The Department of Homeland Security has instituted new rules restricting border patrol agents’ use of weapons, instead directing agents to seek cover or move away from potential threats
Border Patrol Chief Michael Fisher released a memo Friday directing border agents “not to step in front of moving vehicles, nor to use their bodies to block them, in order to open fire at drivers,” according to the Los Angeles Times.
Agents are also prohibited from shooting at vehicles fleeing from agents, or in response to “hurled projectiles,” unless they are in “imminent danger of death or serious injury,” the memo said.
The changes appear to be an effort to stem perceived abuse of the use of deadly force policy. A report commissioned by U.S. Customs and Border Protections reviewed 67 shooting incidents, from Jan. 2010 to Oct. 2012, which resulted in 19 people dead along the U.S.-Mexico border, according to The Times.
Shawn P. Moran, vice president of the Border Patrol agents’ union said the new policy “seems to be a response to political pressure from special interests.”
“We will oppose any restriction on the ability of agents to use force,” Moran told The Times in a telephone interview.
Responses on Twitter were quick to criticize the decision, saying:
Good news: Border Patrol MAY ask illegals crossing the border to “Please turn back w/ whipped cream & a cherry on top.”
— Laura Ingraham (@IngrahamAngle) March 9, 2014
REMINDER: Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry was killed as a result of DHS idiotic “less than lethal bean bag policy” http://t.co/zpcrhZxrM0
— Katie Pavlich (@KatiePavlich) March 10, 2014
Why are we paying the US Border Patrol while they are not be allowed to defend the US border?
— 4chunat1 (@4chunat1) March 10, 2014
Border Patrol Agents To Be Equipped With Pellet Guns, Tasers Under New DHS Rules (Sent from CNR) http://t.co/o5fBsD4Hp4
— steven kratz (@ksteven37) March 9, 2014
H/T: The Daily Caller
Read also: Rick Perry shaken up by Obama’s disturbing threat to governors in meeting
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