US Border Patrol Impunity Must End! Border Patrol Getting Away with Murder!

Border Patrol Impunity Must End!

Mother Demands Justice

Carlos La Madrid loved to play soccer and guitar and was learning to work with solar energy. Image credit: Border Action Network.

By Derechos Humanos

Censored News

Tucson -- Guadalupe Guerrero, mother of Carlos La Madrid, was informed this past Friday, August 9th, that the murderer of her son, Border Patrol Agent Lucas Tidwell, will not face any criminal charges for the shooting death of Carlos. On March 21, 2011, 19 year-old Carlos Lamadrid was killed by Agent Tidwell in broad daylight. Despite the fact that Carlos had his back to the agent and was halfway up a ladder at the time, Tidwell opened fire, hitting Carlos four times in the back. After being shot, Carlos, still alive, was handcuffed and dragged by Border Patrol agents. It took more than 45 minutes for any medical aid to arrive, and Carlos La Madrid died as a result.

Derechos Humanos asks that the community join in protesting this outrage and demand justice for Carlos La Madrid. We must also raise the call for an end to the impunity for Border Patrol agents who murder people they encounter. Like Trayvon Martin, Ramarley Graham, Oscar Grant, Aiyana Jones, Brisenia Flores and all the other victims of police and vigilante murder, Carlos La Madrid was another young person of color who had his life needlessly taken.

"Carlos should not have been murdered, period. Instead of bringing criminal charges for the unlawful taking of my son's life, two long years later the U.S. government presents a defense for what their agent did. These issues should have been brought to a public trial so that we could have a full airing of what happened that day. This impunity must end," stated Ms. Guerrero.

Also exonerated in Friday's announcement by the federal government is the agent who shot and killed Ramses Barron, who was murdered just a few months before Carlos. In all, nineteen people have been killed by B.P. agents along the U. S. Mexico border in the past two years, including Jose Antonio Elena, the 16 year old killed in Nogales, Sonora in October of last year.