Border Shooting, Bail Outs, & FBI Whistleblowing
Hello Friends,
A lot to talk about here at the end of the week. Hope you’re having a great one. We’ll start with what’s probably the biggest story on the border right this minute— as a pair of brothers in Hudspeth Co, TX face charges that they shot and killed at least one illegal alien.
Complicating matters, one of the two men was apparently the warden at an El Paso-area private prison, that houses illegal aliens for the Federal Government.
The Texas Tribune reports that the men have told authorities that they were looking for wildlife to shoot. One man was killed— shot in the head while seeking cover behind a water tank, and a woman injured— she was shot in the torso.
The shooting happened Tuesday, near a rural highway in the county. The aliens were apparently trying to get some water from a tank that was visible from the road. It was about 4 miles south of the town of Sierra Blanca.
Sierra Blanca is an unincorporated community, and the county seat of Hudspeth County.
Mike and Mark Sheppard are both said to be 60 years old. Before the shooting, Mark Sheppard was employed by the LaSalle Corrections Corporation. The company says he’s no longer with them— it’s not immediately clear if that’s the result of this incident, or something else.
As near as we can tell here— the San Antonio Express News first broke the story, with many others following up. We’ve selected the Tribune’s coverage mainly because it’s the latest filed as we write this, and seems to have additional details the others lack— such as the wrinkle that the men say they were looking for critters to shoot.
The Tribune also follows up on details first published in “The Intercept,” indicating that the facility Sheppard was in charge of had a history of problems and serious mistreatment of illegal aliens and other people held there.
A 2018 report found officials at the Sierra Blanca facility had grievously abused 80 men who were detained at the center. Over a week, the men faced beatings, racial taunts and sexual abuse at the hands of the center’s officials who were under the leadership of Mike Sheppard at the time. The Intercept reported the allegations more than four years ago.
Mike Sheppard was accused of punching a man in the face and kicking him while he was handcuffed on the ground in solitary confinement, according to The Intercept.
Before the 2018 incident, the West Texas facility came under scrutiny from Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Office of Detention Oversight, citing health services deficiencies and a lack of training on how to use nonlethal weapons. Inmates at the time resorted to using plastic bags for toilets and had to kill a rattlesnake found in their sleeping quarters when officials failed to respond.
— Reporters Alejandro Serrano, Uriel J. Garcia, and William Melhado, in the Texas Tribune, highlighting facts first reported in “The Intercept.”
This morning— officials with the Federal Government say that facility hasn’t held federal immigration detainees since 2019, indicating perhaps that authorities followed up on those charges and removed their prisoners.
So far, the two men are facing manslaughter charges, though that could change, depending on what else investigators discover.
Expect the men’s story to change somewhat as time passes. What’s being reported right now feels very tenuous. But, the New York Times is reporting that according to court affidavits, the men are suggesting that they thought they were shooting at a javalina, and departed when there seemed to be no result from their gunfire.
According to the Times’ reporting on those same affidavits, the illegal aliens told investigators that the shooters shouted out in Spanish for them to come out— opened fire— and then departed.
The Times says Mark Sheppard has denied shouting anything.
An El Paso TV Station reached Hudspeth County Sheriff Arvin West. He told KVIA-TV that he knows both men well— that they are originally from Florida, and frequently hunt in the area. He also said he was staying away from the investigation, apparently leaving it in the hands of the Texas Rangers.
What sort of analysis is to be made of this incident?
Well, it’s too soon to offer any truly deep takes, of course— but it’s interesting to note that Texas Rangers, the FBI, and the Border Patrol were all involved in what seems to have been a very speedy investigation.
Apparently the men were using a company-owned vehicle that authorities were able to identify with the use of Border Patrol cameras and information given by the survivor.
There will be those that will attempt to draw parallels between this incident and the perception of widespread volunteer militia efforts in Kinney County. They would be mistaken to do so but that won’t stop them.
We’ll just say that it’s been months since were were last aware of Sam Hall and the Patriots for America Militia group being in the county. They are physically a non-factor in events along the border, though the mere specter of their involvement has had a warping effect on media coverage.
It should be noted that Hudspeth County is not one of the counties that has signed on to the movement of local governments that are declaring a state of invasion.
Authorities are investigating a second shooting this week in that same area, in the town of Fort Hancock. It’s not clear if they’re related, or if illegal aliens are even involved in the second incident, but two shootings in one week seems rather unusual.
Thursday morning was a wild one in Kinney County— with at least one bailout inside the city limits and several other pursuits. Indeed— we woke up to the sound of a helicopter right over the house. A carload of illegal aliens bailed out after a chase less than a block away.
The local schools were alerted and secured, and authorities were able to capture at least half of the suspects almost immediately. We’re told that eventually, all the suspects were found, but haven’t confirmed it with the Sheriff ourselves. We’re also told that there may’ve been a second bailout in town later that night. Complicating matters, it seems we’re no longer receiving text-alerts from the Sheriff’s Office via the alert-sense service.
Annoying. We’ll re-register and hope that sorts things out. So far, it’s probably safe to say that alert-sense has been disappointing for many users in the community.
There’s been some pretty solid, basic coverage of the crisis in Kinney County on San Antonio’s KSAT-12 News this week.
It’s nothing that’s really all that illuminating for anyone that’s been following things closely, but if you have a friend or two that asks you for some basic info, you could do a lot worse than send them to that link.
In it, the Sheriff and others break down some of what’s going on. Reporter Leigh Waldman has two video reports at that link— one focusing on Sheriff Brad Coe’s take on the pursuits and bailouts in the community and his longterm forecast for Operation Lone Star. In the other, she follows up with residents she bumped into at “Ziggy’s,” the local barbecue restaurant.
Earlier this week, the big story in Kinney County was the case of a 15-year old Houston girl— busted for smuggling illegal aliens.
She apparently called home trying to get her mother to come and get her after questioning, but her mother refused to appear in Kinney County-- because she's an illegal alien herself, and afraid she'll be arrested.
Deputies were left trying to get Child Protective Services or some other agency to take responsibility for the minor.
Monday morning alone, between the hours of 3:00 AM and 7:30 AM, deputies busted 5 different loads-- including two high speed pursuits. Kinney County Sheriff Brad Coe says he and others are very concerned that we may start seeing more juvenile offenders and more high speed chases-- a potentially dangerous combination, considering the lack of driving skills most youngsters have, and the potential for more reckless behavior. "That's got to be at the top of the spooky list," said the Sheriff, Monday afternoon, while discussing these latest developments.
Criminal recruiters are well aware of how the law is seemingly unable to punish juveniles as severely as adults, and they seem to go out of their way to recruit poorly supervised teenagers. "You sometimes wonder if the parents even care," said the Sheriff. In many cases, it is not clear if parents are aware of what their children are up to-- or if they've simply given up on trying to supervise their behavior.
The Sheriff’s point about young smugglers and their driving skills seems especially poignant in light of the deadly crash Wednesday in Uvalde.
A 17 year old girl blew through two red lights with a truckload of illegals before colliding with an 18-wheeler and rebounding into another pickup. She and one other were killed. 10 others were injured or hospitalized.
An update this morning on the story of Lucas Denney— the accused and now convicted January 6th rioter, who was apparently working as a ranch hand of some sort on a Kinney County ranch, before turning himself in to federal authorities.
He was sentenced this week to 4 years in prison— the judge saying he was clearly at the Nation’s Capitol looking for a fight.
Washington CBS Affiliate WUSA9 does a pretty good job in the link above, of breaking down why this would seem to be a very positive outcome for Denney, after some pretty big mistakes by the federal government in handling his pre-trial confinement.
The judge wound up showing some leniency in the sentence— it is less than the recommended minimum. The judge also ruled that Denney will be serving his sentence close to his North Texas home at a federal lock-up in Seagoville, TX.
One thing WUSA9 does get wrong, is referring to Denney as a Kinney County resident.
Find some of our previous coverage of his arrest and subsequent events here:
Meanwhile— the New York Post has a follow-up on the story of an FBI whistleblower we told you about in a recent newsletter.
Agent Steve Friend is being persecuted, he and his supporters say, for refusing to participate in FBI SWAT and Tactical team raids targeting people accused of taking part in the January 6th incident in Washington D.C.
The new news is of a fairly large number of retired agents all coming forward in support of Agent Friend.
“In his whistleblower complaint to the Department of Justice inspector general, Friend alleged that the FBI has been manipulating case-file management in order to falsely inflate the threat of domestic terrorism, and using unconstitutional excessive force against political dissenters.”
—Miranda Devine, Reporting in the New York Post
It should be noted, some of those supporting Agent Friend say the FBI has been trying to send SWAT Teams to arrest people accused of misdemeanors. One points out that they didn’t bother sending a SWAT Team to arrest the Unabomber, and he literally killed people.
We’ll link the piece again here. So far, the allegations don’t appear to have been followed up on in any meaningful way by other news organizations— though the original piece has seen some discussion and second-hand references on FOX News and Newsweek’s website among others.
And that should do it for now. Have a great morning— we’ll see you again soon. As always, this newsletter is produced independently of our efforts at the Kinney County Sheriff’s Office which employs us. We mention this in the spirit of full-disclosure and to stay in keeping with the County’s policies regarding social media.
Any comments, opinions, errors, or other misdeeds contained in this newsletter are ours and ours alone— and should not be mistaken for Official statements of Kinney County policy.
Edited to correct inconsistent spelling of the last name Sheppard. Correct spelling appears to be Sheppard, instead of Shepard.