US agent goes on trial in Mexican teen cross-border killing
US agent goes on trial in Mexican teen cross-border killing
Anita Snow, Associated Press
Updated 2:50 pm, Monday, March 19, 2018
PHOENIX (AP) — A U.S. border Patrol agent accused of shooting across the border into Mexico and killing a teenager five years ago will go on trial Tuesday on a charge of second-degree murder in a rare Justice Department prosecution of a fatal cross-border shooting.
The agent, Lonnie Swartz, is accused of killing 16-year-old Jose Antonio Elena Rodriguez, who was on the street in Nogales, in the Mexican state of Sonora, just across the border from Nogales, Arizona. An autopsy showed the unarmed teen was hit 10 times, mostly from behind.
The trial in U.S. District Court in Tucson comes amid President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown and his pledge to build a "big, beautiful wall" along the 2,000-mile (3,200-kilometer) U.S.-Mexico boundary.
Swartz opened fire at about 11:30 p.m. on Oct. 10, 2012 through the metal poles of a 20-foot (6-meter) fence that sits on a 25-foot (about 7.6-meter) embankment above Mexico's Calle Internacional, a street lined with homes and small businesses.
More:
https://www.chron.com/news/crime/article/US-agent-goes-on-trial-in-Mexican-teen-12764862.php
LBN:
https://www.democraticunderground.com/10142018160
