The Federal Bureau of Investigation is investigating a physical altercation between Border Patrol agents and two males that happened over the weekend in Southern California, the Washington Examiner has learned.
A Republican congresswoman from a border district in Texas posted a video to social media that she said captures a fight between two “suspected smugglers” and Border Patrol agents on Imperial Beach, just several dozen feet from the border fence.
“The FBI is the primary investigative agency whenever there is an assault against a Border Patrol Agent,” said Tekae Michael, a spokesman for Border Patrol’s San Diego region, in an email. “To [ensure] an unbiased investigation, it often falls to other law enforcement agencies such as federal, local, and/or state authorities.”
The review by an outside agency indicates the federal government is examining how the assailant tried to assault federal law enforcement agents as opposed to wrongdoing by the agents.
Rep. Mayra Flores (R-TX) shared footage on Instagram of several agents attempting to take down an aggressive man in a half-zipped wetsuit after he repeatedly tried to attack an agent near Imperial Beach. A U.S. Customs and Border Protection statement to the Washington Examiner said the incident happened around 5:10 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 21, when migrants entered the United States illegally by “swimming around the International Boundary Maritime primary fencing.”
“As agents attempted to take both migrants into custody, the migrants actively resisted and assaulted the agents,” CBP said in a statement Tuesday. “During the confrontation, the agents deployed less lethal devices. One unaccompanied juvenile Mexican national, age 17, and one adult Mexican national, age 20, were taken into custody and transported to a nearby station for processing.”
The video shows one man pinned down by an agent in the sand as another man verbally taunted a second agent and repeatedly tried to rush at the federal law enforcement official. In the background, a crowd that gathered in Tijuana, Mexico, directly behind the border wall cheered loudly, though it is unclear who they were yelling for.
The agent in the one-on-one altercation used a police baton to keep the second suspect at a distance and swung it when the suspect attempted to lunge at him. Within one minute, two other agents arrived on the scene. One ran over to the two fighting, and the other tackled the assailant from behind, according to the video footage.
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CBP said earlier Tuesday there was an “ongoing investigation” of the altercation. The official made no mention of whether the individuals were suspected smugglers.
“The Federal Bureau of Investigation is the lead investigating agency,” a Border Patrol official in San Diego wrote in an email.
Flores posted the video from a TikTok user to highlight what she said is the bravery of Border Patrol agents in the face of an ongoing border crisis.
“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,” Flores said in a statement to the Washington Examiner on Tuesday. “Left without any support by this administration and thanks to their open border policies, disrespect and misconduct toward our law enforcement officials have reached alarming levels.”
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Border Patrol agents work along the northern and southern borders, as well as nearby coastal regions and Puerto Rico.
