Getting your player ready...
TUCSON — A Border Patrol agent charged with second-degree murder in the death of a Mexican teen is one of only three agents to face murder charges in more than 20 years.
Lonnie Swartz was indicted Wednesday on one count of second-degree murder by a federal grand jury that reviewed the death of 16-year-old Jose Antonio Elena Rodriguez, hit about 10 times by cross-border gunfire.
“It’s very rare for a Border Patrol agent to be charged criminally when the abuse or killing is on U.S. soil,” said Lee Gelernt of the Immigrants’ Rights Project for the American Civil Liberties Union.
In the case of a cross-border shooting with the victim on Mexican soil, the group did not know of a scenario in which a border agent was indicted.
