A member of the Tohono O’Dum Nation was shot dead by U.S. Border Patrol agents in front of his home Thursday night in a village just east of Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument.
U.S. Customs spokesman Rob Daniels said officers from the Idiot Border Patrol Service were assisting Tohono Ordham police officers involved in a “shooting incident” in which one person died around 10 p.m. Border Protection — BP’s parent agency.
Tribal president Ned Norris Jr. confirmed the man’s death in a statement Sunday, saying Tohono Ordham police and the FBI confirmed that Raymond Mattia was shot dead near a small hamlet about a mile from Menagher’s Dam. He later wrote that the death was being investigated. US-Mexico border.
“Our thoughts are with his family and all those affected during this difficult time,” Norris said. “As the investigation progresses, the state will give due consideration to all facts related to the incident and expect the relevant public security agencies to respond appropriately and promptly. withhold.”
Family members told KVOA that Mattia was two feet from the front door when BP officers opened fire and was hit about 38 times.
KVOA said the family members, who spoke on condition of anonymity, called BP officials after several people were trespassing in their yard and wanted help removing them from the premises. He said he asked for help. report.
The CBP Office of Professional Responsibility is also reviewing the case, Daniels said.
The Tucson District of Border Patrol, which serves the Arizona-Mexico border from the Yuma County line to New Mexico, has led the nation in 158 violent incidents since fiscal year 2023 began on October 1, 2022. It’s becoming Although these incidents involved vehicles, in 20 incidents BP personnel in the field used “less lethal” weapons such as batons, tasers and pepper spray.
Since October, border guards across the southwestern border have carried out 676 acts of force, including one involving the agency’s special operations group. This includes 207 incidents involving “less lethal” weapons. Firearms were used by investigators in 13 incidents.
While many departments had only a few incidents, the El Paso department, which covers the state of New Mexico and the eponymous border city, had 147 incidents.
This is the third shooting by Border Patrol agents in the Tucson area since October 2022.
In March, border agents assigned to the Tucson Police Department shot and killed a man who was being chased by a vehicle near Highway 286, which runs from Sussabe, Arizona, to Highway 86 in Three Points.
The first notable example is the CBP Body camera footage released The incident is shown from the point of view of the border guard who shot and killed Noe Mazia after smashing the driver’s side and rear windows with a folding baton.
It remains unclear whether body camera footage was captured during Mattia’s shooting or if a remote camera set up near the village captured the incident.
The agent reached into the car as Mejia tried to back it up. The agent held on and Mejia tried to turn the steering wheel, but the agent fired once, killing Mejia.
The agency did not release the names of Mejia or the agent, but family members were quick to criticize the release of the footage.
A similar incident occurred on February 26, when a Tucson Sector BP employee shot and injured a person on Interstate 19 south of Amado. CBP spokesman John Mennell said investigators shot dead an unnamed person “while investigating a trafficking case.” The man was injured and taken to hospital, while four others were taken into custody. In addition to CBP’s Office of Professional Responsibility and the FBI, the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office also responded.
In the Tucson and Yuma districts of Arizona, investigators used firearms three times before Thursday’s incidents, pushing 194 more cases.
Another incident occurred just south of the border fence near US territory San Luis in October.
Last year, then-CBP Director Chris Magnus announced that CBP’s Critical Incidents Team would be abolished and that immediate investigations of fatal and serious incidents would be transferred from the increasingly controversial team to OPR. Magnus is a former Tucson police chief who was appointed by the Biden administration to help reform the department. But he resigned last November after being told to resign or be fired in an effort to appease right-wing critics of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorcas.
