First Voices Radio -- Ofelia Rivas, Guest
https://radiokingston.org/en/broadcast/first-voices-radio/episodes/ofelia-rivas-guest
Ofelia Rivas, Tohono O'odham, speaks with First Voices Radio host Tiokasin Ghosthorse, Lakota. Ofelia describes how the U.S. Border Patrol murdered her friend Raymond Mattia, Tohono O'odham, at his home on the Tohono O'odham Nation.
Ofelia shares how Ray's father was her spiritual mentor and taught her about O'odham ceremonies. "Raymond is my ceremony brother, and I have a lot of respect for him."
Ofelia describes the moments leading up to Ray's murder when about 25 U.S. Border Patrol trucks arrived. After murdering Raymond, Ofelia could hear the U.S. Border Patrol agents laughing about murdering him. The gunfire included two shots from the back, and U.S. Border Patrol agents bashed in Raymond's body after he was shot and dying.
"He died such a painful death," Ofelia said. "He was unarmed."
Ofelia filed a civil rights complaint which was denied by the U.S. Justice Department. A Tohono O'odham Nation police officer, a non-tribal member, who had continually harassed Raymond, led the U.S. Border Patrol to Ray's home that night.
Ofelia said this tribal police officer's actions are a hate crime.
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| Raymond Mattia |
Read more:
Tohono O'odham Nation police officer's vendetta revealed in murder of Raymond Mattia
Censored News:
The vendetta of a Tohono O'odham Nation police officer is revealed by attorneys for the family of Raymond Mattia, Tohono O'odham, who was murdered when Tohono O'odham police and U.S. Border Patrol agents fired 38 shots at him, striking him with nine bullets, in front of his home.
“I don’t know exactly where that motherfucker's at," a Tohono O'odham Nation police officer told U.S. Border Patrol agents as they met shortly before Raymond was murdered. The officer is a non-tribal member, hired by the tribal police department.
"During a series of interviews between 2011 and 2013, on the border in Raymond's community, Ali Jegk, Raymond told Censored News that he videotaped U.S. Border Patrol agents escorting Mexican cartels bringing drug loads across the border. When Raymond submitted the evidence, it vanished."
Continue reading:
Civil Rights complaint filed with the U.S. Department of Justice for justice for Raymond Mattia on Nov. 7, 2024, by Ophelia Rivas, O'odham Voice Against the Wall
The Intercept: Arizona prosecutor fails to charge Border Patrol agents in Mattia's death
First Voices Radio
Tiokasin’s guest this week is our friend Ofelia Rivas. Ofelia says this on her website (oodhamrights.org): “The O’odham way of life is based on the land that has held the remains of our ancestors since the creation of this world. The O’odham did not migrate from anywhere according to our oral history. Our creation tellings record our history and teach the O’odham the principles of life. The survival of O’odham today is our him’dag.” Ofelia can be reached at her email address: 4oodhamrights@gmail.com
Support Ofelia's human rights work on her website, O'odham Rights
