On May 28, 2010, Anastasio Hernández Rojas, a 42-year old construction worker, husband, father of five U.S.-citizen children, and long-time resident of San Diego, CA, was brutally beaten, repeatedly shot with a taser while handcuffed, and killed by U.S. Border Patrol agents in San Diego.
Witnesses, and Hernández himself, pleaded with the border agents to stop the beating, but they did not. Despite community outcry, protests, and countless meetings with agency leadership, Border Patrol has taken no known action against the agents involved.
Click here to tell Eric Holder to investigate unchecked Border Patrol brutality.
Unfortunately, Anastasio’s death was not unique. Border Patrol agents have killed at least seven residents of border communities and left several others seriously wounded since 2010. Along with Anastasio’s wife and children, the families of Jorge Alfredo Solis, Sergio Adrián Hernández Güereca, Ramsés Barrón Torres, Carlos Lamadrid, and José Alfredo Yáñez are still waiting for justice after Border Patrol killed their loved ones.
On April 20th PBS’s Need to Know program aired a special half-hour segment that exposed the excessive use of deadly force that has become routine for the Border Patrol. The segment shared a never-before-seen eye-witness video of the events leading up to Hernández’s death, revealing a dozen Border Patrol agents surrounding Hernández as he lies handcuffed on the ground, pleading for his life, when the deadly taser shot was fired. To view this segment, titled Crossing the Line at the Border, click here.
You can help demand justice for the families of those killed by the U.S. Border Patrol by taking action in following ways:
• Sign and share the petition asking Attorney General Eric Holder to direct the Department of Justice to open a thorough investigation of all of the killings that have occurred since 2010.
• Spread the word about PBS’s Need to Know documentary about unchecked Border Patrol brutality. To watch it online click here.
• Organize a screening or a house party to watch the documentary (let the Southern Border Communities Coalition know if you will organize an event by contacting info@soboco.org).
With your help we can end Border Patrol brutality, and bring justice to our southern border.
Language in this action alert was borrowed from the Southern Border Communities Coalition. For more information about this coalition and their campaign to end Border Patrol brutality, visit: http://soboco.org
