TERRIBLE

Lawsuit Sheds Light on Violent Incidents Involving Border Patrol Agents: NYT

Three migrant women sued after they were raped by a border patrol agent who later killed himself.

Three Honduran migrant women who were allegedly raped and attacked by a border patrol agent in 2014 have filed a civil suit against the agency—and their case exposes other incidents of violence perpetrated by officers, according to a Monday report from The New York Times. The suit alleges that after finding the three women near McAllen, Texas, Esteban Manzanares twisted the necks and slashed the wrists of two women and sexually assaulted one of them. He then allegedly handcuffed the third victim, a 14-year-old girl, to a tree, before returning hours later to take her to his home and rape her. When officers arrived at Manzanares’ apartment, tipped off by one of the other women who played dead, he fatally shot himself. But a civil suit brought by his three victims—which alleges that Border Patrol should have recognized Manzanares’ violent tendencies far earlier—has brought the gory details of his alleged crimes to light. These women are not alone, the Times notes: In South Texas, at least 10 people have become the victim of violent crimes perpetrated by agents of Border Patrol in the past 4 years alone.