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Source: Houston Chronicle
Pubdate: Thu, 26 Feb 1998
By MICHELLE MITTELSTADT WASHINGTON -- A U.S. Marine who fatally shot a West Texas teen- ager during a drug patrol along the border won't face federal civil rights violation charges, the Justice Department informed a Texas congressman this week. A spokesman for Rep. Lamar Smith, R-San Antonio, said Justice officials informed Smith that they wrapped up their civil-rights investigation against Marine Cpl. Clemente Banuelos last month after a federal grand jury in Pecos concluded its work in the shooting death of 18-year-old Esequiel Hernandez Jr. of Redford. Banuelos fired the shot last May 20 that killed Hernandez as he was tending to his herd of goats near his home. "The shooting death of Esequiel Hernandez remains troubling," said Smith, who as chairman of the House immigration subcommittee has raised questions about the Border Patrol's role in the shooting. "The public has a right to know who is responsible for this death. But no one is being held accountable." Lee Douglass, a spokeswoman for Justice's Office of Civil Rights, today declined comment. Attorneys for Banuelos and the Hernandez family didn't return calls today. Rev. Melvin LaFollette, a priest who heads a Redford committee examining legal action in the matter, today expressed outrage at word of the Justice Department's decision, which hasn't been officially given the community. "It's outrageous that they should come to that conclusion," LaFollette said. "We've got to seek justice and if our own `Department of Injustice' refuses to do anything, we will have to go the civil route." Smith said he has initiated a new inquiry into the shooting now that Justice's investigation is completed. Last fall, at the request of Attorney General Janet Reno, Smith agreed to postpone hearings by his panel into the shooting pending completion of the civil-rights investigation. He has voiced irritation at what he terms a lack of Justice Department cooperation and was angered by the department's month-long delay in notifying him about the end of the civil-rights investigation. End of the civil-rights probe would mark the conclusion of a second investigation into the death of Hernandez, who was tending his goats when he encountered the four-man camouflaged Marine patrol watching for drug smuggling crossing the Rio Grande. A Presidio County grand jury also declined to indict anyone after a state criminal investigation into the shooting. The shooting highlighted the controversial role of using armed military personnel in anti-trafficking efforts along the U.S.- Mexico border. In the wake of the death, the Defense Department suspended the use of armed military personnel for missions along the border. Hernandez was killed after crossing paths with a four-man Marine unit assigned to watch a suspected drug smuggling route at the request of the Border Patrol. Military officials said Hernandez fired twice in the direction of the Marines, who were in camouflage, with a .22-caliber rifle and was aiming at one of the soldiers when Banuelos, the team leader, shot the teen once with an M-16. The Hernandez family believes the youth, who was tending his herd of goats and often carried a gun to protect the animals , had no idea the Marines were there. The Hernandez family is pursuing a civil claim against the government. |
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