U.S. Border Patrol Agents to Face No Charges for Killing Native American Man

Federal authorities have decided to not bring charges against the U.S. Border Patrol agents who shot and killed a Native American man outside his home in southern Arizona earlier this year, Ryan Devereaux reports for The Intercept. Raymond Mattia was killed on May 18 after reporting supposed illegal migrants on his property to authorities who, upon arrival, held him at gunpoint before shooting him when they allegedly mistook his cellphone for a gun.

Initial reports indicated as many as 38 rounds were fired and a medical examiner’s report, ruling the case a homicide, said Mattia was shot nine times. Body camera footage showed that roughly 31 seconds passed from the moment Mattia received his first command to the moment the first shot was fired. Federal prosecutors, joined by a tribal liaison and an FBI agent, refused to answer questions as to how, specifically, the government reached its conclusion to not file charges against the officers. Mattia’s relatives plan to file a civil rights lawsuit against the federal government