They Were Doing Their Job

A little history in a nutshell first. Two Border Patrol agents encounter a drug smuggler along the Rio Grande river and shoot him as he is running back into Mexico. They then pick up their shell casings and do not report the shooting to their supervisor. The smuggler survived being hit by a bullet and ends up being a witness in the trial against the two agents. They are found guilty in a jury trial of "violating the civil rights of Osvaldo Aldrete Davila by shooting him, then tampering with evidence by picking up shell casings from the shooting" and sentenced to prison. They are to report to prison by Wednesday.

I've been reading a lot of articles regarding vigils and petitions for clemency for the two ex-agents and have had some problems with the ideas presented in them. I don't doubt that these two individuals served their country by protecting its border or that their job was difficult. I also don't doubt that the smuggler was committing a crime. I don't believe this case has anything to do with current immigration issues. I do think that the only reason politicians are getting involved is to gain publicity and to roll with the momentum created by current immigration issues.

The bottom line here is that they broke the law and committed a crime. And then tried to cover it up. In my opinion they should be held to a higher standard because they worked in law enforcement. If the average Joe did the same thing there would be no demonstrations for leniency and absolutely no question of guilt. They shouldn't be pardoned because they were just doing their job or because the victim was an illegal immigrant or drug smuggler. Again, they broke the law and should have to be accountable for their actions.

You can read a current article here or what the Canada Free Press has to say here.