One year ago tonight–the night of December 14 / 15, 2010–Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry was gunned down with weapons sold to a straw purchaser in Operation Fast and Furious. Originally, two Fast and Furious weapons were said to have been found at the murder scene, but there has since been evidence that a third weapon, also tied to Fast and Furious, was found there too. However, it’s very existence still being covered up by the FBI. So we’ll just say “at least two” Fast and Furious weapons were found at the murder scene the night that Terry was killed.
There are so many sad aspects to this story that I don’t know where to begin.
For starters, Terry was just days away from going home to see his parents and his siblings for Christmas. (In the days after Terry’s death, his father highlighted again and again the fact that his son had already purchased his plane tickets to come home for Christmas.)
Following his death, U.S. Attorney Dennis Burke did everything he could to cover up the connection between Terry’s murder and Fast and Furious. He even went as far as to deny “victim of crime” status to the Terry family, in order to prevent government liability for what had taken place with Fast and Furious weapons.
But it must be noted that there is absolutely no doubt that Terry was killed with Fast and Furious weapons: no doubt whatsoever. The name of the straw purchaser who bought the weapons is known, Jamie Avila, and the name of the gun store from which he purchased the weapons is known as well: Lone Wolf Trading Company in Phoenix. (If the name “Lone Wolf Trading Company” rings a bell, that’s because it’s where the secret ATF recordings were made that indicate Attorney General Eric Holder had a thorough working knowledge of Fast and Furious at least as early as mid-March 2011.)
Nevertheless, adding insult to the Terry’s family’s injury, Holder refused to even contact the Terry family, much less apologize to them, until Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) shamed him into it on national television two months ago.
Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry is gone, and because of Fast and Furious he won’t be home again this year for Christmas. Yet it appears that today, one year since his death, we’re no closer to punishing the perpetrators who caused it than we were a month after it happened. Holder, Burke, and everyone else involved in the planning, execution, and cover-up of Fast and Furious, ought to be imprisoned for the rest of their lives.
God bless the Terry family this Christmas. Brian was a true American, and for his country he gave his life.
And now a plea to Congressmen Darrell Issa (R-CA) and Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI): Please don’t let Holder & Co. get away with this.
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