A body shot June 23 showing U.S. citizen Raymond Mattia, a member of the Tohono O’Dum Nation in southern Arizona, being shot on May 18 by Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) agents. Camera footage has been released.
The highly edited footage, which cuts out the audio at key points and blurs out the killer’s face, shows Mattia, 58, was docile and did not pose a threat to the police officers who shot him dead. clearly proves it. Mattia was unarmed when he was killed in front of his home.
An autopsy report by the Pima County coroner ruled Mattia’s death to be a homicide. However, Tohono O’Dum Nation officials are careful not to hold any responsibility to the CBP officer responsible for Mattia’s death. A medical report said Mattia suffered at least nine gunshot wounds.
Inconsistent police reports claim CBP officers were summoned to Menajersdam village around 9:04 p.m. has tightened control over a recreation center at Menagherz Dam, which it says has received reports of one or two shots fired from the West, and has instructed CPB officials to join police at the center.
Several heavily armed CPB personnel with military assault rifles were deployed to the recreation center, where they joined the police.
For unknown reasons, TOPD and CBP agents met at the recreation center at approximately 9:27 p.m. and decided to escort him directly to Mattia’s home, passing several other homes. In body camera audio, one of the police officers could be heard saying, “I don’t know exactly where that bastard is.”
By 9:35 p.m., both CBP agents and TOPD police arrived at Mattia’s address with guns drawn. Approximately four minutes later, body camera footage shows them confronting each other in front of Mattia’s mansion. Body camera footage shows several police officers with guns drawn and bright flashlights pointed at Mattia.
Mattia was seen standing outside the front door of her home conversing with Police Officer Tohono O’Damm, who said, “Please raise your hand above your head.” I will.”
Within five seconds of Mattia responding, two different CBP agents issued conflicting orders to Mattia. One told me to keep my hand up, and the other said, “Put it down for me.”
Mattia was observed gently throwing an object with her left hand, which later turned out to be a sheathed knife at the direction of TOPD officers. The scabbarded knife fell to the ground a few feet from the officer, out of Mattia’s reach.
After throwing the object as instructed, police and CBP personnel quickly escalated the situation and began shouting several conflicting orders against Mattia. One CBP officer yelled, “Get that fucking face,” while another shouted, “Get your hands out of your fucking pocket.”
Attempting to respond, Mattia was observed to raise his right hand holding the cell phone he had in his pocket. As soon as Mattia pulled his hand out of his jacket pocket, at least three operatives opened fire, firing dozens of shots at Mattia, who immediately fell face-first to the ground.
The killers kept screaming at him while Mattia was bleeding profusely on the ground. “Get your hands out! Fuck your hands! As the investigators moved towards Mattia, they kept yelling at the dying man, ‘Fuck you, don’t move’ and ‘Put your hands up so I can help you.'”
At the time of this writing, it is unclear whether TOPD officers at the scene had fired as well, but the CPB has confirmed that at least 38 shots were fired. The video confirmed police used a pistol and a military-type M-4 rifle to kill the unarmed man.
The CPB claimed that bad weather prevented a medical helicopter from being dispatched to the scene to treat Mattia’s serious injuries. Instead, doctors declared Mattia dead “by phone” at 10:06 p.m., according to a CPB statement.
Mattia’s family admitted that police refused access to his body for hours after he was shot, preventing him from holding a sacred burial ceremony. Not allowing his family to grieve with respect, CPB and TOPD left Mattia’s body in the desert for nearly seven hours before transporting it.
The CBP Office of Professional Responsibility, the agency that “supervises” its employees, is engaged in the large-scale police cover-up of Mattia’s murder. More than a month after Mattia’s death, none of the three border guards who shot him have been identified, much less charged. In fact, all three are on paid leave.
In an interview with intercept In the article, published June 26, Mattia’s niece Yvonne Nevarez revealed that border police had not yet shown the family the full, unedited footage of the deadly encounter. bottom. “The way they put it together feels like a cheap attempt to justify what they did,” Nevarez said. intercept“And it feels like none of them are on our side. It feels like they’re just trying to protect themselves instead of protecting Uncle Ray.”
There are various and conflicting theories as to what triggered the shooting outside Mattia’s home. Mattia’s home was located on the Arizona-Mexico border and had no electricity. The family said Mattia frequently called the local border patrol office in Ajo to report migrants breaking into his property. CPB officials have yet to confirm or deny whether Mattia made the call on May 18.
Mattia’s murder comes amid growing far-right agitation against immigration by both major political parties. Aiming to replace Trump as the new Republican president, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has launched a campaign with a “shoot if you see him” immigration policy, while Democratic presidential nominee Robert F. Kennedy likewise advocates a “border closure” and the completion of Trump’s border wall. At City Hall recently.
According to the Southern Border Communities Coalition (SBCC), which has been tracking abuse cases and fatalities involving CBP since 2010, 275 people have died in encounters with CBP agents. 2020, 2021 and 2022 were the deadliest years, with 35, 58 and 51 killed respectively by the CPB, according to the SBCC. Eighteen people have been killed during contact with CPB officials this year, including Mattia.
Since 2010, the majority (32%) of those killed by CBP have been killed in fatal car chases, 27% in fatal gunshots, and 23% for medical reasons, including potential medical waivers. killed by the problem of
Arizona, where Mattia was killed, has the second-highest death toll in 52 CBP killings since 2010. Texas ranks first with 144, while California ranks in the top three with 38 so far.
Most of the killings since 2010 have occurred along the heavily militarized U.S.-Mexico border, but also along the U.S.-Canada border in Washington, Michigan and Maine. People are being murdered by CBP agents. Capitalist politicians claim the border Gestapo exists to protect citizens from criminal immigration, but of the 275 people killed by the CBP since 2010, 45 were American citizens themselves.
The violence initiated by CBP and other law enforcement agencies is a logical representation of the system that hunts down and imprisons millions of men, women and children in the United States and elsewhere. The real “crisis” does not lie at the border, but the crisis of American capitalism that has created extreme inequality and war for decades while imposing dictatorships on workers around the world for the benefit of Wall Street. is. The Socialist Equality Party defends the democratic right of workers and their families to live and work in the country of their choice.
