Four Border Patrol Agents Assaulted near Texas Border

Border Patrol officials in the Rio Grande Valley Sector reported assaults on four agents in separate incidents in a one-week period. Fortunately, none of the agents were seriously injured during the attacks.

“Our agents are trained to deal with a wide variety of situations,” Chief Patrol Agent Manuel Padilla, Jr. said in a written statement provided to Breitbart Texas “While these assaults can be construed as acts of desperation, any assault on our agents is unacceptable.”

The assaults began last week when agents working near Rio Grande City, Texas, stopped a human smuggling attempt. As one of the agents attempted to arrest one of the subjects, the suspect resisted arrest and bit the agent, officials stated.

A Fort Brown Station agent witnessed a migrant illegally crossing the border illegally near the border town of Brownsville, Texas, on April 18. As the agent attempted to place the suspect under arrest, the illegal alien became “combative” and fought with the agent. The agent sustained minor injuries during the assault. After taking the illegal alien into custody, the agent transported him to the station for processing. A background check revealed the Guatemalan national had previously been deported.

That same morning, a Harlingen agent came upon a group of five illegal aliens near the town of Norias, Texas. As the agent attempted to arrest one of the migrants, he began to resist. About that time, a second illegal alien grabbed the Border Patrol agent from behind and attempted to overpower him. The attempt failed and the agent gained control of both subjects.

And finally, on April 19, someone threw a rock at a riverine agent patrolling on the Rio Grande River border with Mexico. The rock struck the agent in the chest. Because of the agent’s ballistic vest, he did not sustain any serious injuries.

The illegal aliens taken into custody will be processed for immigration violations and could face additional charges of assaulting a federal agent.

More than 300 Border Patrol agents have been assaulted in the first six months of Fiscal Year 2018, officials reported. This compares to 462 during the same period in FY 2017.