Time: Wed Jul 09 03:26:57 1997 by primenet.com (8.8.5/8.8.5) with ESMTP id DAA01450; Wed, 9 Jul 1997 03:14:34 -0700 (MST) by usr06.primenet.com (8.8.5/8.8.5) with SMTP id DAA24246; Wed, 9 Jul 1997 03:14:22 -0700 (MST) Date: Wed, 09 Jul 1997 03:14:15 -0700 To: (Recipient list suppressed) From: Paul Andrew Mitchell [address in tool bar] Subject: SLS: why do we even question rules of engagement? (fwd) Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit <snip> > >Dear Friends, > >Remember the 18 year old U.S. citizen, after being stalked for 20 minutes, >who was ultimately killed by a member of a Marine fire team (made up of >four men). > >The following article may interest you. > >Best regards, > >Brian > >Anyone read the Declaration of Independence lately? > <snip> > >>Today's San Diego Union-Tribune has a feature story that I've attached >>regarding the Texas incident of the United States Marines on drug >>patrol, shooting to death an 18 year old U.S. citizen who had an antique >>rifle. Worst yet information indicates the Marine tracked this young man >>for twenty minutes. Looks as though the Texas Rangers are conducting >>their own investigation and a war of words is occurring between the >>Rangers and U.S. Government. >> >>Yesterday I learned that residents in the Santa Cruz mountains in >>California are upset because low flying helicopters have been orbiting >>and hovering around their homes disturbing them and even waking them at >>night. The Sheriff's department there has reported these are military >>helicopters taking part in a program to locate marijuana growers and >>their plants. >> >>Congress has recently approved the use of 10,000 military troops here in >>the United States to fight the "so called" drug problem. >> >>When our country is sending troops into foreign nations with or without >>the U.N. participation, we Americans question the strategic and tactical >>value of whether we should be there. When our politicians have approved >>the use of our military domestically to fight a problem traditional law >>enforcement should have jurisdiction of, why don't American's become >>ALARMED? Think on these things: >> >>1. Why aren't more Americans questioning this? >>2. How does this compare to Nazi Germany's history? >>3. Understanding that the deployment of resources on our borders to >> fight the alleged drug war is a beginning logistical step by >>Washington to build the U.S. military to be used in the United >>States. >>4. Watching trends where the military's use will go from drug >> interdiction to law enforcement which will include asset seizures, >> searches of home, car and person, etc in the name of fighting crime? >> >>You may really think this is far fetched but I urge you to look into the >>current asset forfeiture laws related to drugs in this county; military >>training for domestic terrorism; joint agency task forces currently >>conducting raids and arresting citizens; check points currently operated >>by Border Patrol with the official reason to stop the illegal >>immigration problem but these officers are arresting people weekly for >>vehicle code violations and other crimes. >> >>It becomes harder to call our country a democracy if we are quickly >>becoming a police state. Five years ago did you think we'd be >>questioning the technicality of "rules of engagement" regarding U.S. >>military versus U.S. citizens? >> >>Best Regards- Darren >> >>"The country must have a large and efficient army, one capable of >>meeting the enemy abroad, or the must expect to meet him at home". >>Wellington, letter in 1811 >> >>July 6, 1997 >>1:18 pm >> >> [Image] A Marine team on drug watch; an 18-year-old with an antique >> >> [Image] rifle; they meet, there is gunfire, there is tragedy >> ------------------------------------------------------------ >> >> July 6, 1997 >> >> REDFORD, Texas -- This is Big Bend country, sweltering >> desert carved by the Rio Grande, where the houses are of >> mud brick, where traffic is a tractor hauling cantaloupes, >> where everyone knows everyone else. >> >> For three days in May, however, the 80 or so folks living >> here didn't know that four U.S. Marines from San Diego >> County, well-armed and camouflaged, were lurking among >> them, watching for drug smugglers from Mexico. >> >> By the end of that third day, they all knew. >> >> Esequiel Hernandez Jr., a local teen-ager, crossed paths >> with the Marines amid the mesquite and cactus. What >> happened next is still a matter of dispute and may become >> the subject of a Texas trial, but one thing is beyond >> question: >> >> A 22-year-old Marine corporal named Clementino Bañuelos >> fired a single shot from an M-16 rifle. The 5.56 mm slug >> punched into the right side of Hernandez's chest, broke >> apart and ripped through six vital organs. The 18-year-old >> staggered a few yards near an abandoned house and died. >> >> The incident happened amid rising violence along the >> U.S.-Mexico border and just before Congress approved the >> use of 10,000 troops in the fight against drugs. >> >> Five months earlier, down near Brownsville, an Army Green >> Beret staked out at the Rio Grande shot and wounded a >> Mexican national who fired at him. The man would live to >> plead guilty to assaulting a federal officer. >> >> But in the Redford incident, the victim was an American >> citizen, the first to be intentionally killed by a U.S. >> soldier on U.S. soil in nearly 30 years. >> >> A young man not yet old enough to drink. >> >> The Marines, part of an artillery regiment stationed at >> Camp Pendleton, were watching for "mules" ferrying drugs >> from Mexico across the Rio Grande. >> >> For three days at a time, four-man teams of Marines were to >> hide amid the cactus, their human form disguised by shaggy >> camouflage clothing called "Ghillie suits." Hiding and >> sleeping by day, they were watching a ford of the river by >> night. >> >> They also were watching over the mesas and gullies where >> young Hernandez took his family's 42 goats each day to >> graze. >> >> Neither the Border Patrol, which had requested the Marines, >> nor El Paso's Joint Task Force 6 -- the Defense Department >> office that had arranged for the Camp Pendleton unit to >> come to Texas -- had told anyone in Redford of the >> operation. >> >> "They were hiding not only from anyone doing anything >> illegal, but they were hiding from us," says Leonel >> Ceniceros, a member of the Redford committee trying to sue >> the government over the matter. >> >> First encounter >> >> About 6:15 p.m. on a clear evening on May 20, Hernandez and >> the Marines first encountered each other. >> >> The Marines have told military investigators and Texas >> Rangers that Hernandez fired at them twice with his >> antique, hand-me-down .22-caliber pump-action rifle and was >> preparing to fire a third time before they shot back. >> >> Hernandez's father, Esequiel Sr., insists he heard only one >> shot. So do other Redford residents, including Jesus >> Valenzuela, a neighbor of the Hernandez family who saw >> young Hernandez only minutes before he was shot. >> >> Investigators found spent .22-caliber shells where the >> Marines said they first saw Hernandez -- and one spent >> shell in his rifle -- but said that did not confirm that >> Hernandez fired twice at the Marines. >> >> "That's an area where a lot of people go out to shoot at >> tin cans. There were shells there that weren't even from >> his gun," says Presidio County District Attorney Albert >> Valadez. >> >> The Marines also said a 30 to 35 mph wind was blowing at >> the time, making it impossible for them to orally identify >> themselves to the young man. Locals scoff at this scenario. >> >> "You've seen what kind of terrain we have around here. It's >> all desert, all dust and sand," says Mel LaFollette, a >> retired Episcopal minister. "You get a 35 mile an hour wind >> going and you're not even going to be able to see anyone at >> 100 yards, much less shoot at 'em." >> >> More troubling to the Texas Rangers was that the Marines >> apparently followed Hernandez for 20 minutes before >> shooting him, according to Ranger Capt. Barry Caver of >> Midland. The rules of engagement specifically state: >> >> "You WILL make every effort to avoid confrontation and >> armed conflict with civilians." >> >> From beginning to end, Hernandez and the Marines never came >> closer than 200 yards. >> >> By the end of this month, the case will go to the Presidio >> County grand jury, which could file felony charges against >> Bañuelos and/or the others, says Valadez. >> >> The Hernandez family is filing a wrongful-death suit. And a >> group of Redford residents is trying to mount a >> class-action lawsuit against the government. >> >> At Camp Pendleton, the Marines released a two-page >> statement last week that read in part: >> >> "The incident is still under investigation by the U.S. >> military and civilian law enforcement officials. The U.S. >> Marine Corps is committed to the full factual investigation >> into all of the events related to this tragic incident so >> that it is never repeated." >> >> An angry town >> >> That sentiment is shared, angrily, in Redford and over in >> neighboring Presidio, where Hernandez had attended high >> school. >> >> "The way it looks to us, a real good kid was just >> murdered," says Rose Adamson, a Presidio resident. >> >> Bañuelos is not talking. But along the river where >> Hernandez lived and died, people are talking, and acting. >> >> From his trailer home, LaFollette, known locally as Father >> Mel, is spearheading the class-action suit. He and a >> handful of neighbors have formed the Redford Citizens >> Committee for Justice. >> >> To LaFollette, the Hernandez shooting symbolizes years of >> official disregard for this tiny community. >> >> "The school board doesn't care about Redford. The county >> doesn't care about Redford," he says. "Now we've been >> invaded by the Marines and a kid has been killed." >> >> For Hispanic committee members like rancher Jesus >> Valenzuela, it's the ultimate form of what he considers >> government harassment. >> >> "You can't go out of your house without the Border Patrol >> asking you questions, without them looking at you with >> binoculars," he says. >> >> It's hard to imagine Redford as a site for controversy of >> any sort, this dot along Farm Road 170 en route to Big Bend >> National Park. There's no gas station, no stoplight, no >> McDonald's. >> >> The big news here usually involves announcements about the >> annual Onion Festival or the latest pesticide approved for >> use against the sweet potato whitefly. >> >> Still, it is a place rich in history and heritage, even if >> it is dirt poor in almost everything else. >> >> Ask someone how long his family has lived in this scattered >> dust stop and the answer may take you back more than a >> century. Remains of wagon trails run just off the pavement. >> >> When someone here tells you that his >> great-great-grandfather was kidnapped by Apaches, he's not >> kidding. >> >> The Mexican town of Ojinaga lies just across the river from >> Presidio. Pancho Villa fought a battle here during the >> Mexican Revolution, which prompted the U.S. Army to install >> a fort at Redford to discourage him from going any farther >> north. >> >> "So you see, we've been run over by the military before," >> says LaFollette. >> >> If Redford seems an unlikely place for a major incident, >> Esequiel Hernandez Jr. seemed even less likely to be its >> victim. He is described as an introverted teen-ager with a >> love of horses and history and culture. >> >> When his high school started a Spanish folkloric dance >> class, he was the only boy who signed up. The kid who would >> later be described as shy, meek and polite by his teachers >> still managed to persuade five other boys to eventually >> join him. >> >> His only known brush with the law occurred in February, and >> that was accidental, according to Joe Harris, acting Border >> Patrol chief in the Marfa sector, which includes Redford. >> >> Hernandez and a friend were out grazing Hernandez's goats >> and "plinking" at tins cans with Hernandez's .22-caliber >> rifle. Their shots passed close to a pair of Border Patrol >> agents, who hurriedly left the area as soon as they heard >> the shots. >> >> Seeing the agents emerge from the desert scrub, Hernandez >> and his friend followed them back to their station and >> apologized for firing in their area. >> >> "As far as we were concerned, the incident was closed," >> says Harris. Asked if it was the Border Patrol's belief >> that Hernandez was deliberately shooting at the agents, >> Harris says emphatically, "No, that is not true." >> >> The Pentagon insists that armed troops manning border >> observation posts are thoroughly trained on the rules of >> engagement months in advance, from their commanders on >> down. Those rules prohibit soldiers from doing much more >> than defending themselves if attacked. >> >> No escape >> >> None of that offers much comfort, however, to the father of >> Esequiel Hernandez Jr. >> >> Today, Esequiel Hernandez Sr. walks the same desert mesas >> his son walked and tries to get on with his life at his >> adobe compound, wiping the brow under his battered baseball >> cap. He has a wife and seven other kids to think about, >> three sons and four daughters, a slew of nieces and >> nephews. There are horses to water, trucks to keep running. >> >> But there is no escape. There are too many reminders. Foil >> packets of military rations and strips of burlap the >> Marines used to form their shaggy camouflage still litter >> the desert floor, as do those bright yellow strips of >> barrier tape now so familiar to big-city dwellers. >> >> It's all there, within a single sweep of his vision. >> >> The adobe house he built himself in which his son "Juni" >> was born. >> >> The spot above the river where his son and the Marines >> first saw each other. >> >> The abandoned house near where his son was shot. >> >> The Baptist Church where his funeral was held, attended by >> some 800 people, 10 times the population of Redford. >> >> The rough-hewn cemetery where his son lies buried. >> >> And every time a television crew or newspaper reporter >> pulls up in front of his place for one more interview, one >> more photo, the wound on a father's soul rips open one more >> time. >> >> "It hurts, it hurts and I cry," he says softly. >> >> Then he turns back to his goats. >> >> ------------------------------------------------------------ >> Copyright 1997 Union-Tribune Publishing Co. >> > > ======================================================================== Paul Andrew Mitchell : Counselor at Law, federal witness B.A., Political Science, UCLA; M.S., Public Administration, U.C. Irvine tel: (520) 320-1514: machine; fax: (520) 320-1256: 24-hour/day-night email: [address in tool bar] : using Eudora Pro 3.0.3 on 586 CPU website: http://www.supremelaw.com : visit the Supreme Law Library now ship to: c/o 2509 N. Campbell, #1776 : this is free speech, at its best Tucson, Arizona state : state zone, not the federal zone Postal Zone 85719/tdc : USPS delays first class w/o this As agents of the Most High, we came here to establish justice. We shall not leave, until our mission is accomplished and justice reigns eternal. ======================================================================== [This text formatted on-screen in Courier 11, non-proportional spacing.]
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