“A Devastating Decision”: No Charges for Border Guards in Beating, Taser Death of Mexican Immigrant
(DEMOCRACY NOW) Interview, November 9, 2015 — The Department of Justice has announced no border agents will be prosecuted for their role in the killing of a Mexican immigrant near San Diego even though eyewitness video showed him being beaten and tasered. The incident occurred in May 2010 when 32-year-old Anastasio Hernández-Rojas was caught trying to enter the United States from Mexico. He had previously lived in the United States for 25 years and was the father of five U.S.-born children. The San Diego coroner’s office classified Anastasio Hernández-Rojas’s death as a homicide, concluding he suffered a heart attack as well as “bruising to his chest, stomach, hips, knees, back, lips, head and eyelids; five broken ribs; and a damaged spine.” Agents say they confronted Hernández-Rojas because he became hostile and resisted arrest. But eyewitness video raised many questions. We are joined by Andrea Guerrero, co-chair of the Southern Border Communities Coalition and executive director of Alliance San Diego.