Feds making a big mistake in secrecy over death of Border Patrol agent Brian Terry
by Hugh Holub on Dec. 26, 2010, under border issues, drug smuggling, politicsThere is growing frustration in both the media and on the street down in Santa Cruz County over the total lack of any information about the killing of Border Patrol agent Brian Terry on December 14th.
For example, the following editorial from the Nogales International:
….It’s frustrating because sometimes it doesn’t seem like there’s a rational reason behind the silence. Instead, federal law enforcement agencies like the Border Patrol, FBI and U.S. Attorney’s Office appear to stonewall the public as a matter of general policy. Thank goodness, then, for state and local agencies that feel accountable to the public, and that are subject to state laws that require a certain level of transparency. If it weren’t for the Sheriff’s Office, along with Terry’s family and the Border Patrol agents’ union, we’d hardly know anything about this case.
The last “news” anyone got was that the Border Patrol’s BORTAC unit was out in Peck Canyon west of Rio Rico hunting for border banits, Terry was shot, 4 suspects were arrested and one got way presumably heading south.
So what are the names of the four suspects?
Where are they from?
What is their nationality?
What have they been charged with?
What is going on with the hunt for the fifth suspect?
How about some more information about the incident…was Agent Terry by himself or with other Border Patrol agents? Were the bandits armed with automatic weapons as claimed? Was Terry under any kind of orders to not shoot until shot at?
Ordinarily in any fatal incident involving a law enforcement agent there is lots of information available immediately.
In this case the incident is being managed by the FBI who has slapped a lid on the case.
The day after the shooting, since no one had any clue where the fifth suspect was going, people as far away from the site as Tubac were packing guns.
A week later the best information I could get about the manhunt from a law enforcement source was “maybe the guy went west”.
Ordinarily the countryside would have been plastered with wanted posters for the suspect. One assumes one of the four bandits that was captured is singing like a canary to try and save his sorry ass from riding the needle. One has to assume the feds know the name and everything else about this fifth suspect.
Why are we all being kept in the dark?
If folks don’t like speculation turning into viral blog rumors…some actual information would be really helpful.
Instead the feds have clammed up. That just fuels the speculation and misinformation going viral.
Why are the feds being so non-communicative here?
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December 26th, 2010 on 9:58 am
Well, there is one hypothesis that explains all this secretiveness: they don’t want the public to know what happened and how was it possible. And that would not be a problem if they weren’t afraid of public backlash when their policies and decisions are revealed.
December 26th, 2010 on 12:05 pm
Exactly right…there are a number of theories floating around including (but not limited to):
–the “bandits” were local residents
–the “bandits” are part of a much larger organization and some intel work is going on
–the “bandits” were US based militia types
–the BORTAC team screwed up
–the “rules of engagement” governing the BORTAC team was flawed (the “when can you shoot?” and “what are your armed with?” questions other bloggers have already posted on)
Having been directly involved in the issues of a law enforcement shooting incident, at least at the state and local level there are all sorts of things that should be going on to figure out what the heck happened….but I have no idea what either the Border Patrol or the FBI does with an officer down shooting incident.
Meanwhile, unless the guys they caught are being handled under the Patriot Act, they should’ve been charged and brought into open court by now.
And if this is a Patriot Act situation…..maybe lots more going on than a bunch of bandits ….
Whatever…the longer it takes for some solid info to come out the squirrelier this is getting.
I hope for the sake of the credibility of the border security effort this is not a major FUBAR…
A basic command responsibility is not put your guys in harms way stupidly and without proper resources and backup. I pray that, inspite of the tragedy of Agent Terry’s death….the command and mission context he was working in was rightly done.
December 26th, 2010 on 11:08 am
Good questions. Also they may not want to reveal their BORTAC tactics and usage also. That may give away intelligence that may may lead them to be at that site.
Keep up the data and news. You are a de-facto war reporter right now. We need your stories and history and data.
December 26th, 2010 on 11:52 am
Thanks fraser… there are times running around the border where I’d really like a Kevlar vest and a few other things (30 or 40 Marines) just in case.
I take journalists, documentary film makers and others out there. Several were genuine war correspondants…one guy had been to North Korea, Iran, and on the Israel-Palestine border (his comment “that’s no fence!” and “if you are serious about being invaded…where’s the border guards and mine fields?”)
It surprises some folks when we connect up with area ranchers to make some of the runs right up to the line…and the journalists see the cowboys with hand guns and rifles…or when they visit the homes of the border ranchers and see rifles and shotguns leaning against the walls by doorways. A lot of them don’t get the accounts of how the ranchers today are doing the same thing their great grandfathers did when the problem was Apaches.
Fortunately I’ve only been shot at only once on the border and that was several years ago with a work crew at the line in Nogales and someone started shooting at us from Mexico…. (from past training…crouch by the front wheel so you have the engine block between you and the shooter….never get between the wheels where bullets can skip under the vehicle…and never next to the gas tank… God loves those drainage ditches and culverts). And I have a really big problem with how it is anyone can be shot at in our borderlands without some really serious sh#* coming down on the shooters…even if they are firing at us from Mexico.
Since this is supposedly not a military operation and the folks being apprehended are not “terrorists” US law about such things as how long you can detain someone before you bring charges in open court apply…thus 12 days later it is beginning to smell really funny…unless the bandits are at Guantanamo.
December 26th, 2010 on 12:14 pm
This is just an example of either the FBI’s SOP, or a CYA maneuver. In my lifetime, I’ve been contacted twice by the FBI seeking information. The first time, I called them back in a effort to clarify what I’d told them; they denied talking to me. The second time, I called back using the unlisted number they’d left me, only to be grilled about how I got that number together with a question that was so hazy it was impossible to answer.
Is there a CYA issue here? National security? Maybe, I don’t know either.
December 26th, 2010 on 12:59 pm
Dean,
Let that be a lesson, never talk to the “police”….. 8^)
December 26th, 2010 on 12:56 pm
“–the “bandits” were US based militia types”
Well…..while anything is possible, I’ve no doubt that if it was the medias sterotypical ”Anglo/Militia” types you would already have seen multiple news conferences detailing even the books on their shelves found during the execution of the search warrants and indepth investigations into the Churches they attend…
Oddly enough ONE of the suspects info was released
December 26th, 2010 on 2:53 pm
FOI to air traffic control to find out the times EACH injured person was lifted out. Then find out which Hospital EACH went to. Then find out what time the bandit arrived VS when the Agent arrived. You might find what you’re looking for. Then again, if the FBI is handling it, you won’t get an FOI on an open case, so simply ask the attending Hospital what time they arrived. To make it clearer, we all know they didn’t take the 2 on the same ride at the same time. Which one was first while the other had to wait?
December 26th, 2010 on 3:31 pm
Agent went first
December 27th, 2010 on 12:19 pm
I just really think they should let us know what happened to the fifth subject, what he was wearing, what direction he went to and anything else they can tell us! I live in Rio Rico close to the area where this happened, I have two daughter’s I have to leave at home so I can come to work, do they not think about the residents that have to do the same thing I do? We’re on alert too, locking our doors with two or three locks, shutting our curtains, having to find an adult to leave our kids with, my girls don’t even want to go outside to ride bikes and I stopped going to walk, because we don’t know what kind of monster is out there,,,every noise we hear at night scares us! I understand that law enforcement is out there to protect us if we need them, but we need to be on the look out too, to protect ourselves, and if they don’t tell us anything, how are we suppose to do that!?
December 27th, 2010 on 2:19 pm
I am very sorry you have to live in that enviroment and have your concerns ignored by law enforcement. But that sad truth is, the decision makers at political levels withen those organizations are more concerned with the lives of illegals then our own Citizens.
They have video of this group prior to the incident, so they know what they look like. The public will never see the video.
December 27th, 2010 on 2:59 pm
I hear you !!!! SO many people in the area had the same reaction/ problem…. something really bad going on and not knowing what to do.
December 27th, 2010 on 12:41 pm
whatever everyone opinions are everyone judge your law
December 27th, 2010 on 1:40 pm
most of the people are pharanioc with this, even more,,
December 27th, 2010 on 2:38 pm
Rumors have it: This might have been a “friendly fire” accident/incident…and that’s why nobody is talking. It was night, dark, Terry could have been shot by someone in his own group who wasn’t aware of his buddy’s exact location. Wouldn’t be the first time this kind of thing has happened in night operations.
December 27th, 2010 on 2:57 pm
I’ve heard that, also. The longer it takes the feds to announce charges brought against the 4 guys they caught, the more that possibility starts seeming realistic…because maybe there aren’t murder charges at all. …maybe just a sad serious mistake in the dark of the night in really rugged country.
December 26th, 2010 on 8:59 pm
You forget that we are dealing with our former governor and “the most transparent administration of all time”. And you wonder why we haven’t heard anything?
December 27th, 2010 on 2:19 pm
Hehe
December 30th, 2010 on 1:37 pm
Janet Napolitano in charge of DHS? what a joke. It is like me being appointed to run the Bank of America! I would bankrupt it within 24 hours. She is incompetent in a job waaaaay over her head. Step out!
December 27th, 2010 on 2:15 am
One can speculate, but if one thinks the minute men, neo-nazi’s and assorted xenophobes running around the desert are not capable of criminal behavior one merely has to look inside our local jail for two “Infamoous minute men” Forde & Bush, one a former prostitute from Washington state and her companion a fake marine who went by the internet handle of “Gunny” on line bragged of himself as a war hero, turned out when he and his leader got caught for moonlighting as home invasion robbers, thieves, murderer’s of a Hispanic man & his 9 year old daughter was a serial killer with connections to Aryan Nations/Brotherhood, was wanted in Washington state for murdering a sleeping hispanic homeless man, now this is the type of ne’r to do well’s coming to Arizona in droves wandering our deserts claiming to be patriots, but seem to have no visible means of support, the Tombstone minute men disbanded due to some “wire fraud/tax fraud schemes” the founder of the minute men is accused of defrauding a rancher of $100,000 for a fence never built, his estranged wife accused him of threatening her & her new lover a bounty hunter, one might wonder was his gun bigger or is the minute men tag merely a hint they are all frustrated “two minute men”! When the rancher was murdered media went crazy, law enforcement released all manner of information on suspicion based on foot prints leading to and from mexico which are natural for that area, and no suspect has ever even been caught, this silence hints at a on going government operation, maybe hunting down these fellows companions in some militia organization, time will tell, its a fact Timothy McCveigh & his buddy had a bunker in Mohave County where they planned and plotted Americas 1st home grown terrorist act, it is no mere coincident I say that “Bush” fled there when the little brown mama bear he wounded shot him and he fled in terror proving he was no hero but a mere common thief, child killer!
December 27th, 2010 on 2:51 am
RH,
So you think this was a “government operation, maybe hunting down these fellows companions in some militia organization” ?
Did Santa put liquer under you tree this year? Like Walgreen brand plastic jug with a handle type liquer?
How about some pics of this “bunker” that McVeigh used, and that this Bush character fled too….. I’ll be waiting….
ROTFLMAO
December 27th, 2010 on 8:03 pm
Guess it is difficult for the uneducated to google Timothy McVeigh to discover all his history, connections? If your looking for a education try going back to school it works wonders to be educated and able to discover things for ones own self!;-) Sorry if Santa put a lump of coal in your Christmas stocking I cannot help you bubba/betty bop!:-)
December 28th, 2010 on 10:18 pm
There was no “bunker” plain and simple, that is why you can find no pictures of it. It is a media myth.
December 27th, 2010 on 12:48 pm
around here the border theres so many drug and human trafickers and law enforcement are protectecting them around rio rico nogales areas this is because money talks around here I know cbp agents they are working together with cartels cause they own mansions not homes we can tell theres more than being a cbp agent or border patrol agent or local police they all get Involved in the business they just wont tell
December 27th, 2010 on 1:36 pm
If you have hard facts then you need to report it.
December 27th, 2010 on 8:06 pm
It must be frustrating no one cares to educate you on facts!:-) Oh I know reality is you don’t want facts you just like to demand conversation, debate!:-) Might I advise if your lonely, in need of such try your local watering hole am sure the bartender gets paid well to listen to folks with grips at all manner of things, or you could try a social networking site, lonely hearts club, thats where folks socialize, seek such, last I read this was a site for commentary not seeking conversation or a date! You have a blessed day bubba/betty bop, or you could at your next militia meeting tell your buddies how tough you are, at defending them on line!:-)
December 28th, 2010 on 10:20 pm
Are you still claiming to be a former Marine?
Or maybe something else these days?
December 30th, 2010 on 1:43 pm
Anonymous: You need to get off drugs, now! You made unsubstantiated false accusations that you cannot prove. If you have any evidence, then report it immediately. CBP living in mansions? what hole did you crawl out of? Please, don’t embarrass yourself, get a life. What an idiot, I don’t know why I wasted my time replying to this bum.
December 27th, 2010 on 2:19 pm
It never fails. Anytime we are trying to discuss any topic related to illegal aliens, the nuts come and make it a race issue along with taking the subject in the wrong direction. They try to move the topic away from them and onto whoever they feel is the bad guy.
Yeah, we know there are corrupt BP Agents because they have been in the news, but to play into the nuts hand, look at the sir-names of those corrupt agents, then ask yourself………………
December 28th, 2010 on 10:38 pm
Since we are all just guessing and .gov is stonewalling I will throw this in the mix…..
http://sipseystreetirregulars.blogspot.com/2010/12/border-patrol-agent-killed-with-atf.html
December 29th, 2010 on 1:12 am
So who is this fellow?
http://www.examiner.com/county-political-buzz-in-san-diego/captured-illegal-alien-bp-agent-murder-has-a-u-s-rap-sheet
“One of the captured illegal aliens who was apprehended during a firefight that claimed the life of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry, was also shot, and has a rap sheet with a conviction for the assault of a police officer.
“The Border Patrol said that Manuel Arianes, a.k.a. Manuel Arellanes Osorio, was wounded in the gunfight. Arianes, 34, and a Mexican national, was convicted in Maricopa County Superior Court in 2006 for aggravated assault on a police officer, and had been deported to Mexico twice, according to sources familiar with his case,” Arizona’s The Republic reported.”
December 29th, 2010 on 6:25 am
Another strange situation…the Arizona Republic runs a story naming the wounded suspect, the Examiner writer picks that up…and then the Republic story deletes the reference tothe suspect’s name….
There is a “report” circulating on email that supposedly gives quite a detailed account of the event, including the wounded suspect’s name, DOB and POB, but can’t verify it. If it proves to be factual it at least raises the possbility of a friendly fire incident.
December 29th, 2010 on 7:58 am
Hugh, you’re not suggesting that our “open and transparent” government would either hide the truth from us, or attempt to cover it up, are you? You must be just another of those nuts engaged in the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy! How dare you suggest that DHS, run by Crappy Nappy, or the FBI, part of Eric The Red’s Department of Injustice, wouldn’t be 100% forthcoming!
December 30th, 2010 on 1:57 pm
loved this comment. All the officials named should have been kicked out long ago, that is a real and scary group with no commons sense, no devotion to these United States, no respect to American citizens, and more than likely with their own agenda to turn us into a country of controlled sheep. Janet could serve better working as a waitress in a collegue cafeteria, Eric Holder would look good driving his own ice cream truck, keep these two away from making critical decisions for the United States. Remember the old (I believe of Chinese origin) prediction: “The United States will be destroyed from within” – take a look at what is happening now and how fast we are spinning out of control. Border Patrol Agent Terry’s death must not be in vain. He is another fallen hero.