty after the incident without any change in their assignments.

Well, I feel so much better now, knowing that these idiots are still protecting us from bank robbers and terrorists.

[Noumenon]

Is this the sort of crap I'll have to start worrying about in a couple of years? That some ba*tard cop is going to shoot him for no reason?

The consequences - unintended and otherwise - of this sort of madness will proceed with their own inexorable logic.

[gatex]

"...send the shooter to prison for ten years..."

Maybe only in the states covered by the 9th Court of Appeals (California area ) that said Hourichi could be tried by the state of Idaho (which then declined).

The feds say that they are not accounable.

Louis Freeh said --- ". In both cases, these briefs urged the respective courts to dismiss the state criminal prosecution brought against Horiuchi by the state of Idaho, arguing that the application of state criminal law in this case would seriously undermine effective federal criminal law enforcement." [www.fbi.gov ]

[Johnny Crab]

Unless there is a large sheeple-awakening, this will continue unabated. The ONLY other solution would be for this to happen frequently to agents'/officers' children/wives. I seriously doubt that any "enforcer" would delete other people's children "like a tightly wound clockspring breaking" if this had happened to THEIR child.....

Yes, the military training does produce BATTLEFIELD vs AN ENEMY ONLY "survival" INSTINCTS that may be hard to remove.

[Donald Stone]

Lynne A. Hunt Professional CYA became head of the FBI in Maryland not because she had any qualifications,but simply because she had the proper political connections.

One week into the investigation the FBI has already started down that slippery slope lying to the public about what happened and FBI protocol or lack of protocol.

From Baltimore Sun March 9, 2002

Lynne A. Hunt, special agent in charge of the FBI's Baltimore office, confirmed Braga's identity to The Sun. Hunt also described Braga as a husband and father of three young children, ages 4, 3 and 8 months, saying she did not want him to be perceived publicly as a "faceless agent."

Or pick the other FBI version

From the Baltimore Sun March 7, 2002

FBI officials have refused to release the agents' names, citing an internal policy that strictly guards agents' identities in shooting incidents, in part to protect them from possible retaliation.

Hunt said releasing details about the shooting could taint continuing investigations by an independent FBI review team and by Anne Arundel police and prosecutors.

Her close personal acquaintance and political crony Lynne Battaglia,former U.S. Attorney for Maryland was under investigation by Ashcroft's DOJ in 2001 for alleged corruption.

Obviously,Lynne Hunt's FBI couldn't be trusted to investigate the former U.S. Attorney for Maryland, Lynne Battaglia ( who was probably instumental in helping Hunt obtain her job as top FBI agent in Maryland)so the DOJ had to do this investigation without Hunt's FBI involvement.

[cynicom]

When the Fox has the key to the henhouse we very well know what any "investigation" will bring forth. They have had time now to formulate their "defence" and we can look forward to the shooter swearing that the kid make a false move or said something, so that the shooter thought his life was in danger.

There will be some circumstance that will totally exonerate the trigger happy shooter. The unwashed citizens may rest assured that the FBI is working twenty four hours a day to spin this in some fashion that will show the shooter had no ALTERNATIVE.

[ctdonath2]

Agreed. He seemed more interested in terminating a bad guy than simple apprehention, indicated by the post-shooting high-fives.

Also agreed that most soldiers who enter law enforcement do the job just fine. Unfortunately, some end up confusing their "kill people and break things" training with the "bring bad guys to justice" imperative - and the consequences should cause us to reconsider such crossovers.

Through all of history, there has been the problem of what to do with soldiers not in or preparing for combat. Many can transition fine, but those who don't are a problem.

[Donald Stone]

I've noticed over the last week the FBI has shifted from the original FBI spokesman in this matter, Gullota(sp)to a different spokesman, Maddox and now that FBI has had enough time to get their stories straight and the fire is heating up the, Queen cockroach,Lynne A. Hunt is crawling out from under the rock she has been hiding under.

If all these agents are from the FBI field office in Annapolis, MD. their Supervisor is Dave Midura,I've had personal dealings with the FBI in Annapolis and Midura is nothing more than a political hack.

I'd love to see the young man's lawyer hold everybody accountable from the FBI agents that were present at the shooting, to their Supervisor, if it is Dave Midura and all the way up to and including Lynne A. Hunt.

A good public federal trial in this matter would go a long way in exposing FBI corruption and incompetence.

[Secret Agent Man]

I was wondering that too, but actually, the title "Law Enforcement Officer" is much more of an accurate description of what these people do. If I heard them start using the term "Peace Officer", I think it would now border on doublespeak.

[muawiyah]

"We're confident when all the facts come out that [they'll show] he acted in accordance with training and FBI policy regarding the use of force," said White, who declined to elaborate on the case. "

Well, let's hope not - because this guy has been involved in up to three shootings in the last two years.

When this story first broke Freepers could tell the FBI was covering up something big. My thought was that it was Ms. Hunt herself out there pulling a Christine Whitman, and maybe had a mishap.

Now it comes out that this same agent killed someone two years ago, and there is an as-yet-named agent in the same office who killed somebody else just a few months back.

The FBI nationally has just a few dozen shootings over a decade, and this one office is responsible for a serious percentage of them, with a single agent responsible for at least 2/3 of them, and maybe 100%!

This is why the FBI keeps agent identities secret in this sort of thing - to avoid retaliation.

Well, now we know, so it's time to retaliate. First thing we need is someone has to pull the plug on the budget for rent, salaries and other expenses for that Baltimore office. Maybe a Republican Representative might initiate that.

The second thing to do is take all their guns away! It's not just the shooter - it's this flaky bunch that tolerate this sort of stuff.

And folks who know how to do this really need to report this to the various credit reporting bureaus - we have some trigger happy FBI agents out there running around, and they shouldn't be treated any differently than anyone else who engages in this sort of trash.

[FR_addict]

I think this agent's training and experience should count against him. He knew proper procedure and chose to ignore the right way to handle the situation.

[DE50AE]

That's interesting and I haven't heard about that "...this same agent killed someone two years ago, and there is an as-yet-named agent in the same office who killed somebody else just a few months back"... do you happen to recall where this came out? This might be something we could get Ron Smith (www.wbal.com) to talk about on Monday. He's been talking about this quite a bit every day since it happened and I hope he keeps it up.

[cascademountaineer]

The FBI nationally has just a few dozen shootings over a decade, and this one office is responsible for a serious percentage of them, with a single agent responsible for at least 2/3 of them, and maybe 100%!

This is a very serious point. Something very wrong is going on here.

This man blatently ignored proper agency procedure for dealing with a felony stop before the shooting incident even occured. These rules arent written just to protect the public but also the officers themselves from armed and possibly highly dangerous suspects.

Special Agent Christopher Braga, 35, joined the bureau five years ago, after seven years with the Marines. In the military, he was a firearms instructor

Okay, this doesnt really fit either.

Most people who have had some level of firearms training realize that safety is always the first priority, you never place your finger on the trigger unless intending to shoot. In the hands of any professionally trained shooter a gun simply does not go off unless you actually want it to.

The more I read about this incident, I have a growing concern that this person very well may have decided to pull the trigger ahead of time.

is deeply sorry about the coincidences that led to the shooting...

But apparently not for the victim or his family.

I dont know if anyone else noticed this, but thats another piece of the puzzle that just doesnt fit the explanations being given. He seems to be showing very little concern for the victim himself, and its evident even in a public statement given by his attorney.

Somethings amiss here. And there needs to be a very serious investigation of this incident.

[muawiyah]

It was in a WarshPost article this morning. They said the FBI revealed the agent's name because the Post found out and was going to publish it anyway.

Frankly, it would be foolish to give the Post credit for this story. Otherwise they'd be on the same side as a bunch of Freepers, and you know that ain't right!

It is probably more likely the case that Br'r Stone in this thread actually outed the whole gang right at the first, and that all of their home addresses, etc. are included in other court papers and could be dropped on this thread at any moment.

Ms. Hunt wants the shooter collered, not her own fat bottom.

[Hail Caesar]

Thanks for the ping.

Wow, that F.B.I. field office has a really, really good press relations office! :-/

The government's reactions and media handling of this shooting has been classic CYA spin. I wonder how much of our taxpayer dollars go into media relations for rogue federal agents who break the law, then, launch a press relations campaign to convince the general public to believe their lies. These guys/gals are good. Hmmmmm...

[Donald Stone]

BUMP !!!!

Thanks !!!!!!!

It was in a WarshPost article this morning. They said the FBI revealed the agent's name because the Post found out and was going to publish it anyway.

[Hail Caesar]

This is why the FBI keeps agent identities secret in this sort of thing - to avoid retaliation.

Yeah, right. Maybe, the FBI is afraid that the Boy Scouts will launch a retaliatory strike against their JBTs. ;-)

[Donald Stone]

I'm curious to know if Braga had to hire himself a private attorney, Andrew C. White or is White still an Assistant U.S. Attorney ?

I can't tell from the article if Braga's attorney Andrew C. White is in private practice or still employed by the U.S. Attorneys Ofc.

Enclosed is a little background info. on Andrew C. White from the following web site. Transportation's Inspector General Announces Guilty Verdict for False Claims Against Government

The investigation was conducted jointly by the DOT Office of Inspector General, the Defense Criminal Investigative Service, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The DCAA auditor served as case agent during the trial. The case was prosecuted by Andrew C. White and Barbara S. Sale, Assistant United States Attorneys in the office of the United States Attorney for the District of Maryland.