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

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

[DE50AE]

The FBI disclosed yesterday the identity of the agent who mistakenly shot an unarmed Pasadena man last week, describing the agent as a former U.S. Marine Corps captain and decorated Persian Gulf war veteran who has worked for the past four years on a highly trained FBI SWAT team.

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 and was a rifle platoon commander during Operation Desert Storm in the early 1990s.

[TC Rider]

I hope Tony has Brit for back up..that Edwards is slicker than snot.

As we used to say in Wyoming, "He's slicker than hot snot on a doorknob".

[muawiyah]

The deal is if you are a government employee and do something in the course of doing your job, right or wrong, the government has to defend you in court.

Unfortunately the government gets to pick your lawyer(s).

Those lawyers are invariably other government lawyers and their long term career objective is to defend themselves and their agency.

If you are a government employee, your best course of action is to get your OWN LAWYER!

If this FBI guy is now speaking through some DOJ lawyer he is going to be betrayed and then flensed.

[Darth Sidious]

We should get his picture... and post it everywhere.

[mercy]

First of all, as one who has been following and posting regarding this crime-by-fed since the biginning, you all know we are on the list now, right? All of us.

Second, let me point out that the trigger man in this crime is only one of several thugs who need to go to jail. How many agents were in the two cars who actively pulled over the car carrying the victimS? Each of them is guilty of violating standard procedure, the result of which ended up being one attempted murder and two extreme cival rights violations under color of authority.

Not only will the shooter not be prosecuted but neither will his fellow criminal agents. And no supervisor will be even disciplined. No dept. head will fail to make promotion. No deputy director will be found culpable in constructing an FBI which has become a disgrace on nearly every level.

If John Ashcroft does nothing about this he is no better than the oafish religious nut the left makes him out to be.

And an aside to the various and sundry LEOs perusing this thread or living in my keyboard: Please note that I am promoting legal prcedures against your friends not ANYTHING subversive.

[harpseal]

I'm of the opinion that it should be mandatory that FBI agents come from regular police forces after they have several years experience.

Here we have an example that I think would have been specifically addressed by this requirement. First, the failure to use felony stop procedures. That was supposed to be mandatory procedure for the FBI after the Miami shootout.

Second the failure to properly identify the subject as the suspect.

Third, the fact that when they told the yound man to get out of the car he fired at him when he was reaching fo rthe seatbelt.

There is no assertion that his finger slipped. He meant to shoot and did shoot the fact that he missed a vital area is to his detriment.

Stay well - stay safe - Stay armed - Yorktown

[headsonpikes]

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

Those danged coincidences! Can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em.

[tracer]

They can have my Slurpy machine when they pry it from my cold, sticky fingers.

And remember, when Slurpies are outlawed, only Pakistanis will have Slurpies...

[Noumenon]

At the end of the day, the only conclusion that one can draw from this incident is that it's basically open season on American citizens. There will be no accountability or justice here. We'll hear apologies and excuses, that's all. Some way will be found to demonize and blame the victim. It's just another signpost on the road to unintended consequences.

[Fred Mertz]

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.

I missed some of the news this past weekend.

[a merkin]

Note the emphasis added text in the AP story below. The technique for emptying a vehicle of suspects is well known and widely practiced by police departments all across the country. It's not done the way the FBI does it, I guess. What was this "highly-trained" agent doing walking up to the driver's window, safety off (apparently), finger on trigger (probably) and yanking the driver out and cuffing him after nearly blowing his head off?

The silence on the airwaves is deafening.

FBI Apologizes for Mistaken Shooting

by The Associated Press

March 9, 2002

The FBI apologized Wednesday for the shooting of an unarmed man by agents searching for a bank robber but gave little details about the incident.

"Let me express our sincere sorrow for this unfortunate accident," said Lynne Hunt, the agent in charge of the FBI's Baltimore office. "We will do everything necessary to complete a full investigation of the facts."

Joseph Schultz, 20, was shot Friday afternoon in the face after the car his girlfriend was driving was pulled over. His attorney said afterward that Schultz may have been shot while reaching for the seat belt after he was ordered out of the car.

Hunt said she would not give any details on what led to the incident while a shooting review team is investigating.

Hunt said the car Schultz and his girlfriend were in was similar to that of a suspected bank robber that FBI agents were pursuing. Schultz and his girlfriend also had similar characteristics to the suspect and his companion.

Meanwhile, Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley, the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said he would make sure the FBI gives a full explanation of the incident.

He criticized statements an anonymous FBI official made to The Washington Post saying that Schultz made a "threatening" move before he was shot.

"This is the kind of premature spin and rush to judgment that Director (Robert) Mueller should root and stop," he said, referring to the FBI's top official.

Hunt said her department was not covering anything up.

Shootings by FBI agents are very rare. Last year, there were only 11 intentional shootings by agents nationwide, three of which involved dogs, Hunt said.

Schultz, of Pasadena, remained in serious but stable condition Wednesday at the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center with a shattered right cheek and jaw. Family members said he spoke for the first time since the shooting, saying he thought he was going to die after he was shot.

Schultz was riding with his girlfriend, Krissy Harkum, 16, when they were pulled over at 6 pm Friday in Pasadena by four FBI agents looking for a bank robber.

The FBI has said little about what happened next except that Harkum and Schultz had matched some of the characteristics of the robbery suspect.

Hunt would not identify the agent who fired an M-4 rifle at Schultz, saying it was FBI policy not to give out names.

But an attorney for Schultz's family said agents approached the car with rifles drawn and ordered the two out of the vehicle. Schultz was complying with that order when he was shot, said Joseph C. Asensio. Agents then pulled Schultz and Harkum from the car and handcuffed them before calling a helicopter to take Schultz to the hospital.

The FBI arrested the alleged bank robber they were looking for on Sunday. Michael Blottenberger is charged with robbing an Allfirst branch bank Feb. 20. Hunt said his car was similar to Harkum's and that Blottenberger also had a female companion in his car.

The agent who shot Schultz has been temporarily reassigned at his own request.

FBI policy allows agents to use lethal force if they believe a suspect is about to place them in "imminent danger," Hunt said. She would not say if this incident met that criteria.

Hunt said she apologized to Schultz through Asensio and to Harkum's father, Joseph Harkum.

Joseph Harkum would not comment Wednesday.

[Alas Babylon!]

Bumping to inquire if there's any new news on this?

[billhilly]

when all the facts come out.............Right.

[harpseal]

Unfortunately you are correct. The agent recieves sympathy because he has served the nation first in the Marine Corps and the as Federal Law Enforcement Agent. This sympathy results in no prosecution and he stays on the payroll when he committed such a mistake. He shot an innocent man who for obeying his orders. He did not show the proper care that he should have and a person was gravely injured. Keeping this agent on the Federal Payroll and not prosecuting him on criminal charges tells the public they may be randomly killed because tehy are wearing similar clothing and riding in a car similar to a suspect in a bank robbery. In a war between Federal Law Enforcement and the public everyone looses. That is the nature of such a war.

In the state of Connecticut we have a crime know as "Reckless Endangerment." A person is guilty of this crime when they commit an act of such grevious negligence that the public safety is endangered even though no one is killed. I am certain Maryland has a similar lazw on its books although I am flaging a Maryland counselor for verification. Christopher Braga may well be a good husband and father and have otherwise lived an exemplary life I do not know him but there are numerous other cases of individuals who have lived exemplary lives who wind up facing felony charges for far less. People go to jail for having a blood alcohol level over .10% and getting into an automobile accident. People go to jail for "negligently discharging firearms." Based upon the statements from Braga's attorney he intended to shoot this man. The negligence was in the failure to use the felony stop procedures to insure that the subject stopped was safely in a non threatening position prior to verifying his identity as the person sought or an innocent bystander. There may also be necessary charges if he and the other agents delayed calling Paramedics for any time longer than necessary to insure the suspect and the woman were under control. Being a generous person that means three minutes maximum. Given four FBI agents present one minute should have been more than enough.

Now some have stated that former military personnel should not be police officers that to me is not something i sign on to most former military do not have such a huge adaptation to a police role. In short that is neither an excuse or explanation for this incident.

The agent should have been behind cover ordering the young man out of the car. He should not have fired until he saw a weapon in the young man's hand. In prior stories it was clearly stated that he was beside the car at close range when he fired.

An attorney for Schultz's family said afterward that Schultz was shot while reaching to unfasten his seat belt after being ordered out of the Pontiac Grand Am driven by Krissy Harkum, 16, also of Pasadena. . But the attorney, Joseph C. Asesnio of Glen Burnie, said yesterday that Schultz might only have reached for the door to comply with the agent's order.

If the above is true and at this point I have no reason to believe otherwise to me the agent will be facing conviction. Prosecutorial discretion should not be used in this case as the consequence of distrust of Federal Law enforcement is so great a harm to this nation that anything other than a full prosecution of the agent is a crime in and of itself. The one situation which can not be allowed is for this agent to retain Federal Law Enforcemnt powers after this abuse of those powers. However, IMHO we shall see the agent quietly restored to clerical duty perhaps at another facility. The young amn and his girlfriend will recieve substantial payments in settlement of the civil injury and the next time it happens it will degrade the state of the nation even further until the already weakened bonds that hold us together civily break under the strain.

Maybe in a hundred years Christopher Braga will be as infamous as Banisteer Tarleton is or maybe as well know as Dred Scott. This could well be the case that decides the issue of resitance to Federal authority for some people. it may well affect some FBI agents who have seen their once proud agency slip ever downward into a morass of incopmetence, political corruption, and pandering to political correctness. This is exacerbated by the fact that at this time we are in a "War on Terrorism." The FBI will be expanding and taking on new missions. an influx of trainees will merely add more problems to an already troubled agency. were the majority of the new recruits good state and local officers who merely moved up the ladder to the Federal Agency then the levening of their experience might well make up for the expected downturn in quality of job performance but what we are dacing is the worst of all possible outcomes.

Stay well - stay safe - stay armed - Yorktown

[HiTech RedNeck]

How tragic when a man, once a hero, slips.

[MissAmericanPie]

I'm really taken aback, look at all the training this guy must have had, both military and FBI, how could he have such an accident? I'm not saying he deliberately shot the boy, I'm just saying his training should have prevented the least possibility of this happening.

[HiTech RedNeck]

"Military" could have had a lot to do with it. Veterans are wound tighter than your average civilian Joe. Did he forget for a moment that he was a policeman, not a soldier? Could (tin foil hat time) his mind have started to crack?

[Lurker]

Well the victim here is a member of a known right wing paramilitary homophobic organization, so he most likely deserved it.

Anyway, there's a good possibility that he would have turned into one of those nutty militia types.

You just can't trust those Eagle Scouts....

L

[HiTech RedNeck]

And what about whooping it up over their trophy kill

Quite odd. If one of them had inexplicably gone looney and started to do this, wouldn't the others have ordered him to shut up, much less join in. You expect this in Hick-Town, Mississippi maybe, but not in suburban Maryland. The decorum that befits Federal police appears to have completely flown out the window, unless the girl is lying (and why would a random citizen caught unexpectedly in the middle of a tragedy like this wish to lie). Could the team have "partaken" of something prior to the encounter??? Something "magic" in the doughnuts???