Border Patrol Officer Still on the Job

Note: This is a follow-up to previous entries here, here, and here.

The original post, entitled "Anatomy of an International Incident" was almost prophetic, because at the time the tension was building quite quickly along la frontera. I could sense that something tragic would happen. And, sure enough, the shooting of Javier Dominguez-Rivera occurred on cue.

The agent who shot him, meanwhile, goes on with his day-to-day life even though his gun is responsible for robbing Javier's family of one of their loved ones.

Facing trial on a murder charge, Border Patrol agent Nicholas Corbett still reports for work each day behind a desk at the agency's Naco station.

Rather than placing him on paid leave, the Border Patrol has had Corbett on administrative duty, handling desk chores, since shortly after he fatally shot an illegal immigrant on Jan. 12.

Last week, Corbett took a day off for a court hearing where a Cochise County judge found there was enough evidence for him to stand trial on charges of second-degree murder, negligent homicide and manslaughter. Then, he went back to work.

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Anytime an officer is involved in a shooting, they should be immediately put on leave - I don't even give a steaming turd if they're paid - as long as they are removed from duty to let the justice system do its thing.

But what should we expect? It's not like he killed a full-fledged human being - he merely took out one of those border hoppers by shooting him in the back. [angry sarcasm alert]