Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry

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An Alternate Suggestion

June 21, 2012 by

Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) has introduced S.3304 which would rename a number of Federal buildings. Included in the buildings to be renamed is the ATF Headquarters in Washington, DC.


The LA Times reports:

Congressional legislation has been introduced to name the bureau’s D.C. headquarters the “Eliot Ness ATF Building’’ after the agent whose battles with bootleggers and mobsters in Prohibition-era Chicago inspired the book, movie and TV series “The Untouchables.’’

The naming really had nothing to do with the Fast and Furious operation, which has become the subject of a congressional investigation. It’s included in a broader bill, introduced by Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), who chairs the Senate committee that oversees federal buildings.

It is reported that Acting Director B. Todd Jones is wholly in favor of this move by Sen. Boxer.

ATF spokesman Drew J. Wade called the proposed name “wholly appropriate and fitting.”

The agency’s acting director, B. Todd Jones, came to the ATF with a “keen understanding of the bureau’s rich history and contributions to public safety and federal law enforcement,” he said. “As such, Mr. Jones determined to see the ATF headquarters building named after one of its own.”

The dissident agents at CleanUpATF.org don’t think too much of this aggrandizing move. They come up with an alternative name in honor of another famous (or infamous) ATF employee.

Many of us disagree. It would be far more fitting, proper and descriptive to name ATF Head quarters the “Russell Vander Werf Building” to memorialize ATF management and commemorate Vander Werf’s sterling (all night) performance in Metairie, LA, December, 2009. Not “The Untouchables”, but “The Touchables”.

Mr. Vander Werf was the ATF manager who was arrested for installing a “glory hole” in the door to his motel room. 

I have an alternate suggestion for Sen. Boxer and Acting Director B. Todd Jones as to names. I think the ATF HQ should be named after another Federal law enforcement officer who lost his life in the course of duty – Brian A. Terry. It would be a constant reminder to all ATF Special Agents, managers, and employees of what happens when they seek to influence gun control policy and then f@%k it up by letting guns walk.

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A Lack Of Class

May 16, 2012 by 3 Comments

Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry died serving this country. In recognition of his service to this country, Rep. Darrell Issa sponsored HR 2668 – the Brian A. Terry Memorial Act – which renames the Border Patrol Station in Bisbee, Arizona in his memory. Having passed in the House it was sent to the Senate where last week it passed by a unaminous vote and was sent to the White House for the President’s signature.

Rep. Issa said, in part, in a release about this bill’s passage:

“All of Washington mourned with the Terry family when Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry gave his life in the line of duty in 2010. Today we stand just as unified for the purpose of honoring and preserving his legacy.

“The unanimous support with which the Brian A. Terry Memorial Act passed the United States Senate is a tribute to Agent Terry’s career of service to our country and to the Border Patrol’s distinguished history of intrepidity and sacrifice for the sake of homeland security.

“We recognize that Agent Terry’s untimely passing is a tragedy that never should have happened. And while we continue to pursue answers regarding the circumstances surrounding his death, we resolve that his example of bravery and sacrifice will never be forgotten – especially in the city of Bisbee, AZ where he served.”

While Rep. Issa may have thought “all of Washington” mourned, it is becoming apparent that Agent Terry’s death at the hands of narco-terrorists was considered by the White House as an inconvenience rather than a tragedy. When it came time to sign the bill, President Obama did it privately as this release from the White House makes clear.

Matthew Boyle of the Daily Caller reports this on the signing:

On Tuesday, when Obama signed the bill into law, he did not hold a public signing ceremony with Terry’s family. The announcement that Obama had signed the memorial act into law was stuffed in the middle of a White House press release packed with other announcements not relevant to Terry.

The press release contained no quote from Obama or from White House press secretary Jay Carney about Terry.

Not only was this bill a non-event for the White House but US Customs and Border Protection did not even see fit to release a statement on the naming of the Border Patrol Station after one of their own who was killed in the line of duty.

Both the actions of the White House and Customs and Border Protection are reprehensible. It smacks of the former Soviet Union where inconvenient people – like evidently the late Brian Terry is to the Obama Administration – would become non-people or invisible. The Soviets did this to the dissidents, the Jews, and anyone who deviated from the party line.

To see this same treatment accorded to the late Brian Terry and his family is beyond the pale. It is disgusting and classless and contemptible.

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Brian A. Terry Memorial Act Passes Senate By Unanimous Consent

May 9, 2012 by

Despite not being able to pass a budget in three years, some stuff still does get done in the US Senate. Yesterday, the Senate passed by unanimous consent and without any amendments HR 2668 – the Brian A. Terry Memorial Act. This act will rename the Border Patrol station in Bisbee, AZ, the Brian A. Terry Border Patrol Station, in memory of the fallen Border Patrol agent.

The bill was sponsored by Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) who had this to say on the Senate’s action:

“All of Washington mourned with the Terry family when Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry gave his life in the line of duty in 2010. Today we stand just as unified for the purpose of honoring and preserving his legacy.

“The unanimous support with which the Brian A. Terry Memorial Act passed the United States Senate is a tribute to Agent Terry’s career of service to our country and to the Border Patrol’s distinguished history of intrepidity and sacrifice for the sake of homeland security.

“We recognize that Agent Terry’s untimely passing is a tragedy that never should have happened. And while we continue to pursue answers regarding the circumstances surrounding his death, we resolve that his example of bravery and sacrifice will never be forgotten – especially in the city of Bisbee, AZ where he served.”

In his Gun Rights Examiner column today, David Codrea speculates that the bill’s passage may create a political dilemma for President Obama.

“When the bill reaches Obama’s desk, I expect him to invite Brian Terry’s family to the signing,” Katie Pavlich of Townhall.com writes.

That creates an interesting dilemma for the President, particularly because of Terry’s mother calling his Attorney General Eric Holder a “coward” and a “joke,” and especially since the slain agent’s parents filed a lawsuit against the Justice Department and ATF that “seeks $25 million dollars in compensation for Terry’s death.”

David wonders among other things if the White House indeed will invite the Terry family to the signing ceremony or will the lawsuit be used as a reason to just quietly sign the bill without press or family there.

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Then I Guess They Won’t Mind Paying The Terry Family $25 Million

February 6, 2012 by 2 Comments

The National Law Journal is reporting today that the Federal government paid out more than $3 billion to settle lawsuits against it. This includes court judgments and settlements made by the Federal government.

Lawyers for Uncle Sam shelled out more than $3 billion in taxpayer funds last year to resolve lawsuits against the federal government — more than twice as much as in 2010, and the most in at least five years, an analysis of government records shows.

This ranges from the Department of Energy who had to pay out $1.3 billion to the Department of Labor which only had to pay out $350,000 in settlements and judgments.

If you will remember, the family of murdered Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry has filed notice that they will be suing the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives for $25 million for negligence in letting guns walk in Operation Fast and Furious. The government has six months to respond and could, if they were really stupid and tone deaf, withhold the family the permission to sue them. As a sovereign government, the Federal government could claim immunity but usually doesn’t in cases of personal injury or property damage. These case are handled under the Federal Torts Claims Act.

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Good For The Terry Family

February 2, 2012 by 3 Comments

The family of murdered Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry is suing the ATF for $25 million in Arizona state court for their role in his death. They are also suing Lone Wolf Trading Company in a second suit.

From FoxNews:

According to the claim, agent Terry was patrolling near Rio Rico on the night of Dec. 14, 2010 when he was shot and killed by criminals yielding assault rifles. Those rifles were traced to a straw purchaser for Mexican drug cartels in Arizona who the ATF knew about and allowed to deliver the weapons to the cartels.

“The murder of agent Terry and other acts of violent crimes were the natural consequence of ATF’s decision to let dangerous weapons designed to kill human beings ‘walk’ into the hands of violent drug-trafficking gangs,” the complaint reads.

The claim also contends that the circumstances that led to Terry’s murder were not isolated events, but rather there were thousands of guns purchased under occasional ATF surveillance with no way of tracking all the weapons from straw purchases.

The suit against Lone Wolf Trading Company is asking for unspecified damages. It says the company should have recognized just how risky these sales were but ignored it. Moreover, it says they knew that the ATF was letting the guns walk and should refused to participate in future straw purchases.

Bob Owens suggests that pulling Lone Wolf into the equation was a smart move.

By pulling Lone Wolf into the equation, the family’s attorney’s are creating a situation where Lone Wolf is going to be forced to give up what they know and pressure the ATF into providing documents for their defense as well.

I think he may be on to something there.

Watch the latest video at <a href=”http://video.foxnews.com”>video.foxnews.com</a>

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More Court Documents Released In Agent Terry’s Murder

January 31, 2012 by 1 Comment

Lori Jean Gliha of ABC15 in Phoenix has been one of the best local sources for information on Project Gunwalker. Her station and five others sued to get more court documents released in the murder of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry. We finally have a name and a charge for the person who pulled the trigger: Manuel Osorio Arellanes is charged with second degree murder in Terry’s death.

Those documents can be found here. The firearm that Manuel Osorio Arellanes or the other redacted defendant was accused of possessing, a Romanian WASR-10/63 AK-47, serial number 1971CZ3775, was one of two Operation Fast and Furious firearms traced to the murder scene. (See p.46 of the Oversight Report) I may be mistaken as I’m going from memory here but I don’t think either of these weapons had been tied conclusively to Agent Terry’s murder before now. It has always been said they were at the scene but never used in his murder. If the court documents are accurate – and there is no reason to believe that they aren’t – then the government is now saying a gunwalked AK was used to kill Agent Terry.

This is political dynamite! No wonder the Democrats are working so hard to blame the locals and exonerate Eric Holder.

UPDATE: In an article published last night, Dennis Wagner of the Arizona Republic says the second person indicted for the murder of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry is Rito Osorio-Arellanes.

The U.S. District Court documents name Rito Osorio-Arellanes, 41, who is believed to be a brother of the only previously named defendant, Manuel Osorio-Arellanes.

Wagner notes in his article that there is a third suspect who remains at large and who has not been identified.

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One Year And Counting

December 14, 2011 by
1970-2010

 Today marks the first anniversary of the murder of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry. He was killed in a gun fight with armed bandits near Rio Rico, Arizona. Four suspects were arrested at the time and a fifth escaped.

A lot has happened since Agent Terry was murdered.

It was quickly discovered that two (and maybe a third) weapons found at the scene of his murder were directly linked to an ATF operation called Fast and Furious. Congressional hearings into the program and into Agent Terry’s murder have been held and more are to come.

The acting head of the ATF Kenneth Melson was reassigned and the U.S. Attorney for Arizona Dennis Burke resigned under pressure. A number of ATF managers have been given either lateral transfers or promotions despite their involvement in this operation while the courageous ATF whistle-blowers who exposed much of what we know about Fast and Furious have been hung out to dry.

There is a bill before Congress to rename the Border Patrol office in Bisbee, AZ after Agent Terry. The House of Representatives held debate on HR 2668 – the Brian A. Terry Memorial Act – on Monday but a vote was postponed on a point of order by Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD), the Ranking Member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

Recently released e-mails seem to indicate that one of the major purposes for Operation Fast and Furious was not to stop the so-called Iron River of Guns to Mexico but to promote more gun control.

And the list could go on and on and on. However, none of that will bring Brian Terry back to his family nor ICE Agent Jaime Zapata back to his. In the end, it is about the people who have died in both the U.S. and Mexico as the result of this ill-conceived, ill-advised, and, more than likely, illegal program whose real purpose was to provide the Obama Administration the rationale for more gun control measures. That they died for this is immoral.

UPDATE: The Terry family released a statement today on the first anniversary of Brian’s death. The statement expresses their dismay that no one at ATF or the Department of Justice has taken responsibility for their son’s death. Moreover, they express their sincere condolences to those in Mexico who have been impacted by the gun walked in Operation Fast and Furious.

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“I Think They Are Leaving My Son Behind” – Josephine Terry

November 9, 2011 by

That is the opinion of Brian Terry’s mother, Josephine Terry. It was said in reference to her son’s service as a Marine and the ethos that fallen Marine is ever left behind.

Sharyl Attkisson of CBS News interviewed slain Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry’s parents yesterday in the wake of the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing featuring Attorney General Eric Holder. They still have not been given answers and are planning to file a wrongful death lawsuit against the Federal government.

This episode that aired on this morning’s The Early Show is very powerful as was Ms. Attkisson’s interview with the parents of slain ICE Agent Jaime Zapata.

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Regrets But No Apology

November 8, 2011 by

When Attorney General Eric Holder was asked by Sen. John Coryn (R-TX) if he apologized to the family of murdered Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry, he looks like he is stunned that someone had the nerve to ask him that question. And then he answers no and again no when asked if he had even spoken with the family. Given the chance to apologize for his department’s actions when given the chance, he changes the conversation.

Typical behavior for someone of his ilk.