A violent altercation on a Southern California beach between Border Patrol Agents and alleged human smugglers is now under FBI investigation.
Texas Republican Rep. Mayra Flores shared a video of the chaotic struggle between the federal agents and two men on Monday. The video originally appears to have been uploaded to TikTok.
Border Patrol Agents assigned to San Diego Sector tackle and arrest suspected smugglers at the border.#HonorFirst #MeanGreen pic.twitter.com/UqVYBDIBB3
— Mayra Flores (@MayraFlores2022) August 22, 2022
The footage, captured on a beach south of San Diego just north of the U.S.-Mexico border wall, features a man wearing swimming clothing striking a Border Patrol agent as another suspect is placed under arrest.
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The agent trades blows of a baton with the resistant man.
A third Border Patrol agent eventually charged the resisting suspect, slamming him to the ground with a linebacker-style tackle.
All the while, a crowd gathered on the Mexican side of the border yelled during the altercation.
Flores pointed to the chaotic incident as an example of the difficulties facing Border Patrol, in a statement provided to the Daily Caller News Foundation.
Can Americans accept lawlessness at our border?
“The video I posted yesterday is just a small example of what our brave men and women of CBP deal with on a daily basis,” the freshman congresswoman said.
“Left without any support by this Administration and thanks to their open border policies, disrespect and misconduct towards our law enforcement officials have reached alarming levels.”
The FBI is investigating the altercation as standard policy, according to a Border Patrol spokesman quoted by the Washington Examiner.
The agency normally investigates cases of assault against Border Patrol agents.
“The FBI is the primary investigative agency whenever there is an assault against a Border Patrol agent,” San Diego Border Patrol spokesman Tekae Michael said. Border Patrol confirmed that the altercation in the video occurred over the weekend.
“To [ensure] an unbiased investigation, it often falls to other law enforcement agencies such as federal, local and/or state authorities.”
FBI involvement may increase the likelihood that the suspect will face federal charges of assault on a federal agent.
It’s common for drug and human smugglers to attempt to breach the fortified border by sea in southern California.
Oceanic human smuggling attempts often pose serious dangers for the illegal migrants, as well as law enforcement tasked with intercepting them.
Seventeen people died in what authorities believe was a botched smuggling operation in the Bahamas bound for the United States, according to NPR.
Weak enforcement of American immigration laws under President Joe Biden has bolstered the sophisticated human smuggling industry in Mexico and Central America.
Deportations have plummeted by 70 percent under Biden’s watch, with economic migrants keen on securing access to American public services and labor markets without the likelihood of being removed from the country.
