U.S. BORDER PATROL AGENTS ASSAULTED BY LARGE CROWD FROM MEXICO

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View a video at 10 News

November 27, 2013 (San Diego) --Border Patrol agents working near the U.S. /Mexico International Border yesterday were assaulted with rocks and bottles after pepper spray was used in an effort to stop a large crowd trying to enter the U.S.

According to the Border Patrol, on November 24, more than 100 people illegally crossed the International Border from Mexico one-quarter-mile west of the San Ysidro Port of Entry in the Tijuana River channel. 

The group advanced toward a Border Patrol agent an eighth of a mile north of the border.  The agent ordered the group to stop, but the crowd ignored his commands and advanced. The agent deployed his PepperBall Launcher System, an intermediate use-of-force device, in an effort to stop the group and protect himself.

When the crowd still failed to stop, numerous agents responded to the scene as the crowd became increasingly unruly and began throwing rocks and bottles, the Border Patrol reports. The crowd struck several agents in the arms and legs with rocks; one agent was hit in the head with a filled water bottle. 

Agents deployed several intermediate use-of-force devices and Mexican law enforcement authorities were contacted.  The use of intermediate use-of-force devices eventually caused the group to return to Mexico and disperse. 

Paul Beeson, San Diego Sector Chief Patrol Agent said, “While attacks on Border Patrol agents are not uncommon, the agents showed great restraint when faced with the dangers of this unusually large group, and fortunately no one was seriously injured.”

It is unknown who organized the group that sought to swarm over the border.. An anonymous video of the confrontation, however, has been posted on a Mexican blog site.

La Prensa newspaper reports that the effort was promoted with a flyer delivered to Tijuana sites frequented by deported immigrants. The director of the Southern Border Communities Coalition, Christian Ramirez, called it an "act of desperation."  He added, "They are deported people who have no chance of earning a living in Tijuana. This is a reaction by a sector that finds itself abandoned."

Border Patrol told 10 News the agency is concerned that the assault could be a dry run for a potentially larger altercation.

No one was arrested and no one was able to continue north into the United States.  

 


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