Members of the National Border Patrol Council Local 2544 are challenging press coverage of the trial of Agent Lonnie Swartz. Swartz is on trial for the death of 16-year-old Jose Antonio Elena Rodriguez.
Swartz shot Elena Rodriguez, who was on the Mexico side of the border. Swartz claims that he was justified to use lethal force and fired in self-defense at the teen, who was throwing rocks at agents on the U.S. side of the border.
On Friday, after three days of deliberation, the jury notified Judge Collins that they were deadlocked. The judge sent them back into deliberations. Deliberations begin again Monday.
According to Swartz’s testimony, he was protecting himself and other agents from Elena Rodriguez and others, who were throwing rocks, in an attempt to thwart agents from arresting drug smugglers, who were trying to climb over the fence and escape into Mexico. Prosecutors have conceded the fact that Elena Rodriguez was aiding the criminals.
An administrator of the NBPC Local 2544 posted on Friday:
PLEASE FEEL FREE TO SHARE!
I’m certain that many of you have heard about Lonnie Swartz, the Border Patrol agent being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s office for murder. And I’m sure you’ve heard accounts from the U.S. Attorney’s office, from Jose Elena Rodriguez’s family and from some in the liberal media that paint Rodriguez as the innocent victim of an overly aggressive and abusive Border Patrol agent who was shot for no good reason.
I’m going to show you some photos posted by Rodriguez’s brother, Roman. Roman is a citizen of Mexico but he has been PAROLED into the United States for the Swartz trial. Who knows if he will ever leave after the trial has ended. The media have made him and his entire family “victims” of the Border Patrol. And as usual, they have it dead wrong. Take a look at what Border Patrol agents have to deal with every day. Does either Roman or Jose look like a Boy Scout? Why is Roman handling firearms while he is in the United States that are illegal for him to own or possess? Why does he have such an interest in tactical gear and bulletproof vests?
What I’m showing you here is something the mainstream media will NEVER show you. They don’t want you to see any of this. After all, Tim Stellar from the Arizona Daily Star is practically cheering for a conviction in the Swartz case. He could care less if a Border Patrol agent spends years or the rest of his life in prison.
This is reality folks. Tim Stellar has never had to deal with reality on the border. Many of the people we deal with are not Eagle Scouts and have zero respect for you, for us and for our country. Rodriguez isn’t wearing a shirt with a picture of an American flag with marijuana leaves instead of stars on it because he loves and respects America and is just trying to make a better life for himself. If you don’t want to know the complete truth then stop reading this and pick up the latest copy of the Arizona Daily Star or some other mainstream “news” source.