By militarizing our drug enforcement efforts we change the relationship between the government and its' people. When I visited Redford, Texas, the town where the fatal shooting by the Marine occurred, the residents were confused and terrorized. They did not understand why they were treated like an enemy merely because they lived on the border. They felt like the Marines had taken one of their best and brightest from them. Children in the town were afraid to go outside.
Military helicopters continue to circle overhead.
The DoD has yet to apologize for the fatal shooting. Instead, they hide behind a grand jury that refused to indict the Marine. They don't mention that a majority of the jury were people who received pay checks or retirement checks from the federal government, including the deputy border patrol chief for the sector - from the very agency which called in the Marines and was responsible for their supervision. One town resident said the grand jury reminded him of the complaint in the Declaration of Independence against England for using mock juries to cover up the murders of colonists by British soldiers. The next step the Pentagon should take is to formally apologize to the family of Esequiel Hernandez, Jr., the slain high school student.