Fast and Furious Lawsuits

From the Associated Press:

The families of two U.S. immigration agents shot more than a year ago on a Mexican highway renewed their demand Friday that the U.S. government explain the decisions that put them there and answer questions about how guns purchased in the U.S. fell into the hands of their attackers.

The parents of slain Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent Jaime Zapata joined with the sister of agent Victor Avila to press the government on whether an operation similar to one in Arizona that allowed illegally purchased guns to be smuggled into Mexico in hopes to tracking them to higher-ranking criminal figures was responsible for the guns used in the attack. Two of the weapons have been traced to illegal purchases in Texas.

The families spoke in Zapata’s hometown of Brownsville, one day after the U.S. House voted to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt for not providing documents relevant to an investigation of so-called Operation Fast and Furious in Arizona. In that case, agents with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives lost track of hundreds of weapons they had hoped to trace higher in criminal organizations. Justice Department policy had long forbid such “gun walking” and two guns from that operation were found at the scene of the slaying of U.S. border agent Brian Terry.

“I feel that I owe my son justice and I still haven’t gotten it,” said Mary Zapata, the slain agent’s mother, wearing a lapel pin with her son’s picture.

Last month, Zapata’s family filed a $25 million wrongful death claim against the U.S. government. Avila is seeking $12.5 million claiming negligence and intentional infliction of emotional distress. The claims are an initial step toward lawsuits. They note that at least two weapons used in the attacks originated in Texas and were passed to cartel gunmen in Mexico by known gun runners in the U.S. Read more…

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