FBI: Friendly fire ruled out in Tucson border agent’s slaying …so which gun fired the bullet that killed Brian Terry?
by Hugh Holub on Feb. 15, 2011, under border issues, drug smuggling, mexican drug cartels, politicsNews from the Daily Star that the FBI has determined that the death of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry was not a “friendly fire” incident.
FBI: Friendly fire ruled out in Tucson border agent’s slaying
Friendly fire was not a factor in the killing of a Border Patrol agent during a shootout in December in a canyon near Nogales, the FBI says.
And in an update to their story, the Star reports
3 of 4 held in agent’s shooting to be deported
…The clearing of the three illegal immigrants from Mexico – who are pleading guilty to immigration charges and being set up for deportation this week – leaves one man in custody who was arrested the night of the shootout.
This does not answer the question raised by US Senator Charles Grassley who has alleged 2 guns were found at the scene of Agent Terry’s murder that were bought in a Glendale gun shop and slipped to the border bandits under the nose of ATF agents under Project Gunrunner.
OK FBI…whose gun fired the shot that killed Agent Terry?
And where did the gun come from?
Certainly you know this by now FBI…. why isn’t your agency providing that additional information?
Is Grassley’s claim true?
Grassley blasts Department of Justice on coverup of guns used in Agent Terry’s murder
Dept. of Justice denies gun claim about Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry’s death
Is there a cover-up on Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry’s murder?
Was Border Patrol agent Brian Terry killed by a gun bought in Phoenix?
And it is getting very interesting why the national media is ignoring this story….
February 15th, 2011 on 4:07 pm
Hopefully this will shut down the ‘friendly fire’ crowd around here…..
February 15th, 2011 on 4:34 pm
Have you noticed that the national media is ignoring Grassley’s claims?
February 15th, 2011 on 7:54 pm
Hehe…..
Hugh, as you know I have been on this for quite sometime, I am not suprised by the lack of any indepth “mainstream” media investigation into this matter.
As a trained journalist you should be asking yourself why they don’t seem to be intersted. I know you, like all of us, have seen weeks worth of headlines on past scandals with much less evidence being presented…
The media absolutely lives for this kinda stuff…
But now….the silence is deafening….
February 16th, 2011 on 7:48 am
Very odd indeed….I would not have thought the feds had the ability to keep such a tight lid on stuff with the mainstream media folks…wonder what they’re saying behind the scenes? Grassley’s stuff is absolutely convincing and thanks to Sipsey Street I’ve been able to post Grassley’s actual letters so folks here can decide for themselves. But even at this end notice the Gunrunner stories are not being featured even though the real deal stuff is available here.
February 16th, 2011 on 8:22 am
Running with this story is not going to get them invited to any of the cool cocktail parties.
February 16th, 2011 on 9:30 am
Just a theory…assuming the government is not putting the squeeze on the story…is certain parts of the national media discount anything that comes from certain sources like Second Amendment advocates. Saw a comenter jump on my Leo Banks link because his border article was posted in a conservative journal… problem is both sides on a lot of issues are preaching to their respective choirs and there is a lot of stuff that needs to “cross over” so we all can actually find some common ground…which I believe there is a lot of.
February 16th, 2011 on 9:51 am
The ICE agent in Mx murder is getting plenty of media attention, as it should.
Kinda odd though…
Fed LEO in Mexico legally, is murdered by bad guys = story
Fed LEO in USA killed by a bad guy in the USA illegally = non story.
February 16th, 2011 on 9:59 am
Does make one wonder…. my bet…end result is ICE is kicked out of Mexico
February 16th, 2011 on 11:30 am
If only Agent Terry had been murdered about 10 more miles south the media might actually care…
February 15th, 2011 on 4:36 pm
I doubt the controversy is over, law enforcement is notortious for having them extra legal firearms for what is commonly called a “throw down in a questionable shooting” usually its done to justify the shooting of a perpetrator but guess if one had just shot his own man it might be concievable to a worried agent to throw down a gun of questionable background to muddy the waters on who shot who! :-) I do believe unless they find gun powder residue on the hands of the arrested illegals, and a piece of evidence showing they bought the guns or had them in their hands its still a mystery!
February 15th, 2011 on 7:03 pm
“I doubt the controversy is over….”
RH, good to see you, is your “PR” campaign over? HEHE
I thought you were saying it was natzies that shot the BORTAC agent? Why don’t you let us in on your conspiracy theory, I’m sure it’s a doozy. 8^)
Hehe…
February 16th, 2011 on 6:25 am
Are you lonely, desiring conversation? Try your favorite watering hole, am sure the bartender will accomodate you, or if you desire more than that am sure a fellow patron might help, if all else fails try a lonely hearts club! :-) I really don’t come here to debate, try and convince anyone of anything, if you don’t like my comments a simple solution is don’t read them! :-)
February 15th, 2011 on 9:07 pm
These are not Grassley’s “claims” or “allegations”, they are FACTS taken right out of the reports. The serial numbers from the rifles recovered at the scene match the serial numbers of rifles sold at the gun stores. They were rifles which the ATF ALLOWED the known smuggler to purchase while he and the other smugglers involved in this ring were being surveiled. Read the reports available on David Codrea’s examiner.com blog and Mike Vanderboegh’s Sipsey Street Irregulars blog. The MSM talking heads are ignoring this – probably because their employers are being told to ignore it. The ATF whistleblowers on cleanupatf.org needed Grassley’s involvement so they could right a very serious wrong without retaliation. The ATF has been trying to pad their statistics to justify more gun control, and their own continued existence. Their scam cost agent Terry his life. Heads will ptobably roll if the coverup is ever fully investigated and prosecuted.
February 15th, 2011 on 10:20 pm
Jules,
This scandal is not going away, keep spreading the word.
February 16th, 2011 on 6:28 am
The story could be quickly put to bed with a indictment of a shooter, evidence at a trial, but my guess is its not the media sitting on this story but FBI, Border Agency debating on who shot the sheriff? :-) Guns don’t just walk on legs to a shooting scene, someone took them there, and when they fired them unless they were wearing gloves left “gun powder residue on their hands”, finger prints on them guns! :-) Not hard to figure something is wrong, someone is not informing the public as they usually do when the prosecutors have a open and shut case! :-)
February 16th, 2011 on 7:51 am
Absolutely right….Codrea and Vanderboegh have done a great piece of work exposing this stinking mess….
March 9th, 2011 on 5:57 pm
Thanks to the Glen Beck wannabees this viewpoint is usually taken as fact.
February 16th, 2011 on 6:31 am
This story will fade with other stories coming to the fore front, the Krentz rancher murder dominated for a long time, and all they had was some mysterious foot prints in desert, a mysterious radio transmission heard by no one but a relatve of the deceased! Still no arrest, indictments, its going to likely be on the television series one day “unsolved mysteries” or not I still wonder a man with a 35,000 acre ranch is no pauper, and that much land is a real incentive for some unethical, immoral persons to do wrong! :-)
February 16th, 2011 on 7:52 am
Virtually all the ranch is government leased land and they are not rich people.
February 16th, 2011 on 8:00 am
I guess leased land, owned land is a moot issue, since us common folks don’t own or lease 35,000 acres of ranch land! :-) I don’t call anyone with 35,000 acres leased or owned poor! :-) But hey delusions of grandeur are about as common as those selling the old western snake oil, swore it cured all that ailed you, but it merely got one a bit woozy, with the syrup laced with alcohol, but no doubt it made one feel good though! :-)
February 16th, 2011 on 8:12 am
Hugh,
Some folks simply find facts to be inconvienent.
February 16th, 2011 on 10:37 am
Let’s see what are the facts, 4 illegals arrested, 1 deceased border agent, 2 mysterious guns no one seems to be able to put anyones hands on and lots of denials of culpability by all parties involved, no indictments for Murder, just illegal crossing of border! I guess facts are what one wishes to see them as, I don’t see anything but a mystery here much as the Krentz murder, foot prints in desert, mysterious alleged radio transmission heard only by the deceased individuals relative, on a open radio channel which anyone could have heard had they merely been tuned to the public channel, no indictment, no names identifying anyone as culprit, mystery, unless someone gets arrested both these stories will end up on “unsolved mysterious television story”! :-)
February 16th, 2011 on 6:34 am
There is a old saying corny but true, believe half of what you see and half of what you hear and some where in between one might find the truth! :-) I venture the Krentz murder, this Border agents deaths have suspects, but facts are what prosecutors go to trial with not speculation and innuendo! :-)
February 16th, 2011 on 7:20 am
RH,
Did you forget your “PR” login?
February 16th, 2011 on 7:58 am
One thing you did not forget is cyber stalking! :-) I guess its your reason for existing! :-)
February 16th, 2011 on 8:18 am
I just have no issue pointing out those with sock puppet accts, not to mention countering arguements that are so easily countered.
8^)
February 16th, 2011 on 10:33 am
Delusions of grandeur pupito, you think you run more than you really do, and suffer from cyber stalking addiction! I doubt the stories have any interest other than if you can garner a argument or a tit for tat name calling contest! :-)
February 16th, 2011 on 7:03 pm
Via Electronic Transmission
The Honorable Eric H. Holder, Jr.
Attorney General
U.S. Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, DC 20530
Dear Attorney General Holder:
I appreciate the staff briefing that Department of Justice (DOJ) and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) officials provided on February 10, 2011. However, the briefers focused on general issues related to challenges in successfully prosecuting gun trafficking cases. They refused to answer specific questions about the facts and circumstances that led me to request the briefing.
Specifically, they refused to say whether the approximately 103 weapons seized according to the Jaime Avila indictment were the only seizures related to the nearly 770 weapons mentioned in the indictment. They refused to say whether the third assault rifle purchased by Avila in January 2010—the one not found at the scene of CBP Agent Brian Terry’s shooting—has been recovered elsewhere. When asked whether ATF had encouraged any gun dealer to proceed with sales to known or suspected traffickers such as Avila, the briefers said only that they did not have any “personal knowledge” of that.
Therefore, please provide the following documents to the Committee:
1) All records relating to communications between the ATF and the Federal Firearms Licensee (FFL) who sold the weapons to Avila, including any Report of Investigation (ROI) or other records relating to the December 17, 2009 meeting “to discuss his role as an FFL during this investigation.”
2) All records relating to communications between ATF headquarters and Phoenix Special Agent in Charge (SAC) William Newell from December 1, 2010 to the present, including a memorandum, approximately 30 pages long, from SAC Newell to ATF headquarters following the arrest of Jaime Avila and the death of CBP Agent Brian Terry.
3) A copy of the presentation, approximately 200 pages long, that the Group 7 Supervisor made to officials at ATF Headquarters in the Spring of 2010.
PAGE 2
4) Copies of all e-mails related to Operation Fast and Furious, the Jaime Avila case, or the death of CBP Agent Brian Terry sent to or from SAC Newell, Assistant Special Agent in Charge (ASAC) George Gillette, Group 7 Supervisor, or the Case Agent between November 1, 2009 and January 31, 2011.
Please provide documents in batches on a rolling basis as they are identified and located. Also, please prioritize your search for documents and produce them in the following order: (1) documents in response to requests one through three, (2) documents in response to request four dated between December 13, 2010 and January 31, 2011, and (3) documents in response to request four dated between November 1, 2009 and December 13, 2010.
I look forward to receiving your response. Please provide the first set of requested documentation by no later than February 23, 2011. If you have any questions please contact Jason Foster or Brian Downey at (redacted) All formal correspondence should be sent electronically in PDF to (redacted)
Charles E. Grassley
Ranking Member
cc: The Honorable Patrick Leahy, Chairman, United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary
The Honorable Robert S. Mueller, III, Director, Federal Bureau of Investigation
Kenneth E. Melson, Acting Director, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives
The Honorable Alan D. Bersin, Commissioner, United States Customs and Border Protection
February 17th, 2011 on 8:25 am
She said federal and state authorities including those in Arizona would continue to investigate and attempt to bring to justice those who are responsible for this heinous crime.Although we needed no reminder of the ever-increasing dangers along our southern border this tragedy serves as stark notice that the threats facing all who serve in protecting our state and nation are real and are increasing on a daily basis she said. We need to pray for all those in uniform who perform duties that allow us to live in a safe and secure land.t-2U.S.