XPost: misc.survivalism, talk.politics.guns, alt.culture.alaska   
   XPost: alt.survival   
   From: feartheguns@liberalism.com   
      
   The gutless Obama administration, armed American agents with   
   beanbags - to fend off Mexican criminals with automatic rifles.   
      
   Three years after the death of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry --   
    a tragedy which exposed and ultimately ended Operation Fast and   
   Furious -- the public is finally getting a glimpse into Terry's   
   final moments.   
      
   Federal court records released Tuesday provide the first   
   official account of the firefight along the Arizona-Mexico   
   border that killed Terry in December 2010. Among other details,   
   they reveal two of four federal agents at the scene that day   
   actually fired bean bags -- not bullets -- at a violent drug   
   gang carrying assault rifles. Weapons from the botched anti-gun   
   trafficking program were found at Terry's murder scene.   
      
   Such an account was not available until now, with both the FBI   
   and Department of Homeland Security never releasing an incident   
   report and Terry's fellow agents under a gag order.   
      
   But as part of the court fight over the sentencing of admitted   
   killer Manuel Osorio-Arellanes, prosecutors released first-hand   
   accounts from three fellow agents involved in the shooting.   
   Those agents, members of BORTAC, an elite unit within the Border   
   Patrol, had deployed in the desert to locate a drug gang, known   
   as a rip crew, that had terrorized the Nogales, Ariz., area for   
   months.   
      
   The rip crew's job was to stop and steal the drug loads of   
   competing smugglers. They also terrorized and assaulted human   
   smugglers and otherwise innocent illegal immigrants trying to   
   enter the U.S. Terry's specially trained team was specifically   
   deployed in the desert to stop them.   
      
   Documents show that on Dec. 14, 2010, Terry's team was on a hill   
   above a ravine. A ground sensor went off alerting them to the   
   approaching smugglers. When agents yelled "police" in Spanish,   
   the smugglers turned and fired. According to the documents, this   
   happened at 11:08 p.m. Just 52 minutes later, Terry would have   
   been relieved by a second BORTAC team and gone home for   
   Christmas.   
      
   "I saw some members of the group point their weapons at us,"   
   Agent Gabriel Fragoza declared to the court. "Agent Castano and   
   I deployed less lethal bean bag rounds as the individuals began   
   to shoot at us. I saw muzzle flashes coming from the   
   individuals, then heard Agent Terry say 'I'm hit! I'm hit! I   
   can't feel my legs'."   
      
   Agent William Castano gave a similar account, saying, "I heard   
   shooting which was coming from the wash. I heard Agent Terry say   
   'I'm hit.' I went to Agent Terry to administer first aid. At   
   this time, he said, 'I can't feel my legs. I'm paralyzed.' Agent   
   Terry soon lost consciousness and died at the scene."   
      
   Robert Heyer, Terry's cousin, told Fox News that few details   
   have been released from that day.   
      
   "The court documents released in the last two days have given us   
   some indication of what took place but I think the family really   
   wants to really see and walk the ground in the area in question   
   of where Brian died. We're hoping that will give them better   
   understanding and closure in Brian's death," Heyer said.   
      
   Of the five-member rip crew, three are in custody and two remain   
   at large. Manuel Osorio-Arellanes pleaded guilty to felony   
   murder -- though he did not actually fire the bullet that killed   
   Terry. Arrellanes had 51 rounds and an assault rifle when   
   caught. That weapon and one additional AK-47 were found at the   
   scene.   
      
   Under federal sentencing guidelines, Arellanes is set to get   
   life in prison, though in a plea bargain the U.S. attorney is   
   asking for 30 years.   
      
   The court records leave two unanswered questions. First, it is   
   unclear who stashed Fast and Furious weapons in the desert.   
   Second, it is unclear how the agents were so outgunned.   
      
   There's a principle in police work known as "plus one" -- which   
   effectively holds that law enforcement should be better armed   
   than the suspects they're pursuing. Confronting assault weapon-   
   armed gang members in the desert with bean bags would seem to   
   violate that principle.   
      
   The Border Patrol has said in the past that Terry's unit had the   
   "freedom" to put down their bean bags and use other weapons, but   
   chose not to. However, other Border Patrol agents say policy   
   guidelines and the rules of engagement for BORTAC that night   
   encouraged the agents to use non-lethal force first.   
      
   http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/02/05/new-court-documents-   
   reveal-final-moments-border-agent-brian-terrys-   
   life/?intcmp=obnetwork   
        
       
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)