HBO Film 'Critical Incident' Exposes Border Patrol Cover-Up of 2010 Immigrant Death

The Killing of Anastasio Hernández Rojas

• 💔 Anastasio Hernández Rojas, an undocumented Mexican immigrant, was fatally beaten and tased by border agents in 2010 while attempting to return to San Diego.
• ⚡ His death, initially ruled a homicide, occurred under the watch of Rodney Scott, who was then deputy chief of the San Diego sector of the Border Patrol and is now the head of Customs and Border Protection under Trump.
• 🗣️ Witnesses described the event as a public torture and beating, with agents later claiming Rojas was banging his own head on the ground while being tased.

Alleged Cover-Up and Impunity

• 🚫 Evidence suggests a cover-up orchestrated by Border Patrol, including the deletion of cell phone videos, destruction of evidence, and intimidation of witnesses.
• 🕵️‍♂️ The San Diego Police Department was not informed of the incident by Border Patrol and had difficulty reconstructing events due to the lack of evidence and witness information.
• 📄 Multiple security cameras at the scene failed to produce surveillance video, with claims that it either didn't exist or had been destroyed.
• ⚠️ A former head of internal affairs for the Border Patrol stated he was ordered to falsify reports regarding Rojas's killing.

Systemic Issues and Accountability

• ⚖️ The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights found CBP agents responsible for torture in Rojas's death and called for the investigation to be reopened.
• 📉 The film highlights a pattern of impunity at the border, with no Border Patrol agent ever successfully prosecuted for an on-duty killing in the agency's 100-year history.
• 📈 Estimates suggest a significant level of active corruption within the Border Patrol, with some estimates as high as 20%.
• 🏛️ Reporting on this case prompted congressional investigations, leading to the disbandment of Border Patrol's off-the-books Critical Incident Teams (CITs) in 2022.

The Role of Rodney Scott

• 🔗 Rodney Scott's signature appears on a subpoena for Anastasio's medical records, and he was aware of the case during the initial cover-up.
• 📺 Scott was interviewed for the documentary and addressed the events, though he contested many details.
• 🎯 The film uses Anastasio's killing as a lens to examine the secrecy, impunity, and violence within the Border Patrol, arguing the agency is in crisis and overdue for reckoning.