Seems like collateral damage doesn't much matter here either.
Tijuana enclave feels sting of escalating border strife
By Richard Marosi, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
December 14, 2007
TIJUANA -- In an escalation of clashes between U.S. Border Patrol agents and rock-throwing smugglers, agents have begun launching pepper spray and tear gas into densely populated Mexican border neighborhoods, according to witnesses, Mexican authorities and human rights groups.
The more aggressive approach reflects the tense climate in this city's most notorious smuggling neighborhood, Colonia Libertad, where U.S. agents say they have had to counter human traffickers' increasingly aggressive tactics by ramping up their own use of force.
Agents have used pepper spray in the past, but usually aimed directly at the smugglers. The new tactics, which saturate large areas, have forced dozens of temporary evacuations and sent some residents to hospitals, according to witnesses.
Border Patrol officials say tear gas and pepper spray rarely cause serious injury or damage. They say that they use them against assailants trying to divert attention from border crossers by pelting agents, and that residents are not targeted.
Since Oct. 1, the Border Patrol has counted 90 assaults against agents in the San Diego area, five times as many as during the same period a year ago. Agents have suffered serious head injuries, officials say.
The acting Mexican consul general in San Diego, Ricardo Pineda, has met with Border Patrol officials to protest the aggressive use of tear gas and pepper spray, said Alberto Lozano, the consular spokesman.
"We told them the Mexican government cannot tolerate having Mexican nationals hit with these kind of devices on Mexican soil by U.S. authorities, regardless of the reason," Lozano said.
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http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-pepper14dec14,0,3599820.story?coll=la-home-local