A wild scene was caught on video, in which Border Patrol agents struggle with suspected smugglers on Imperial Beach in San Diego, Calif., as a large crowd cheers and taunts from the Mexican side of the border wall.
The video first shows an agent kneeling alongside a prone suspect whose hands are cuffed behind his back. The camera then pans to the right, where another agent is using a baton to repel attacks from an aggressive second suspect. The suspect is dressed in a partially unzipped wetsuit and makes repeated lunges at the agent. An enormous audience of onlookers on the Tijuana Beach side of the border fence takes in the action with hoots and hollers, as though watching a sports event. The beleaguered officer is eventually joined by another agent, whom the suspect also begins verbally challenging and lunging at. Finally, a third agent runs up behind the man, as the audience screams out warnings and takes him down.
Rep. Mayra Flores (R-Texas) tweeted the video along with the caption, “Border Patrol Agents assigned to San Diego Sector tackle and arrest suspected smugglers at the border.”
Border Patrol Agents assigned to San Diego Sector tackle and arrest suspected smugglers at the border.#HonorFirst #MeanGreen pic.twitter.com/UqVYBDIBB3
— Mayra Flores (@MayraFlores2022) August 22, 2022
In a statement to the Washington Examiner about the incident, which occurred over the weekend, Flores said, “The video I posted yesterday is just a small example of what our brave men and women of CBP deal with on a daily basis. Left without any support by this administration and thanks to their open border policies, disrespect and misconduct toward our law enforcement officials have reached alarming levels.”
The Examiner also reached out to Customs and Border Protection for a statement and was told, “We cannot comment on the incident, as there is an ongoing investigation. The Federal Bureau of Investigation is the lead investigating agency.”
While the FBI’s involvement immediately brings to mind the disgraceful DHS investigation of the Texas border agents who were accused of whipping Haitian aliens, the FBI also investigates actions against U.S. Border Patrol agents. For example, last week the FBI arrested a 31-year-old man from El Paso, Texas, who punched an agent in the face. KFOX reports:
According to the FBI, Morales told a Border Patrol Agent that he didn’t have to follow commands about how to enter the United States correctly since he was a United States citizen.
Morales then lunged at the agent and punched him, the FBI said.
Morales has been charged by a federal criminal complaint filed Tuesday with one count of assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers or employees.
The men and women of the U.S. Border Patrol work tirelessly to keep our borders safe,” said FBI El Paso Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey R. Downey. “Assaults on Border Patrol agents or any other federal agents/officers or task force officers will not be tolerated and will be addressed swiftly by our office…”
Related: Supreme Court Ends Remain in Mexico Policy
It’s unknown whether the two men in the video are in the United States legally. Smugglers are sometimes U.S. citizens who want to cash in on the fees paid by traffickers to get aliens past the border. In a single week last month, at the same site where the altercation took place, Border Patrol agents apprehended over 200 would-be immigrants who were being smuggled across the border.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member