Saturday, February 16, 2019

The Case of Jose Antonio by Geoff Browning

One thing is clear, on October 10, 2012, US Border Patrol Agent Lonnie Swartz reached through border fence separating Nogales, AZ  from Nogales, Sonora and shot and killed 16 year old Jose Antonio Elena Rodriguez. Also undisputed is the number of shots he fired, 3 in the initial burst that struck Jose Antonio in the back and head, 10 more while he was face down on the sidewalk, and 3 more after he had reloaded. Everything else is muddled and disputed.

I have heard about this case off and on for several years. As I heard the case described on the radio, I imagined a level or near level landscape on both sides of the border. And as the Border Patrol claimed that Jose Antonio was throwing rocks, I imagined a fence that was easy to surmount with the high quality stones that are readily available throughout the desert. And, having thrown more than my share of stones in my youth, I consider myself something of an expert on the subject. But what we found when we visited the site of this killing was like nothing I had imagined.

The first thing that is striking is the height of the border fence bifurcating Nogales, AZ from Nogales, Sonora. It is approximately 18 feet of steel bollards. But at the location of the killing, the 18 foot fence sits on top of a 20 cliff or cut with the street below. If you know anything about military strategy, or even shooting water pistols, you know that those on the high ground have a huge advantage while those on the low ground have a huge disadvantage. Such was the case that night at 11pm, in the dark. If Jose Antonio was throwing stones, he would have to overcome this 40ft disadvantage.

But there is one other factor that the court proceedings seem not to have taken seriously. Not only did Jose Antonio have a height disadvantage in relation to the officer that shot him, but he was also across the street and approximately 50 yards down the line of the fence from Swartz, the Border Patrol Officer. 

This is a photo from the place where Jose Antonio was shot. As we look up at the fence, imagine a Border Patrol agent standing on the other side of that fence. And then imagine trying to throw a rock, any rock, far enough to cross the street, high enough to achieve a trajectory that would carry it over the fence. It was a fantasy of a defense because there was so little to work with, but it worked. Lonnie Swartz was found innocent by the jury. This case is all too familiar to police shootings of people of color throughout our nation. The use of excessive force is often rationalized by those with power and weapons. The reality is that Jose Antonio did not pose an imminent threat to the officer and his killing was an act of murder ... the murder of a child.



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