News (Media Awareness Project) - US TX: Ground Troop Use On Border Curtailed, Officials Say |
| Title: | US TX: Ground Troop Use On Border Curtailed, Officials Say |
| Published On: | 1999-01-30 |
| Source: | Associated Press |
| Fetched On: | 2008-09-06 14:32:03 |
GROUND TROOP USE ON BORDER CURTAILED, OFFICIALS SAY
HOUSTON - The use of ground troops along the U.S.-Mexico border has almost
ended now that the Pentagon has issued new rules that require special
permission for armed anti-drug units there, the military says.
Defense Department spokesman Lt. Col. Mike Milord said permission must come
from the secretary of defense or his deputy.
The policy change comes well over a year after a high school sophomore was
shot and killed by Marines in the small town of Redford, a village that
straddles the Mexican border just west of Big Bend National Park.
Esequiel Hernandez Jr., 18, was shot to death after U.S. Marines contended
he opened fire on them. The youth was tending his family's goat herd at the
time of the shooting.
The shooting prompted Defense Secretary William Cohen to suspend similar
missions.
Troops continue to carry out other anti-narcotics duties along the border
as part of a joint task force with federal authorities, including civil
engineering projects, air reconnaissance and intelligence analysis.
"The policy change really gives the secretary of defense oversight for
these missions," Col. Milord said.
The decision was made quietly in October, he said.
Marine Cpl. Clemente Banuelos fired the fatal shot from about 200 yards
away after, he said, Mr. Hernandez raised his rifle to fire a third time.
Two Presidio County grand juries refused to indict Cpl. Banuelos and his
fellow Marines. A civil rights probe by the Justice Department also did not
bring charges against the troops, in part because they had received
permission by radio to fire.
A Marine Corps inquiry cited "systemic failures at every level" during the
mission.
Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas, issued a scathing report, saying the Justice and
Defense departments undermined criminal investigations into the incident.
In December, a Texas Ranger who investigated the killing contended that the
military obstructed an inquiry into Mr. Hernandez's death and that he wants
a grand jury to consider the case a third time.
HOUSTON - The use of ground troops along the U.S.-Mexico border has almost
ended now that the Pentagon has issued new rules that require special
permission for armed anti-drug units there, the military says.
Defense Department spokesman Lt. Col. Mike Milord said permission must come
from the secretary of defense or his deputy.
The policy change comes well over a year after a high school sophomore was
shot and killed by Marines in the small town of Redford, a village that
straddles the Mexican border just west of Big Bend National Park.
Esequiel Hernandez Jr., 18, was shot to death after U.S. Marines contended
he opened fire on them. The youth was tending his family's goat herd at the
time of the shooting.
The shooting prompted Defense Secretary William Cohen to suspend similar
missions.
Troops continue to carry out other anti-narcotics duties along the border
as part of a joint task force with federal authorities, including civil
engineering projects, air reconnaissance and intelligence analysis.
"The policy change really gives the secretary of defense oversight for
these missions," Col. Milord said.
The decision was made quietly in October, he said.
Marine Cpl. Clemente Banuelos fired the fatal shot from about 200 yards
away after, he said, Mr. Hernandez raised his rifle to fire a third time.
Two Presidio County grand juries refused to indict Cpl. Banuelos and his
fellow Marines. A civil rights probe by the Justice Department also did not
bring charges against the troops, in part because they had received
permission by radio to fire.
A Marine Corps inquiry cited "systemic failures at every level" during the
mission.
Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas, issued a scathing report, saying the Justice and
Defense departments undermined criminal investigations into the incident.
In December, a Texas Ranger who investigated the killing contended that the
military obstructed an inquiry into Mr. Hernandez's death and that he wants
a grand jury to consider the case a third time.
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