In Memory Of... - Grace Schoenlank

I attended a Tucson protest and press conference last Friday in memory of Carlos La Madrid, a man shot by a border patrol agent while climbing the fence near Douglas last month. The facts of Carlos’ murder are hazy and confusing, as can be expected when if comes to crimes in the desert involving authorities and civilians of color, documented or not. At this point in time, eyewitness reports, a construction crew’s video, interviews with Carlos’ family and statements from border patrol spokespeople best recount what happened.

It appears it went down like this… a border patrol agent shot 19-year-old Carlos, a U.S. citizen, three times in the back and once in the shoulder – at arms length – as Carlos fled from the agent. Carlos fell and was handcuffed and dragged on the ground by the agent (who has yet to be named). The ambulance arrived too late to the scene and Carlos died.

Carlos’ family, his friends, and representatives of organizations in Tucson working for social change in this warped region called the borderlands attended the press conference held in front of the federal building on Friday afternoon. One by one, people approached the microphone to not only express their anger and sadness for Carlos’ death but also for the broken system and the unofficial, racist war underway that his death blatantly represents.

Carlos’ uncle was one of the people to speak to the small crowd amid the hundreds of cars speeding by (some “honking for justice," some yelling raging expletives and giving the finger).

He explained that Carlos is not the first young man of color to be murdered by border patrol in the name of secure borders, the war on drugs and the war on terrorism in the past several years. A 17 year-old boy was killed in the desert in January and a 15 year-old boy was killed in El Paso last June. In fact, Border Patrol agents shoot and kill people on the border every year while the gun owners and perpetrators continue to live their lives in the name of protecting virtuous U.S. citizens. Carlos’ uncle said he knew of incidents like these prior to Carlos’ death. He said, however, how he could never have imagined the paralyzing pain he and his family now experience at the loss of their brother, son, nephew, and grandson.

As I write this and struggle with what I actually hope to relate in this short blog, I can picture the faces of Carlos’ sisters, mother, aunts, uncles and grandparents. I’m reminded again of how many thousands of families have been devastated by what our government is falsely calling "securing our borders." I am saddened knowing that many more lives and families will be ruined in the years to come. That is, if nothing is changed.