BORDER SHOOTING

Military should not be assigned civilian police functions

Exactly what happened last month near the remote Rio Grande border town of
Redford when an 18yearold high school student was killed by a team of
Marines on antidrug patrol remains a mystery.

What is known is that Ezequiel Hernandez Jr., who was tending goats near
his home, is dead shot by one of the Marines assigned to a Joint Task
Force 6 mission to observe suspected drug routes.

The shooting has frustrated and angered many in Presidio County with its
unanswered questions and it wall of military silence. It is an example of
the problems inherent in using military personnel in civilian police
functions.

The Marines say they shot in selfdefense after Hernandez fired twice at
them with his .22caliber rifle and was preparing to fire a third time. But
some Texas law enforcement officials say the Marines' story does not
comport with the physical evidence. They have accused the Marine Corps of
being uncooperative in the investigation.

Details aside, military personnel are not trained to do civilian, police
functions. They have been forged to be military people, not law enforcement
officers. They are best left to fighting in military engagements, not
policing.

Hernandez's family and community citizens say they will take legal action
to get the answers they seek and to prevent what has happened from
happening again.

But as long as the U.S. government uses military personnel as it used the
Marines, such incidents are likely to continue, to the detriment to the
Marine Corps' reputation and the endangerment of innocent civilians.