Cowlic Road, a life unfinished
a report from Brenda Norrell
COWLIC VILLAGE, Ariz. – In the darkness, there is only stillness. There are neither sounds nor lights in the distance, only the sight of the white wooden cross that bears tribute to the life of 18-year-old Bennett Patricio, Jr.
Angelita Reino Ramon, Tohono O’odham, stands in the spot where her son, known as “B.J.,” was run over and killed by US Border Patrol agents. A large white stain of paint on the road covers the red stain of his blood, an area nearly the size of an automobile, and marks the place of impact where Patricio died.
Down the road, with their headlights turned off, US border agents in an unmarked beige Hummer watch the family, as two other Border Patrol units patrol back and forth in the darkness.
Here, about 15 miles north of the international border, there are twice as many Border Patrol vehicles as O’odham traveling this Saturday night.
Near the white cross, Ramon’s husband Ervin Ramon, Patricio’s stepfather, points to the dirt road that turns away from the paved road. Ervin explains that Patricio was walking down the dirt road, then turned onto the paved road, where he was run over at 3 a.m. on April 9, 2002.
Based on the testimony of one motorist, a security guard returning home from work who has not come forward publically, Patricio’s family believes that the teenager walked upon the transfer of drugs involving Border Patrol agents on the dirt road.
Ervin said he believes that when Bennett made a run for it onto the paved road, he was intentionally ran over and killed by Border Patrol agents.
“They ran him down”, Ervin said.
In the federal court case now on appeal, US District Judge Cindy Jorgenson ruled in favor of the United States on Feb. 17, 2006, in Tucson. Jorgenson stated that the driver of the vehicle, Border Patrol agent Cody Rouse, was not found negligent in Patricio’s death.
Now, on this night in September, a team from WBAI Radio in New York, Pacifica Radio in California and a representative of Amnesty International USA, is here to interview the family and report on human rights at the border.
More than a half dozen flash floods from the monsoon rains sweep across the highway, south of the tribal capital of Sells, on the route to the border crossing known as “The Gate.” The road is punctuated by the coiled remains of rattlesnakes.
By the time the news team returns to Sells from the site of Patricio’s death, two unmarked police vehicles follow both the radio crew’s car and Indian Country Today’s car in town.
Ervin and Angelita point out the unmarked police vehicles, white and tan trucks, and say this is what the Tohono O’odham people have to live with. They say O’odham are intimidated, harassed and insulted by the US Border Patrol and Tohono O’odham police. Now, the most recent agents arriving on the scene are the National Guard.
“It is frustrating to see how the people are being treated,” Angelita said, adding that the people’s freedom has totally been taken away.
Angelita and Ervin describe what they have endured since Patricio’s death. At first the family waited for the Border Patrol to come and apologize. In the beginning, they were prepared to accept it as accident. However, the apology never came.
Then, Bennett’s father was threatened by Border Patrol agents and told to keep quiet about his son’s death or the same thing would happen to him. Border Patrol agents began to patrol the Ramon’s home in Sells.
After Patricio’s death, O’odham women gathering fruit in the desert reported seeing Border Patrol agents burn a car in the desert. During this time, two migrants were also killed on tribal land, shot assassination-style in the desert.
Angelita said the Tohono O’odham Nation elected leaders told the family to keep quiet about Patricio’s death. However, members of Derechos Humanos human rights coalition in Tucson told the Ramons that they have the right to speak out, and they did.
Now, readying for the appeal in federal court, their attorney, the most recent of several attorneys, has abandoned them Still, they have a five-foot high stack of documents, completed investigations and testimonies. Without money, they search for another attorney.
The family feels that even the Tohono O’odham Nation has abandoned them. The Tohono O’odham Legislative Council denied their request for legal fees for the federal case against the U.S. Border Patrol. Still, there was another blow to the victims. The federal court in Tucson is demanding the family pay more than $6,254 in court charges for the first trial.
Seated beneath a painting of teddy bears and a row of photographs of Patricio, his sisters and other family members, in the family home, Angelita remembers how her son loved soccer and camping. He was making plans to attend college and become a nurse.
Then she describes the moments that no mother wants to endure.
When Patricio’s body was being prepared for burial, Angelita went to provide clothes for his body. She was told that his body was crushed and was asked to provide a hat to cover his head. She was told that they could reconstruct his face for the funeral.
“They said, ‘Your son is all crushed, from this head to his feet, he’s all crushed up’”, Angelita said.
Now, she prefers to remember Patricio the way he was, laughing and caring. Ervin remembers taking him camping when he was a boy.
Angelita said, “He’s never going to come home again, he’s never going to play soccer again.”
Recalling her last words to her son, she sobs. In a heart-wrenching cry, she calls out her son’s name, “B.J.”
There is only the silence.
By Brenda Norrell
U.N. OBSERVER and International Report
a report from Brenda Norrell
COWLIC VILLAGE, Ariz. – In the darkness, there is only stillness. There are neither sounds nor lights in the distance, only the sight of the white wooden cross that bears tribute to the life of 18-year-old Bennett Patricio, Jr.
Angelita Reino Ramon, Tohono O’odham, stands in the spot where her son, known as “B.J.,” was run over and killed by US Border Patrol agents. A large white stain of paint on the road covers the red stain of his blood, an area nearly the size of an automobile, and marks the place of impact where Patricio died.
Down the road, with their headlights turned off, US border agents in an unmarked beige Hummer watch the family, as two other Border Patrol units patrol back and forth in the darkness.
Here, about 15 miles north of the international border, there are twice as many Border Patrol vehicles as O’odham traveling this Saturday night.
Near the white cross, Ramon’s husband Ervin Ramon, Patricio’s stepfather, points to the dirt road that turns away from the paved road. Ervin explains that Patricio was walking down the dirt road, then turned onto the paved road, where he was run over at 3 a.m. on April 9, 2002.
Based on the testimony of one motorist, a security guard returning home from work who has not come forward publically, Patricio’s family believes that the teenager walked upon the transfer of drugs involving Border Patrol agents on the dirt road.
Ervin said he believes that when Bennett made a run for it onto the paved road, he was intentionally ran over and killed by Border Patrol agents.
“They ran him down”, Ervin said.
In the federal court case now on appeal, US District Judge Cindy Jorgenson ruled in favor of the United States on Feb. 17, 2006, in Tucson. Jorgenson stated that the driver of the vehicle, Border Patrol agent Cody Rouse, was not found negligent in Patricio’s death.
Now, on this night in September, a team from WBAI Radio in New York, Pacifica Radio in California and a representative of Amnesty International USA, is here to interview the family and report on human rights at the border.
More than a half dozen flash floods from the monsoon rains sweep across the highway, south of the tribal capital of Sells, on the route to the border crossing known as “The Gate.” The road is punctuated by the coiled remains of rattlesnakes.
By the time the news team returns to Sells from the site of Patricio’s death, two unmarked police vehicles follow both the radio crew’s car and Indian Country Today’s car in town.
Ervin and Angelita point out the unmarked police vehicles, white and tan trucks, and say this is what the Tohono O’odham people have to live with. They say O’odham are intimidated, harassed and insulted by the US Border Patrol and Tohono O’odham police. Now, the most recent agents arriving on the scene are the National Guard.
“It is frustrating to see how the people are being treated,” Angelita said, adding that the people’s freedom has totally been taken away.
Angelita and Ervin describe what they have endured since Patricio’s death. At first the family waited for the Border Patrol to come and apologize. In the beginning, they were prepared to accept it as accident. However, the apology never came.
Then, Bennett’s father was threatened by Border Patrol agents and told to keep quiet about his son’s death or the same thing would happen to him. Border Patrol agents began to patrol the Ramon’s home in Sells.
After Patricio’s death, O’odham women gathering fruit in the desert reported seeing Border Patrol agents burn a car in the desert. During this time, two migrants were also killed on tribal land, shot assassination-style in the desert.
Angelita said the Tohono O’odham Nation elected leaders told the family to keep quiet about Patricio’s death. However, members of Derechos Humanos human rights coalition in Tucson told the Ramons that they have the right to speak out, and they did.
Now, readying for the appeal in federal court, their attorney, the most recent of several attorneys, has abandoned them Still, they have a five-foot high stack of documents, completed investigations and testimonies. Without money, they search for another attorney.
The family feels that even the Tohono O’odham Nation has abandoned them. The Tohono O’odham Legislative Council denied their request for legal fees for the federal case against the U.S. Border Patrol. Still, there was another blow to the victims. The federal court in Tucson is demanding the family pay more than $6,254 in court charges for the first trial.
Seated beneath a painting of teddy bears and a row of photographs of Patricio, his sisters and other family members, in the family home, Angelita remembers how her son loved soccer and camping. He was making plans to attend college and become a nurse.
Then she describes the moments that no mother wants to endure.
When Patricio’s body was being prepared for burial, Angelita went to provide clothes for his body. She was told that his body was crushed and was asked to provide a hat to cover his head. She was told that they could reconstruct his face for the funeral.
“They said, ‘Your son is all crushed, from this head to his feet, he’s all crushed up’”, Angelita said.
Now, she prefers to remember Patricio the way he was, laughing and caring. Ervin remembers taking him camping when he was a boy.
Angelita said, “He’s never going to come home again, he’s never going to play soccer again.”
Recalling her last words to her son, she sobs. In a heart-wrenching cry, she calls out her son’s name, “B.J.”
There is only the silence.
By Brenda Norrell
U.N. OBSERVER and International Report