REYES KNOWS BETTER

The issue of troops on the border recently was again slammed by El Paso's
U.S. Rep. Silvestre Reyes, D-Texas. That's his right, but I wish he would
get his facts straight. In 1997, I was the sergeant major of JTF6 when a
U.S. Marine killed the 17-year-old boy who was tending his goats; I believe
it was an act of self defense. The young man fired two rounds at the
Marines and was about to shoot again when the Marine shot back. The
investigation also revealed the young man shot at two Border Patrol agents
in the same area two months before his death.

It was a tragedy, one we all wished hadn't happened, but Reyes' comment is
inexcusable: "Don't shoot an individual when we don't know all the facts."
When two rounds go past your ear and you see a man about to fire a third,
the "facts" are clear. Reyes also said any "experienced Border Patrol agent
would have known it was not a suspicious situation." I know many Border
Patrol agents, and all of them would agree that being shot at is pretty
suspicious.

Reyes knows the truth, yet he continues to get his "facts" wrong.

Michael W. Jefferson

West El Paso