A migrant has been killed by a Border Patrol agent in downtown Douglas, the second migrant death in a use-of-force incident this year in the border community involving the agency.
The Mexican national was in Border Patrol custody a few blocks from the border, about 12:43 a.m. Tuesday. He died during a use-of-force incident, according to a statement from U.S. Customs and Border Protection. It gave no more details about how the man died.
The Department of Homeland Securityβs Office of the Inspector General, Customs and Border Protectionβs Office of Professional Responsibility, the Douglas Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation responded to the scene, the statement said.
The FBI and CBPβs Office of Professional Responsibility are investigating.
In the past, such incidents were often investigated by Border Patrolβs controversial Critical Incident Teams. CBP Commissioner Chris Magnus, however, announced earlier this month those teams would be disbanded in October. Similar use-of-force cases would be handled by the departmentβs Office of Professional Responsibility.
The manβs body was taken to the Pima County Medical Examiner for an autopsy.
The Consulate of Mexico in Douglas demanded an exhaustive investigation into the incident to clarify the facts and hold the agent accountable, if appropriate.
βThe government of Mexico regrets the incident in which a person lost his life at the hands of a Border Patrol agent,β the consulate said in a tweet on Tuesday.
In the previous incident, Border Patrol Agent Kendrek Bybee Staheli shot and killed a 32-year-old father of three from Puebla, Mexico, Carmelo Cruz Marcos, on Feb. 19, in a remote canyon about 30 miles northeast of Douglas. Staheli said that Cruz was about to throw a rock and he feared for his life.
Cruzβs family called for an independent investigation of the incident by the FBI and retained an attorney who called on Border Patrol to answer questions about how the agent failed to de-escalate the situation, why the use of force was deadly, and why the investigation into the shooting was not started until the next day.
The Cochise County Attorneyβs Office declined to prosecute , saying there was insufficient evidence to contradict the agentβs explanation of the events.
Staheliβs actions appear to be justified under Arizona laws on self-defense and use of deadly force by an officer, Cochise County Attorney Brian McIntyre wrote in a May 6 letter to the Cochise County Sheriffβs Department. The letter was also the first time officials publicly released the agentβs name.
Officials have not released the identity of the agent in Tuesdayβs incident.
The Mexican Consulate says the man who died was from Chiapas. They are in touch with his family and are helping repatriate his remains.
The consul said they could not release the manβs identity because of Mexican privacy laws.
Consul Ricardo Pineda AlbarrΓ‘n said the man hurt himself jumping over the border fence. He was apprehended by the Border Patrol agent, who took him to the Copper Queen Community Hospital in Douglas. While at the hospital, the man apparently fled and had some sort of altercation with the Border Patrol agent, which resulted in his death, Pineda said.
Itβs very important for the family and for the Consulate to get the details that led to this event, Pineda said.βThe government of Mexico regrets the death of a compatriot and condemns any act of violence against migrants,β a news release said.
