U.S. border agent who shot Mexican teenager acquitted of murder

Edited by Pavel Jacomino
2018-04-25 15:36:00

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U.S. border agent Lonnie Swartz and Jose Antonio Rodriguez.  Photo: Composite file photo

Tucson, April 25 (RHC)-- In Tucson, Arizona, a federal jury has acquitted Border Patrol agent Lonnie Swartz on murder charges, nearly six years after he shot and killed a 16-year-old Mexican teenager. 

José Antonio Rodríguez was unarmed and walking along a sidewalk in Nogales, Sonora, when Swartz fired on him through the border wall from the U.S. side.  An autopsy showed Rodríguez was shot 10 times -- with two bullets in his head and eight in his back. 

Swartz was cleared of second-degree murder, while the jury deadlocked on two lesser manslaughter charges; prosecutors said after the trial they were considering whether to bring a new manslaughter trial against Swartz. 

Following the verdict, scores of protesters marched from the courthouse and blocked busy intersections in downtown Tucson. 



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