A Border Patrol agent shot and killed an unarmed undocumented woman in the Rio Bravo area of Texas on Wednesday. Spanish-language media has identified her as Claudia Patricia Gómez González, a 20-year-old woman from Guatemala. According to immigrant rights group America’s Voice, she was shot in the head:
The agent was responding to a report of illegal activity near a culvert and was attacked by migrants with "blunt objects" after he tried to detain them, [Customs and Border Protection] CBP said in a news release.
But CBP’s claims should be questioned, because immigration officials lie, often and shamelessly. Marta Martinez, a resident who livestreamed the arrests of men who were with the young woman, disputes CBP’s claims and says that she believes the young woman was hiding, not attacking:
In the video, a Border Patrol agent is seen walking out of an empty building with two people in cuffs. “Why did you kill that woman? You killed her!" Martinez is heard saying to the agents. "I saw you with the gun."
Martinez suggests in the video that the migrants were running, but said that she did not see them flee. She does not believe they were attacking the agent when the woman was shot.
"The girl was in the grass and trees; to me she was hiding," Martinez said. "They're saying they threw rocks at the agents, but the two migrants were scared and the one guy was scared — they didn't have rocks in their hands."
This the latest incident at the hands an unchecked, out-of-control immigration enforcement agency, and one that has taken yet another unarmed life.
Saturday, May 26, 2018 · 3:26:36 PM +00:00 · Gabe Ortiz
Like clockwork, Border Patrol has changed its story regarding the killing of Claudia Patricia Gómez González—or, as CNN refers to lying, “released a slightly different account”:
United States Customs and Border Protection on Friday released a slightly different account of a border agent's fatal shooting of an undocumented migrant near Laredo, Texas, raising new questions about what actually happened.
Border Patrol originally claimed that Gómez González was shot because the agent was being attacked with “blunt objects.” Now, Border Patrol admits there were no “blunt objects”:
After initially reporting the agent was attacked by migrants armed with "blunt objects," the federal agency on Friday said only that the group "rushed" the officer after ignoring orders to get on the ground.
But its latest version of events makes no mention of blunt objects described in an agency statement issued after Wednesday's shooting in the border town of Rio Bravo.
Additionally, Border Patrol “canceled a new conference on the shooting and instead released its updated statement.” Guilty as all hell.
CBP’s actions cast doubt on their claims. Earlier this month, The Guardian revealed that the federal government has paid out more than $60 million “in legal settlements where border agents were involved in deaths, driving injuries, alleged assaults and wrongful detention,” with little to no accountability for agents themselves:
Border Patrol’s culture of violence far precedes Donald Trump’s administration. As far back as the Bush administration, officials lowered hiring standards in order to bloat up the agency, and to disastrous results—“about 170 border law enforcement agents and officers ... have been arrested, indicted or convicted in corruption cases since 2002,” according to the San Diego Union-Tribune.
Another report of internal government documents, from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and International Human Rights Clinic at the University of Chicago School of Law, detailed horror stories of child abuse, physical and sexual assault, verbal abuse and medical negligence at the hands of agents:
“The federal government has failed to provide adequate safeguards and humane detention conditions for children in CBP custody,” the report said. “It has further failed to institute effective accountability mechanisms for government officers who abuse the vulnerable children entrusted to their care. These failures have allowed a culture of impunity to flourish within CBP, subjecting immigrant children to conditions that are too often neglectful at best and sadistic at worst.”
According to America’s Voice, this latest “incident is being investigated by the FBI and the Texas Rangers, it is unclear whether the results of the investigation will be publicly released or anyone will be held accountable”:
It is outrageous that an unarmed, undocumented women was shot in the head by an agent sworn to uphold law and justice. This incident must be thoroughly investigated and the agent must be held accountable. Moreover, it is time for CBP, and especially the Border Patrol, to be held accountable for multiple incidents of excessive use of force, abuse and corruption. CBP is the largest law enforcement agency in the country but fails even basic accountability. There is no excuse.
Remember, it’s unshackled, out-of-control immigration agents—not immigrants—who continue to pose a threat to public safety. Her name was Claudia Patricia Gómez González. She was somebody. She mattered.