Death of an unarmed Mexican illegal immigrant-Tased by a stun gun at the U.S.-Mexico border by Customs and Border Patrol officer-has been ruled a homicide. The man was deported days prior after a U.S. traffic stop, crossing mountains to illegally enter and return to the U.S.
The San Diego County, California, coroner has ruled Wednesday that the death of a Mexican migrant at the U.S. border was a Homicide, ruled by the medical examiner's office within five days after a U.S. American Immigration Officer shot him with a stun gun. Cause of death of the Mexican migrant worker was determined to be a heart attack triggered by the Stun Gun use, with methamphetamine abuse and hypertension listed as contributing factors.
Ruling as a Homicide by a coroner, markes a big turn in the Taser debate: previous Taser deaths, with stun guns used by police officers or law enforcement, have traditionally been ruled as accidental. In the case of Hernandez, Taser force has instead been ruled directly as a Homicide rather than accidental death.
Anastacio Hernandez, 32, was shocked with a stun gun that fired by a Customs and Border Protection police officer at the San Ysidro border crossing that separates the national borders between San Diego, California, and Tijuana, Mexico. Police claim Hernandez had wrestled two Border Patrol agents to the ground after his handcuffs were removed, the police department has said. It's unclear as to how one unarmed man was able to "wrestle" two officers to the ground simultaneously, particulary with multiple officers on site.
The medical examiner's office and coroner said Hernandez died about 21 hours following the clash with border patrol officers, the Mexican immigrant declared brain-dead before family removed him from life support.
While the coroner has already ruled the death a homicide, results of the police investigation pertaining to the immigrant incident and subsequent death will be sent to federal prosecutors, who will determine if criminal charges will be filed against the U.S. Customs and Border officer. Mexico's Foreign Relations Department has condemned the use of Taser stun gun force by United States Customs and Border police against Hernandez.
The head of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) promised a federal investigation, and U.S. Homeland Security secretary issued statement to Mexico City, stating that he is concerned about the Hernandez case and regrets what he called a "tragic death".
Police officers claim that Hernandez attacked the U.S. Border Patrol agents after they escorted him out of a van and prepared to return him to Mexico, when border patrol officers then radioed for help. One agent, apparently from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), struck Hernandez with a police issued baton. After the Mexican citizen was hit by the baton from the police officer the Customs and Border Patrol officer then "tased" or shocked Hernandez with a stun gun.
It's unclear why either a baton or Taser use was necessary in a circumstance including the physical presence of multiple officers and agents, or why a stun gun had any necessity at all when the unarmed Mexican citizen had already been hit with a police baton.
Hernandez stopped breathing after he was tased by the police officer's stun gun, maintaining no pulse. Use of Taser apparently had caused a heart attack and stopped his heart.
Hernandez's relatives told the American Friends Service Committee that Hernandez was deported to Mexico only days prior, after being stopped for a traffic violation in San Diego. According to Christian Ramirez, national coordinator of the group's Project Voice immigration reform campaign, Hernandez then trekked through the rugged mountains east of San Diego with his younger brother who had also been deported, to return to the U.S. illegally. Both illegal immigrants were then arrested by Border Patrol officers that day, while attempting to cross back to United States soil on foot.
Hernandez first arrived to the United States illegally, at the age of 14, later followed to the United States by four brothers, all working construction jobs, Ramirez said. Hernandez mainly lived in the San Diego area with his wife of 21 years, and with their five U.S.-born children. Hernandez's cousin, Veronica Hernandez, appeared at a television news conference with migrant activists--claiming what has been ruled a Homicide is a result of a failed United States Immigration System.
The Hernandez Homicide marks a clash of two major heated issues at the forefront: United States Immigration Laws and the handling of illegal immigrants to the U.S., and also the debated use of Taser stun guns by police and law enforcement.
Tasers by law enforcement and police have been widely criticized for their possibility of causing a heart attack or heart failure over the past decade. 152 Taser deaths had already reported by Amnesty International as of six years ago, most of which Amnesty International says were used on unarmed individuals and/or by law enforcement officers without training in the stun gun use or unnecessary use of the Tasers.
Amnesty International (AI) considers use of the Tasers, in many of the cases which resulted in death, to be excessive and even amounting in some instances to be cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. In many of the stun gun cases reviewed by AI, those who came in contact with the police were not armed, or had already been restrained.
Head of the U.S. southern regional office of Amnesty International, Jared Feuer, noted that about 80 percent of those individuals on whom a Taser was used by U.S. police were unarmed. Hernandez's recent Homicide seems to solidify the statistic.
Feuer asserts: “Tasers interfere with a basic equation, which is that [law enforcement] force must always be proportional to the threat,” Feuer said. “They are being used [by police officers] in a situation where a firearm or even a baton would never be justified.”