The Border Patrol Shooting and Local Law Enforcement

As reported earlier, Border Patrol agents followed, shot, and killed a man last week, on January 22. The incident began when the man failed to stop for inspection at the checkpoint in Sierra Blanca in Hudspeth County. Now local law enforcement has weighed in on the case.

KRTS News visited with Drew Stuart, Editor of the Hudspeth County Herald and Dell City Review. Stuart interviewed Sheriff Arvin West, for a follow-up on this story.
One of the new elements that’s emerged about that incident is that typically under the protocols of the Border Patrol, they do not pursue people from checkpoint. They call the local sheriffs department or the highway patrol to conduct that pursuit. And I know our sheriff was a little frustrated that he was called about 15 miles down the road.
Sheriff West arrived on the scene shortly after the man was killed. According to Stuart: "The FBI is leading the investigation and I guess we’ll have to see what, if any, details they release."

Sheriff West felt the shooting was justified, though it’s not unusual for the sheriff to butt up against federal law enforcement.
That checkpoint generates all the arrests or the detentions in our county. There’s somewhat of a confrontational relationship.
Stuart’s reporting on the shooting is in the latest issue of the Hudspeth County Herald.