Border Agents Given Bean Bags To Fight AK-47s

Federal court documents have confirmed a report from WND columnist and former GOP Congressman Tom Tancredo that U.S. Border Patrol agents were using bean bags against alleged drug gang members who had AK-47s when one agent was killed.

Tancredo reported on Dec. 18, 2010, how the confrontation that left Border Patrol agent Brian Terry dead developed, with the agents using "non-lethal" bean-bag rounds while the alleged drug smugglers "returned fire with real bullets."

"Real bullets outperform bean bags every time," Tancredo warned at the time.

Officials at the time reported such a scenario was impossible.

But now the Arizona Daily Star is reporting documents on file in U.S. District Court in Tucson involving the case are confirming Tancredo's report.

According to the newspaper, the court documents say the U.S. officer was killed after a group of illegal aliens in Peck Canyon near Nogales on Dec. 14 refused commands to drop their weapons when confronted by agents.

The documents show two agents then fired beanbags at the illegals, who returned with real gunfire.

The newspaper said its own requests for information on the protocols for using force were turned down by officials. But the report said Terry's brother, Kent Terry, confirmed the other agents at the scene told him they had been instructed to use non-lethal bean bags first.

"You go up against a bandit crew that is carrying AKs, and you walk out there with guns loaded with beanbags – I don't get it," Terry told the newspaper. "It's like going to the Iraqi war with one knife. It boggles my mind. ... These (Border Patrol agents) are professionals; they should be able to use their judgment call on their own."

"The area is well-known as a major drug-smuggling corridor, and the smugglers are known to frequently be armed with AK-47s and other long rifles," he wrote.

"Here's the part Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Border Patrol management are trying to hide: Border Patrol Agent Terry and the BORTAC team were under standing orders to always use ('non-lethal') bean-bag rounds first before using live ammunition. When the smugglers heard the first rounds, they returned fire with real bullets, and Agent Terry was killed in that exchange. Real bullets outperform bean bags every time."

Tancredo suggested that the "rules of engagement" place the lives of agents at risk.

Read more