Decade-old probe found immigration agents stepped in front of cars to justify shooting

Immigration agents were faulted more than a decade ago for tactics that have fallen under intense scrutiny in the wake of a fatal shooting of a motorist in Minneapolis.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection attempted to block a scathing 21-page report in 2014 that found agents had deliberately stepped in the path of cars to justify shooting at drivers and fired gunshots in frustration at individuals throwing rocks from the Mexican side of the border, reported the Los Angeles Times in February 2014.

“It is suspected that in many vehicle shooting cases, the subject driver was attempting to flee from the agents who intentionally put themselves into the exit path of the vehicle, thereby exposing themselves to additional risk and creating justification for the use of deadly force,” stated that report, which was commissioned more than a decade ago by CBP.

The fatal shooting of 37-year-old Renee Good on Wednesday morning by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer has ramped up new scrutiny of tactics and training of immigration officers as President Donald Trump undertakes a mass deportation action across the country.

"Homeland Security Secretary Kristi L. Noem said the ICE officer [who has been identified as Jonathan Ross] 'followed his training' and accused Good of trying to run him over," the Washington Post reported this week. "The SUV did move toward Ross as he stood in front of it, according to a Post analysis of video footage. But he moved out of the way and fired at least two of three shots from the side of the vehicle as it veered past him, the analysis found. Available videos of the incident reviewed by The Post do not show clearly if Good’s SUV made contact with Ross."

A Border Patrol agent shot and wounded two alleged gang associates Thursday afternoon in Portland after authorities said they attempted to run over the officer with their vehicle, and the driver has been charged with aggravated assault of a federal officer with a deadly or dangerous weapon.

The 2014 report was based on a review of 67 cases from 2010 to 2012 conducted by the nonprofit Police Executive Research Forum, and the Los Angeles Times obtained the CBP's 23-page response.

"The response rejects the two major recommendations: barring border agents from shooting at vehicles unless its occupants are trying to kill them, and barring agents from shooting people who throw things that can’t cause serious physical injury," the newspaper reported. "If drug smugglers knew border agents were not allowed to shoot at their vehicles, it argues, more drivers would try to run over agents."

Then-Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson, who had recently been tapped by Barack Obama for the job, said at the time he would reconsider those recommendations, but Mexican authorities had for years complained that border agents who killed Mexicans were rarely disciplined and investigative findings were buried.

“There needs to be a level of accountability if you want to change the culture and the pattern,” said Christopher Wilson, an expert on U.S.-Mexico relations at the Woodrow Wilson Center, more than a decade ago. “People are being killed that don’t need to be killed.”