Former U.S. Attorney Paul Charlton represents the family of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry, slain last year in a firefight near Arivaca. He is preparing legal action concerning the incident.
Tim Stellar, of the Arizona Daily Star, interviewed Mr. Charlton concerning the discovery of a Bush era ‘gunwalking’ operation that allowed hundreds of firearms to be smuggled into Mexico.
Chart of blood red tracks obtained from CBS News indicates the rivers of blood that flow from the ATF guns that ‘walked.’ Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Phoenix Field Division Special Agent William Newell wrote this to his personal friend, Kevin M. O’Reilly of the White House National Security staff.
Allegations that there was a third gun found at Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry’s murder have surfaced, bring more questions about the facts surrounding the firefight in Arivaca last year.
Kenneth Melson, the Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, has resigned amidst the continuing scandals of his agency’s program of ‘gunwalking’, or allowing the unhindered sales of firearms for illegal importation into Mexico.
Top agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosiveshave been replaced in Phoenix, following the ‘Fast and Furious’ and ‘Operation Gunrunner’ capers that helped armed Mexican drug gangs. CBS News reporter Cheryl Attkisson continues to report on the “Fast and Furious” ATF operation, also known as Operation Gunrunner.
Crime statistics from the FBI confirm that the drug violence occurring in Sonora is not spilling over into Arizona.
In fact, violent crime rates in Arizona have decreased in the last four years. Violent crime rate per 100,000 people dropped 7 percent from 2007 to 2008 and more than 15 percent from 2008 to 2009, according to the FBI.
The AK 47 that killed Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry was allowed into Mexico by Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms administrators. Senator Charles Grassley of Iowa received ATF emails from gun dealers that detail concerns that quantities of guns being sold to straw buyers were diverted to Mexico for use in the escalating drug war.
CBS News reports that Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry was killed by an AK-47 that was traced back to an Arizona gun shop. US officials in the Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms Agency allowed these “guns to walk” into Mexico for the purpose of tracing them at crime scenes and other locations in Mexico.
An FBI report contains new information confirming that Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry was killed by a single shot, with a bullet matching the caliber of an AK-37 rifle.
Agent Terry was a killed in a gun battle last December 14th, in a canyon near Arivaca. He was a member of the Border Patrol Tactical Unit (BORTAC) in the Nogales, Arizona area of operations, having served at the Naco Station before joining BORTAC.
The FBI has determined that three of the four men detained by the Border Patrol on the night Agent Brian Terry was killed have no connection with the shooting death.
