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COURT RECORDS SEALED OF BRIAN TERRY’S MURDER

Border Patrol officials and government watchdogs believe there is a huge cover-up in the Obama Administration regarding the murder of Border agent Brian Terry.

Credits:

DHS/CBP

Obama cover-up? Court records of border patrol agent murder sealed

By Jim Kouri, Law Enforcement Examiner

The Obama Administration has suddenly and without warning sealed court records containing alarming details of how Mexican drug smugglers murdered a U.S. Border patrol agent with a gun connected to a federal government snafu that allowed firearms to be smuggled into Mexico, according to a top non-partisan organization that investigates government corruption and fraud.

This important information will now be kept from the public as well as the media by politicians who used a law enforcement agency for their political agenda, according to the blogger for Judicial Watch.

“Border Patrol agents are routinely fired for any sort of lie or failure to disclose everything they know under oath. Apparently, the same rules do not apply to the “top cop” in the country. Any agent would be fired for what [Eric] Holder did. Why is it that rank-and-file agents are held to such high standards while those in charge are held to such low standards? Shouldn’t those in charge be setting the example?” -National Border Patrol Council

“Could this be a cover-up on the part of the “most transparent” administration in history? After all, the rifle used to kill the federal agent (Brian Terry) last December in Arizona’s Peck Canyon was part of the now infamous Operation Fast and Furious. Conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), the disastrous scheme allowed guns to be smuggled into Mexico so they could eventually be traced to drug cartels,” the Judicial Watch blog stated.

Border Patrol agents are fired for “Lack of Candor” during any type of investigation. The agency has used this charge over and over again when they believe the agent knew something that they didn’t divulge during questioning (as opposed to lying about it).

“Apparently these rules don’t apply to Eric Holder, the supposed “top cop” who can say whatever he wants during sworn testimony. Any clear-minded individual who thinks that Eric Holder didn’t know about an international gun-running operation that involved hundreds or thousands of weapons and agents of the United States needs to get a grip on reality,” stated officials with the National Border Patrol Council.

It is simply absurd to think that this was just another investigation that Holder might vaguely remember coming across his desk. It involved too many heated international issues, and if Holder wasn’t aware of every detail, as he claims, he should be fired for incompetence,” said the border security professionals.

They also stated that Holder’s testimony before Congress is disgusting on many levels. And now, the Justice Department has conveniently succeeded in sealing the court records of this case, which is despicable and un-American. We don’t operate under some veil of secrecy in this country.

“Places like Iran and Russia do that. Shame on Eric Holder. The American people should not stand for this. The life of Brian Terry should stand for something,” the NBPC officials stated.

SNAFU LEADS TO DEATH

Instead of tracing the gun the federal law enforcement officers — from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) — lost track of more than 1,000 guns which allegedly were used in numerous crimes. In Agent Terry’s case, five illegal immigrants armed with at least two semi-automatic assault rifles were hunting for U.S. Border Patrol agents near a desert watering hole just north of the Arizona-Mexico border when a firefight erupted and Terry shot and killed.

“We know this only because Washington D.C.’s conservative newspaper [Washington Times] obtained the court documents before the government suddenly made them off limits. The now-sealed federal grand jury indictment tells the frightening story of how Terry was gunned down by Mexican drug smugglers patrolling the rugged desert with the intent to “intentionally and forcibly assault” Border Patrol agents,” wrote the Judicial Watch blogger.

“You can see why the administration wants to keep this information from the public and the media, considering the smugglers were essentially armed by the U.S. government. Truth is, no one will know the reason for the confiscation of public court records in this case because the judge’s decision to seal it was also sealed, according to the news story. That means the public or media won’t have access to any new or old evidence, filings, rulings or arguments,” the JW blogger explained.

A number of high-ranking Border Patrol officials are questioning how the case is being handled. For instance, they wonder why the suspected killer Manuel Osorio-Arellanes hasn’t been tried even though it’s been almost a year since Terry’s murder.

Border Patrol officials also have concerns about the lack of transparency in the investigation, not to mention the recent sealing of the court case.

Osorio-Arellanes is charged with second-degree murder. The four other drug smugglers fled the scene and their names were blacked out in the indictment. In 2006 Osorio-Arellanes had been convicted in Phoenix of felony aggravated assault and in 2010 he was twice detained for being in the U.S. illegally.

During a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing this month to address the flawed gun-tracking program, Attorney General Eric Holder said it’s not fair to assume that mistakes in Operation Fast and Furious led to Terry’s death. Holder also expressed regret to the federal agent’s family, saying that he can only imagine their pain, but stopped short of apologizing for the Fast and Furious fiasco or for its connection to the killing of a brave law enforcement officer.