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[7DollarHagane]

If the border agents knew what the stuff was as some are claiming why would they handle the bottles with their bare hands? Just getting that stuff on your skin could harm you seriously. I doubt they knew the stuff was dangerous any more than the kid did.

What a tragedy, but that kid was more than a little dumb to try to bluff by drinking it. There was no getting out of the shitty situation he was in.

Instead of getting upset at the agents shouldn't we be upset at the drug producers taking advantage of people to smuggle this poison?

 

[Vicetrailia]

If the border agents knew what the stuff was as some are claiming why would they handle the bottles with their bare hands? Just getting that stuff on your skin could harm you seriously. I doubt they knew the stuff was dangerous any more than the kid did.

What a tragedy, but that kid was more than a little dumb to try to bluff by drinking it. There was no getting out of the shitty situation he was in.

Instead of getting upset at the agents shouldn't we be upset at the drug producers taking advantage of people to smuggle this poison?

No. The agents are deplorable. This shit doesn't fly, and we need to demand better. This should never have happened and is a result of power abuse.

 

[Sho_Nuff82]

You'd have to be a special brand of stupid to call their bluff when they tell you to take a sip, rather than come clean.

 

[Kill3r7]

You'd have to be a special brand of stupid to call their bluff when they tell you to take a sip, rather than come clean.

Undoubtedly however this cannot possibly be standard opperating procedure. If a substance seems suspicious you don't ask the individual to try taste it, you test it or simply confiscate it.

 

[psyfi]

Our government is one massive death project.

 

[Gallbaro]

Stupid kid, stupid agents.

 

[Opto]

Stupid kid, stupid agents.

Stupid post

 

[Inuhanyou]

Disgusting.

 

[Biske]

This happened in like 2013. They are both still on the job. Were not punished, not even reprimanded.

They claim they never asked him to drink it, video shows them clearly doing so


Just fuck with people til they die, they have no rights, it's all fun and games. Ha. Ha.

 

[CrocoDuck]

Read this earlier on Yahoo, made the mistake of checking the comments section. Total lack of sympathy.

As for the patrol "officers", they'll get their comeuppance in the future.

 

[Breads]

A mexican kid dies. The tax payers are punished. The border patrol agents fo free.

Just another day in this backwards ass country.

 

[Aztechnology]

This happened in like 2013. They are both still on the job. Were not punished, not even reprimanded.

They claim they never asked him to drink it, video shows them clearly doing so


Just fuck with people til they die, they have no rights, it's all fun and games. Ha. Ha.

Likely in their minds "If it's Apple juice go ahead and drink it" is giving the kids the option to come clean and not telling him to drink it I'd guess. They should have grabbed it away from him as soon as he went to drink it if they cared at all though given what they definitely know from training.

 

[Biske]

Likely in their minds "If it's Apple juice go ahead and drink it" is giving the kids the option to come clean and not telling him to drink it I'd guess. They should have grabbed it away from him as soon as he went to drink it if they cared at all though given what they definitely know from training.

They egged him on to drink it multiple times, laughing as they did so.

Then took more than like an hour or so for anyone to bother getting him medical attention.


But no, they had absolutely no idea he may have drank something.


...

 

[Valhelm]

Border patrol agents and their cousins the ICE are America's brownshirts. Both forces need to be abolished, and all officers culpable in these abuses must be immediately held accountable.

 

[redcrayon]

it's not like they would have just let him go his way afterwards. They wanted to have some "fun" with him before they would have arrested him anyway. I can only assume none of the persons involved knew how deadly the substance is

This. If they knew what it was, nobody had any business drinking it it. If they suspected what it was, nobody had any business drinking it. If they didn't know what it was but thought it probably wasn't apple juice, nobody had any business drinking it because they work border control. Jesus wept.

I'm surprised so many comments about this (not just on Gaf) think having a uniform and a gun means that 'drink it' is an appropriate course of action when dealing with teenagers smuggling drugs, and doesn't amount to pressure to do so. He didn't 'make his own choice', he had two authority figures making it clear he was in a serious situation and he panicked. It was going to get tested at some point along the line, they just thought they could humiliate the kid first. I bet they don't do that to anyone claiming a weapon they are carrying is a water pistol.

Seems like mix of complete disregard for professional attitude and human life, combined with ignorance about how dangerous some of the substances they are there to stop entering the country actually are. Heaven forbid border control might want to take a dumb teenager aside and get to the bottom of where that shit came from to try and stop kids being convinced to wander up to armed guards carrying drugs. No chance now.

A Customs and Border Protection spokesman said in a statement that the agency’s Office of Professional Responsibility investigated the incident and “determined that no further action was warranted and the officers involved were not disciplined.”

So they think this was 'professional, responsible' behaviour then.

 

[Transhuman]

So if they stop letting you drink your liquids to prove they are as desribed, the consequence seems like they will prevent ANY liquid-carrying containers across the border, which creates even more problems.

 

[Aztechnology]

They egged him on to drink it multiple times, laughing as they did so.

Then took more than like an hour or so for anyone to bother getting him medical attention.


But no, they had absolutely no idea he may have drank something.


...

Please don't miscontrue that I'm somehow defending them. I'm just saying their heads that's probably what they were thinking. Someone asked the question, so I ventured a guess.

 

[Biske]

I believe, from what I recall of watching the like 20/20 show about this, the girl got a drop of it on her hand and they rushed her to the ER or something.

Of course they fucking knew. Lets drop that bullshit right now. You don't force a person smuggling drugs, to drink what you suspect is drugs, and then claim fucking ignorance.


You can support this kind of murder all you want and say he was just a dumb illegal blah blah blah.

But don't pretend these callous shit heels didn't know.


They don't value life. This is not arguable.

Please don't miscontrue that I'm somehow defending them. I'm just saying their heads that's probably what they were thinking. Someone asked the question, so I ventured a guess.

No they knew. The girl in the video, a colleague of her was talking to her, on the way to the emergency room, quoted the girl as saying like "do you think I'll get fired for making him drink it?"


They fucking knew.


Why in the fuck do we live in this shithole country where we bend over backwards, without reason to create doubt for murderous law enforcement? God damn.



If they really are that ignorant, and think making people drink shit is an acceptable part of the job? Jesus christ.

 

[Aztechnology]

This. If they knew what it was, nobody had any business drinking it it. If they suspected what it was, nobody had any business drinking it. If they didn't know what it was but thought it probably wasn't apple juice, nobody had any business drinking it because they work border control. Jesus wept.

I'm surprised so many comments about this (not just on Gaf) think having a uniform and a gun means that 'drink it' is an appropriate course of action when dealing with teenagers smuggling drugs, and doesn't amount to pressure to do so. He didn't 'make his own choice', he had two authority figures making it clear he was in a serious situation and he panicked. It was going to get tested at some point along the line, they just thought they could humiliate the kid first. I bet they don't do that to anyone claiming a weapon they are carrying is a water pistol.

Seems like mix of complete disregard for professional attitude and human life, combined with ignorance about how dangerous some of the substances they are there to stop entering the country actually are. Heaven forbid border control might want to take a dumb teenager aside and get to the bottom of where that shit came from to try and stop kids being convinced to wander up to armed guards carrying drugs. No chance now.

You're absolutely right. This is no different than essentially having the kid claim a gun is a squirt gun, they telling him, "ok, In that case go ahead and squirt some in your mouth." Assuming they actually knew what the affects of that substance could do. Which they almost certainly did.

 

[Biske]

Also another fun wrinkle to this, this kid, was under the impression, the very real impression, that if he failed in this operation, the cartel would kill his family as is the deal in these situations.

He wasn't at liberty to say "ah fuck it you got me" when they asked him to drink it, he didn't really have a choice but to gamble and hope it worked out.

 

[Aztechnology]

I believe, from what I recall of watching the like 20/20 show about this, the girl got a drop of it on her hand and they rushed her to the ER or something.

Of course they fucking knew. Lets drop that bullshit right now. You don't force a person smuggling drugs, to drink what you suspect is drugs, and then claim fucking ignorance.


You can support this kind of murder all you want and say he was just a dumb illegal blah blah blah.

But don't pretend these callous shit heels didn't know.


They don't value life. This is not arguable.


No they knew. The girl in the video, a colleague of her was talking to her, on the way to the emergency room, quoted the girl as saying like "do you think I'll get fired for making him drink it?"


They fucking knew.


Why in the fuck do we live in this shithole country where we bend over backwards, without reason to create doubt for murderous law enforcement? God damn.



If they really are that ignorant, and think making people drink shit is an acceptable part of the job? Jesus christ.

People are vindictive. To a point of monstrousness at times. It overrides all sense of sympathy or empathy in some situations like this compounded by the narratives constructed to make people view these people as the enemies, and I'm sure to a degree a disgust/anger at what I'm assuming is very frequent experiences of people trying to smuggle drugs and other illicit materials in/out. (THIS IS NOT AN EXCUSE, I shouldn't need to say this, but just being safe in case misinterpreted)

Maybe a bad example but
It's like how I talk to people who are Paramedics. And they get so angry at the people who abuse the system to try and score drugs because they're so addicted. To the point they actually start to resent things that are there to protect people, like the inability to turn down a call or treat a patient who they may know is a constant cry wolf kind of person. But it starts to dig in at them so bad maybe one of the times that person actually does need assistance and they don't care/doubt the person thinking they're just trying to score and they die. (Basing this on people I actually met/talked to that are EMT's) at some point they almost write people off as inhuman or not worthy of their time. It's fucking horrible.

 

[NimbusD]

If the border agents knew what the stuff was as some are claiming why would they handle the bottles with their bare hands? Just getting that stuff on your skin could harm you seriously. I doubt they knew the stuff was dangerous any more than the kid did.

What a tragedy, but that kid was more than a little dumb to try to bluff by drinking it. There was no getting out of the shitty situation he was in.

Instead of getting upset at the agents shouldn't we be upset at the drug producers taking advantage of people to smuggle this poison?

The defense is... they're fucking idiots then? They made a kid in their custody drink an unknown substance at BEST. He died from their ignorance.... that's literally your defense. That's not a fucking defense, jesus.

 

[Kremzeek]

Ugh this makes me feel ill. So sad.

All of the "adult" officers need to be locked up for murder.

Sickening.

 

[Conciliator]

This is horrifically disturbing.

 

[Nephtis]

Kid was fucking stupid bringing drugs and trying to smuggle it like that. Having said that, this should have ended in the agents taking the container and do a test with the readily available tools at their disposal. To even consider letting the kid take the risk by drinking that shit of all things should result in those agents being fired, at the very least.

They murdered that 16yr old. I can't believe no action will be taken against them. What a goddamn miscarriage of justice.

 

[7Th]

The case is over, the family of the kid won. The government determined to give a million dollars to the family. Why are people still defending the officers?

 

[Aztechnology]

The case is over, the family of the kid won. The government determined to give a million dollars to the family. Why are people still defending the officers?

I don't think people care about the money or the victory. What people here seem to want is for the Officers to be charged with murder or manslaughter maybe? Point being they want to see the border guards held accountable for the death. So it's become a debate about whether or not they should be charged. Which is a valid discussion to have, but I don't think will yield sort of results. I think this case is over, as you say. So now it's just anger/venting.

 

[Nephtis]

The case is over, the family of the kid won. The government determined to give a million dollars to the family. Why are people still defending the officers?

A million dollars is a pittance and amounts to nothing more than a slap on the wrist. A million dollars and the agents going to jail should have been the base minimum. The family got screwed over.

 

[oxrock]

This is just incredibly stupid in so many ways. It could have and SHOULD have been handled differently by the agents. I doubt they knew the result would be fatal, but they at least had strong suspicions that it was more than simply apple juice. That said, I wonder if the deceased had any clue about the potential consequences of drinking that liquid. Were the people he was smuggling for holding his family hostage or something? Why would willingly ingest that stuff repeatedly?

 

[Massive Duck. C.M.]

Hold up, some people think the agents weren't sure if it was drugs?

lmao

 

[Chairmanchuck]

Can anyone please explain to me, as a german law graduate, how that can be legal at all in America???

 

[BennyBlanco]

I can only hope to assume, that at best, they thought he was going to get high as fuck and not have a massive cardiac arrest and die.

These aren't laymen. They are trained to know this kind of thing.

Guessing they figured if it was actually meth or any other purified liquid drug, he would refuse to drink it.

The kid probably didn't realize the gravity of his situation. RIP.

 

[Aztechnology]

This is just incredibly stupid in so many ways. It could have and SHOULD have been handled differently by the agents. I doubt they knew the result would be fatal, but they at least had strong suspicions that it was more than simply apple juice. That said, I wonder if the deceased had any clue about the potential consequences of drinking that liquid. Were the people he was smuggling for holding his family hostage or something? Why would willingly ingest that stuff repeatedly?

From statements made, apparently it's more often that they approach these kids and offer them money to carry it across for them in order to keep separated from them in case they get caught. But it's entirely possible.

 

[xxracerxx]

Fucking disgusting. These "agents" deserve jail time.

 

[Prophaniti]

If the border agents knew what the stuff was as some are claiming why would they handle the bottles with their bare hands? Just getting that stuff on your skin could harm you seriously. I doubt they knew the stuff was dangerous any more than the kid did.

Nah. Maybe if you spilled on your hands and decided to rub them into your eyes vigorously.

 

[Dreavus]

These aren't laymen. They are trained to know this kind of thing.

Guessing they figured if it was actually meth or any other purified liquid drug, he would refuse to drink it.

The kid probably didn't realize the gravity of his situation. RIP.

Yeah, they were essentially playing chicken with him. However, all it did was give him the illusion of an "out" that would get him through.

Instead of just confiscating and testing it.

And not immediately clawing it from his hands and calling 911 when he actually DID start sipping it.

Jesus Christ.

 

[Ozigizo]

A mexican kid dies. The tax payers are punished. The border patrol agents fo free.

Just another day in this backwards ass country.

I was incredibly confused by this. These two dipshit agents cost the department millions, and somehow they're still employed.

 

[OG Shaka Zulu]

Can anyone please explain to me, as a german law graduate, how that can be legal at all in America???

Police have a lot of power and the west/southwest has a lot of animus towards Latinos.

 

[redcrayon]

These aren't laymen. They are trained to know this kind of thing.

Guessing they figured if it was actually meth or any other purified liquid drug, he would refuse to drink it.

The kid probably didn't realize the gravity of his situation. RIP.

If adult professionals have to be trained to know this kind of thing, it goes without saying that a teenager without training probably doesn't know this kind of thing, with any safety-based info he has not exactly from a reliable source. Assuming both parties have equal knowledge in this case when one works border control, has training, colleagues, test kits and is in control of the situation, and the other is a teen drug mule, doesn't really work as a defence.

 

[SigSig]

Hold up, some people think the agents weren't sure if it was drugs?

lmao

They don't think that. They know that the agents knew. They know that the agents made fun of the kid while he was literally dying and they don't give a shit, because they (like those border agents) think that kid is subhuman.
They are racist human garbage.

Just look at how they are deflecting. "Instead of getting upset at the agents" (who dared a kid to commit painful suicide while they were cheering him on, then joked about it)

 

[BennyBlanco]

If adult professionals have to be trained to know this kind of thing, it goes without saying that a teenager without training probably doesn't know this kind of thing, with any safety-based info he has not exactly from a reliable source. Assuming both parties have equal knowledge in this case when one works border control and the other is a teen drug mule doesn't really work as a defence.

What they did was egregiously reckless and lead to somebody's death. I'm not defending them. They should've been tried for it.

 

[Prophaniti]

Can anyone please explain to me, as a german law graduate, how that can be legal at all in America???

The kid wasn't American. He was a Mexican citizen who smuggled drugs into the country. His rights were not violated because he didn't have any.

Nonresident aliens are entitled to constitutional protections only if they have substantial voluntary connections with the United States

 

[comedian]

I'm confused. Kid tries to bring drugs past border. Border Agents ask him to drink the liquid to prove that it is what he says it is. Kid dies.

I'm struggling to see how this is the fault of the border agents. Unless people want (1) all liquids to be confiscated, or (2) all liquids to be tested (which will cause delays, disruptions and increase costs) I don't see another way.

People suggesting that they should have just taken it if they felt he was lying would be outraged if their liquids were taken because an agent felt he was lying.

 

[numble]

The kid wasn't American. He was a Mexican citizen who smuggled drugs into the country. His rights were not violated because he didn't have any.

Nonresident aliens are entitled to constitutional protections only if they have substantial voluntary connections with the United States

That isn't true. You were able to pass the bar exam believing that? The bolded only applies when you are outside of the US. The kid was already in the US.

 

[SuperBowser]

The kid wasn't American. He was a Mexican citizen who smuggled drugs into the country. His rights were not violated because he didn't have any.

Nonresident aliens are entitled to constitutional protections only if they have substantial voluntary connections with the United States

lol.

common sense would tell you you're wrong.

 

[redcrayon]

I'm confused. Kid tries to bring drugs past border. Border Agents ask him to drink the liquid to prove that it is what he says it is. Kid dies.

I'm struggling to see how this is the fault of the border agents. Unless people want (1) all liquids to be confiscated, or (2) all liquids to be tested (which will cause delays, disruptions and increase costs) I don't see another way.

People suggesting that they should have just taken it if they felt he was lying would be outraged if their liquids were taken because an agent felt he was lying.

The inconvenience of testing some liquids and detaining people is widely seen as annoying but more acceptable than public sector employees encouraging teenagers to drink crystal meth. That's not an unreasonable position.

You're assuming border control have no way of deciding what is worth stopping people for and need an all-or-nothing approach. They suspected the liquid was worth stopping him for, it's not like they were stopping everyone and encouraging them to drink all bottles of water just in case. If it's worth stopping someone because you suspect them of carrying drugs in liquid form, why not act as if maybe, just maybe, the stuff you are suspicious of might actually be drugs in liquid form and so might be worth testing.

I actually wouldn't blame a suspicious officer putting it to one side out of reach and using 'you won't mind drinking it then' as a quick control question if every so often someone goes 'no fucking way it's meth you lunatic!', case closed and time saved (or at least cause for a lab test quickly obtained). But the minute the kid indicated he was crazy enough to actually do it (out of pressure, fear, boldness, whatever), it should have been slowed down, taken away for testing and him for interview.

 

[EdmondD]

He told them it was apple juice they told him to drink to prove wrong.

Why are those guys in wrong ?

Because a fucking kid died? What the fuck is wrong with some of you? Gaf getting stupider or is it just me?

 

[Ozigizo]

I'm confused. Kid tries to bring drugs past border. Border Agents ask him to drink the liquid to prove that it is what he says it is. Kid dies.

I'm struggling to see how this is the fault of the border agents. Unless people want (1) all liquids to be confiscated, or (2) all liquids to be tested (which will cause delays, disruptions and increase costs) I don't see another way.

People suggesting that they should have just taken it if they felt he was lying would be outraged if their liquids were taken because an agent felt he was lying.

For fucks sake. THEY KNEW WHAT IT WAS.

Read the thread, or the article.

Your choice.

 

[NCSOFT]

I'm confused. Kid tries to bring drugs past border. Border Agents ask him to drink the liquid to prove that it is what he says it is. Kid dies.

I'm struggling to see how this is the fault of the border agents. Unless people want (1) all liquids to be confiscated, or (2) all liquids to be tested (which will cause delays, disruptions and increase costs) I don't see another way.

People suggesting that they should have just taken it if they felt he was lying would be outraged if their liquids were taken because an agent felt he was lying.

There are several problems here.
No one is saying all liquids are confiscated, however, I don't believe for a second that everyone who brings in any liquid will have to taste their liquid before they're to let go, so that fact that this kid is under scrutiny will have to mean that there's reasonable suspicion on the officer's part that there may be drug in the liquid that he's claiming to be juice. In fact, they're are educated on this and are experienced in these dealings they likely already know what are actually in the bottle (or at least strongly suspect), under this circumstances, here are the things the officers are doing wrong
1. If you have a reason to suspect it's drug, possible liquid meth, do not encourage the kid to taste it. Confiscate it and test it instead.
2. If the kid start to take a sip, they should have grabbed the bottle away immediately, not to laugh and encourage the kid to take 3 additional sips.
3. When the kid was clearly poisoned, they should have called medical emergency immediately, instead, they detained the kid and only called medical help after more than 30 minutes after the incidence.

In addition, if there's reason to suspect the liquid is questionable, of course they should be able to confiscate it and test it, yes, it may be an annoyance to some, but certainly you're not trying to say avoiding certain "annoyance" is more important than the lives of people, and a kid in this case.

 

[TAJ]

Now we have a few people confusing an anecdote about China with official US border policy. Sad!