The San Diego County coroner ruled Wednesday that the death of a Mexican migrant at the U.S. border was a homicide, five days after an American immigration officer shot him with a stun gun.
The cause of death was determined to be a heart attack, with methamphetamine abuse and hypertension listed as contributing factors.(emphasis mine)
Let's look at the fact pattern, as presented in the story, shall we? The deceased is an illegal immigrant. He was caught and deported, and then re-entered the country illegally. He was caught again and taken to the border to be returned to Mexico. The cuffs were removed and he attacked the two officers escorting him, who radioed for help. A responding officer then tased him, at which point he stopped breathing.
Please, someone tell me exactly how this is homicide? What are they supposed to do? If the coroner could attribute meth abuse as a contributing factor, what do you figure the odds are that he was hopped up when they arrested him?
Oh, and as for the Mexican government protesting the use of force, what exactly would be the response of the Federales if a foreign national assaulted one of them? Do you think they'd turn the other cheek? Would it have been better if the officers had given this guy an acute case of lead poisoning instead?
Now, there very well might be pertinent facts not mentioned in the story that could change my interpretation of the events. To be honest, I don't put much stock in the assistant Homeland Security Secretary's comment that he's "concerned about the incident". What else is he supposed to say, especially in this government?
As I sit here now, if I were on the grand jury with this fact pattern, I wouldn't return a bill.
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