Mexico Asks an Investigation of Death, Shooting at Border

The Mexican Embassy has filed a complaint with the State Department, asking for an investigation of two border incidents last month, in which a Mexican teen-ager was run over and killed by a Border Patrol vehicle and another Mexican youth was shot and wounded by a Border Patrol agent.

Marcela Merina, spokeswoman for the Mexican Consulate in San Diego, on Tuesday categorized the action as “a show of concern about these incidents along the border” and said the complaint was not an official diplomatic protest. The complaint was filed Friday.

The first incident occurred at 2:30 a.m. on Aug. 20, when Luis Eduardo Hernandez Hernandez, 14, was run over by a Border Patrol vehicle, less than a mile west of the San Ysidro Port of Entry.

In the second incident, on Aug. 27, Pedro Garcia Hernandez, 15, was shot once in the stomach by an agent who said the youth had grabbed a “softball-sized” rock and was going to throw it at another agent. Like the previous incident, the shooting occurred just west of the San Ysidro Port of Entry.

‘Out of Proportion’

“Regarding the first of the two incidents . . . this is not the first time that a Mexican citizen (has been) run over by an INS (Immigration and Naturalization Service) vehicle, when trying to escape from the U.S. Border Patrol,” said the Mexican complaint. “With regard to the second, the response of the INS agent, to maim or kill, was clearly out of proportion to the threat of having a stone thrown at him.”

Hernandez, who was from the Mexican state of Jalisco, died while trying to enter the United States with his 15-year-old brother. The two were en route to Los Angeles, to reunite with their father. Border Patrol officials said the vehicle that killed the boy was traveling at 15 m.p.h., but a lawyer representing the family said it was being driven recklessly and at high speed.

Garcia, a Tijuana orphan, lived in an abandoned car near the border and said he was just walking in the area when he was shot. He denied throwing any rocks.

Taunting Investigated

Merina said Mexican officials have also asked the State Department to investigate another occurrence less than two hours before Garcia was shot. In that incident, three U.S. journalists saw a Border Patrol agent use his vehicle’s public address system to taunt and shout obscenities at hundreds of immigrants who were waiting along the border, near where the youth was shot.

Border Patrol spokesman Michael Gregg said the taunting incident is under investigation by the Office of the Inspector General. San Diego police are investigating the other two incidents, but the Border Patrol has cleared the agents of any wrongdoing.

Gregg declined to comment on the embassy’s complaint, saying it was “inappropriate.”

A State Department spokesman, who asked not to be identified, said he could not confirm that the complaint was filed but called it a routine matter. “I have no reason to doubt that it was filed, but the sending of this type of note is an established thing,” he said.

The Mexican note asked that the Border Patrol agents “be prosecuted and sentenced accordingly” if they are “found guilty of negligence and abuse of (authority).”