The Donald Trump Wall has always been the symbol of intolerance and of the need, by some voters, to keep the “white” supremacy of the country. Trump, and his ilk, fear that the demographics of the country is shifting away from “white” towards darker skinned Americans. Many of The Wall supporters will deny this, because, they either understand how wrong it is, or they do not understand that their fear of the erosion of their “white” culture is just part of the evolution of mankind. Many cultures have come and gone over the centuries. The “white” supremacy culture is on its way out, and some fear it. The death of Border Patrol Agent Rogelio Martinez proves this.
Put your pitchforks down and read for comprehension. Martinez’ death is tragic and should not have happened. How his death has been used as a political tool for The Wall should have all of you angry. As soon as news broke about the two Border Patrol agents severely injured, the Border Patrol Union, Donald Trump and The Wall supporters rallied behind the call to build The Wall. Never mind that few people knew how the two agents were hurt, or how severe their injuries were. It wasn’t about the Border Patrol agents, it was about pushing forth The Wall agenda.
Before anyone could ascertain what happened, Donald Trump has already tweeted; “Border Patrol Officer killed at Southern Border, another badly hurt. We will seek out and bring to justice those responsible. We will, and must, build the Wall!” (November 19, 2017)
Greg Abbott and Ted Cruz weren’t too far behind, either.
The National Border Patrol Council immediately started the tirade that Martinez had been “killed” and that, his partner, Stephen Garland, had been hurt by an attack by undocumented immigrants and/or drug cartels. Never mind that no one knew, not even Garland, what had happened. It had to be undocumented immigrants or drug cartels because that is the only thing that fits the narrative about how “dangerous” the U.S.-México border is.
Trump, the union and the death is the only ammunition needed by The Wall proponents to scream the call for The Wall from social media corner to Alt-Right outlets across the nation.
The Wall is not about security for the Homeland, The Wall is about a symbol that Mexicans aren’t wanted in the country.
The narrative about the need for The Wall has evolved as facts are exposed forcing the proponents to retool their messaging. First it was about the notion that terrorists were sneaking across the “porous border” to harm Americans. When it was proven that terrorists are homegrown or enter via international airports, the narrative was evolved to argue that it was to keep drugs out of the country. Border tunnels quickly killed that idea.
The call for The Wall then became a mantra about keeping undocumented immigrants out of the country. Funny thing is that keeping immigrants out was not palatable to the great majority of the American voters, so The Wall proponents had to go back to safety and security.
The death of Rogelio Martinez brought the narrative full-circle back to safety and security from the “dangers” of the border.
The problem, though, is that the evidence suggests that there was not an attack against the two Border Patrol agents.
The FBI has found no evidence that other people were in the area where the two agents were injured. The investigation found no “defensive wounds” on the two agents, suggesting that they were not attacked. As a matter of fact, the FBI investigation has not produced a single piece of evidence to suggest that the two agents were attacked.
The facts not fitting the narrative is not stopping the xenophobes from using the death of Rogelio Martinez for their dastardly need for The Wall.
Brandon Judd, the Border Patrol Union chief, argues that despite the evidence of no “scuffle” between the agents and others, he still believes that the two agents were attacked from behind. Judd argues that the lack of evidence suggest that people snuck up behind the agents, in the dark, and hit them with something, like a rock.
The FBI’s investigation, three months long and 650 interviews found no forensic evidence to suggest that something was used to strike the two agents. Whether a rock, a stick or any other material was used to strike the agents, there would be forensic evidence to find. Even if the attacker had the presence of mind to carry away the object used to strike the agents, there would still exist forensic evidence, i.e. DNA, blood or foreign objects in the injuries to the two agents.
Killing is a messy business and, thus, forensic evidence is almost always present.
This is even more true if the alleged attackers did not use weapons but just their hands. Even highly trained attackers would have an extremely difficult time disabling not one, but two trained agents with just one blow. Multiple blows would leave evidence of a struggle, which was not found by the FBI.
As there is no evidence of an attack, you should all be angry at Brandon Judd for using the death of an agent for a public policy agenda stunt, especially those of you who support law enforcement.
However, it gets worse for The Wall proponents. The question remains opened as to what happened to the two agents that night. The two leading theories do not fit The Wall narrative, and thus they are ignored by the union and The Wall proponents.
Rogelio Martinez’ family wants answers from Stephen “Michael” Garland, who was the other Border Patrol Agent at the scene when Martinez was injured. Garland “cannot remember” what happened, according to various news sources.
Also, according to several news sources, Angela Ochoa, Martinez’ fiancée, believes Garland “knows something” but isn’t coming forward. Garland has told investigators he has no recollection of what happened that night.
The prevailing theory is that that two agents were injured by falling into the culvert where they were found. How and why they fell could be the result of various scenarios. One is that they didn’t see the culvert in the dark until it was too late. The other is that they startled each other while investigating the area. Another theory is that two agents had some type of altercation between themselves.
Garland’s call to his dispatch proves that both agents fell into the culvert. Garland was recorded saying that they fell into the culvert.
Regardless, the absence of evidence of other people in the area, and the lack of evidence to suggest an attack took place leaves the proponents of The Wall grasping for other narratives to create.
The Wall was never about securing the border. It has always been about keeping Mexicans out of the country. It is this symbol that Donald Trump, and his family, will forever be known by from this point on. Will you also be known by this label?
A border wall will not stop anyone from entering the USA legally. It will help to stop illegal entry, as has been proven here in El Paso. No one has a right to enter a country illegally, white brown red or yellow.