One Less Smuggler at the Border

Given the history of Border Patrol shootings, chances are this agent will be abandoned by his government and at the behest of Mexico, will be charged with a crime:

EL PASO, Texas — A Border Patrol agent shot and killed a suspected smuggler at a fence that separates the U.S. and Mexico after the agent felt threatened by the man, authorities said Thursday.

Mexico criticized what it described as an "excessive use of force" against immigrants and demanded an investigation.

Jose Alejandro Ortiz Castillo, a 23-year-old man who had been caught crossing the border 28 times since 1999, died in Mexico shortly after the Wednesday night shooting, Border Patrol spokesman Doug Mosier said.

An unidentified agent spotted Ortiz apparently leading two men and a woman through a hole in the border fence just east of downtown El Paso. Ortiz, who was carrying bolt cutters, picked up a rock as the agent was arresting the woman, Mosier said.

Mosier said the agent "felt threatened by the actions of the assailant who was holding a rock and bolt cutters."

The agent fired several shots, hitting Ortiz "multiple times," Mosier said. It was the agent's first fatal shooting.

The perp won't be smuggling anybody else across the border, but I predict right now the agent won't have his freedom much longer either. Recent history suggests that the administation is more concerned about offending Mexico than it is about supporting our Border Patrol agents. Unless this agent has got some witnesses that will support him, he's probably in real trouble.