TEEN'S DEATH 1 YEAR AGO BROUGHT END TO MARINE BORDER PATROLS
Critics applaud decision; others fear retreat from war on drugs

05/17/98

Associated Press

EL PASO - As the combat-ready Marines approached, Esequiel Hernandez Jr. lay
writhing on the ground, trying to speak.

A single round from an M-16 had pierced the 18-year-old's side. Soon, he
would become the first American casualty of U.S. soldiers enlisted to fight
the war on drugs.

He may also have been the last.

Mr. Hernandez's death on a rain-swept evening a year ago Wednesday ignited a
national controversy over armed patrols on the U.S.-Mexico border, leading
the military to suspend such patrols two months later.

Not one armed soldier has returned since.

"We don't know when and if those missions will be reinstated. To be very
honest, we don't believe they will. The entire operation was put under
scrutiny. I just don't see us going back into that business," said Lt. Col.
Jere Norman, spokesman for Joint Task Force Six, the agency that coordinates
anti-drug missions between the military and civilian authorities.

The Pentagon created the El Paso-based JTF Six in 1989 after the White House
declared drugs a national security threat, opening the door to limited
military involvement in interdiction efforts.

Critics say the move eroded the 1878 Posse Comitatus act prohibiting the
military from performing civilian law enforcement functions.

It was "against the democratic values and beliefs of this country since the
Declaration of Independence," said Maria Jimenez director of the Immigration
Law Enforcement Monitoring Project, a watchdog group.

Inviting tragedy

Opponents said putting armed military patrols among civilian populations was
inviting tragedy.

They say Mr. Hernandez's death on May 20, 1997, proved them right.

Mr. Hernandez, a 10th-grader from Redford, a remote border town 200 miles
southeast of El Paso, had been grazing his goats near the Rio Grande when he
crossed paths with a four-man Marine patrol.

The team had been placed on the river at the request of the U.S. Border
Patrol to conduct surveillance of a suspected drug route.

What happened next has been the subject of debate.

The Marines said Mr. Hernandez fired at them twice with a .22-caliber rifle,
prompting the camouflaged soldiers to trail him for about 20 minutes until
he raised his rifle a third time.

Team leader Cpl. Clemente Banuelos, fearing a fellow Marine was in danger,
responded by firing a single round from his M-16. The bullet struck Mr.
Hernandez under the right armpit and ripped across his body. Within the
hour, he was dead.

Family members deny that Mr. Hernandez would ever have knowingly shot at the
Marines and say he only carried the vintage rifle to shoot targets or
protect his small goat herd from wild dogs. Local and federal authorities
say he wasn't involved in any wrongdoing when he was killed.

"It's something that you can't understand, why it happened, why they had to
kill him, why it had to be done," said Mr. Hernandez's older brother,
Margarito. "We can't accept they had a reason to kill him. It was wrong."

Amid his painful recollections, Margarito Hernandez expressed some
satisfaction with the discontinuation of the missions that had placed armed
soldiers directly on the border.

Civil rights advocates are pleased as well, but they're wary because the
Pentagon could reverse the decision. Even if it doesn't, JTF Six will still
be involved with police, including training them in military tactics.

"It's a different threat," said Tim Dunn, author of Militarization of the
U.S.-Mexico Border. "It's a more severe threat if they're out there with
guns. But if the other facets of the relationship . . . continue, that's
still dangerous."

Effect of suspension

Supporters of military involvement see a different threat.

"We should not unilaterally retreat from the war on drugs because there is a
tragedy," said Paul Marcone, chief of staff for U.S. Rep. Jim Traficant,
D-Ohio. "The [suspension's] net effect is that we have more cocaine and
heroin coming into the United States."

Mr. Traficant has urged the Defense Department to resume the patrols and,
for the second time, he plans to introduce legislation this year that would
allow increased military participation.

Lt. Col. Norman, the JTF Six spokesman, said he's not sure civilian agencies
would even want armed soldiers to return.

Tomas Zuniga, a Dallas-based spokesman for the Immigration and
Naturalization Service, said: "If it became available to us, we'd have to
take a long hard look at it. Shame on me once, but not shame on me twice."

Two grand juries, one convened by Presidio County officials and another by
the U.S. Justice Department, cleared Cpl. Banuelos in the shooting. The
military maintains Cpl. Banuelos and his three fellow Marines followed the
established rules of engagement and acted appropriately.

The Presidio County panel noted that while Mr. Hernandez may have been
firing in the Marines' direction, he likely didn't know they were there.

The grand jury left enough unanswered questions that District Attorney
Albert Valadez asked a judge for transcripts of the federal testimony and is
considering whether to reopen the case.

Another investigation is being conducted by Rep. Lamar Smith, R-San Antonio,
chairman of the House immigration subcommittee.

Meantime, Mr. Hernandez's family is pursuing a claim against the government
and for the past several months has been negotiating with the Justice
Department for compensation, said family attorney Bill Weinacht.

"In order for us to resolve this case, they have to place significant value
on Esequiel Jr.'s life," said Mr. Weinacht, declining to comment further.

Margarito Hernandez said: "Whatever they do, it's not going to bring my
brother back."

Wednesday, the anniversary of the shooting death, civil rights advocates
will hold services in Austin, Houston and El Paso, where an enormous star
that burns year-round on the Franklin Mountains will be dedicated to Mr.
Hernandez for a week.

The Rev. Melvin LaFollette, a retired Episcopal priest, said a Mass also is
scheduled in Redford, primarily for the family, but he expects most of the
community to attend.

The shooting remains "an open wound," he said. "There has been no
resolution, and without resolution, there can be no healing."

Checked-by: "Rolf Ernst"