Over the weekend several big stories regarding the Operation Fast and Furious gunrunning scandal developed. For the sake of brevity, I’ll make several posts with each of the stories. First, on Friday evening the lawsuit filed by the family of slain Border Patrol agent Brian Terry was dismissed.
The family had argued “ATF’s (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms) failures were not only negligent, but in violation of ATF’s own policies and procedures,” which led to their son’s death from a weapon obtained from Fast and Furious.
According to Sharyl Attkisson:
https://twitter.com/SharylAttkisson/statuses/401538071893528576
https://twitter.com/SharylAttkisson/statuses/401538393785380864
https://twitter.com/SharylAttkisson/statuses/401538721645727744
https://twitter.com/SharylAttkisson/statuses/401538870660964352
https://twitter.com/SharylAttkisson/statuses/401539073493319680
Reuters reports:
In a written ruling released on Friday, District Judge David G. Campbell found that federal law and prior U.S. Supreme Court rulings barred such damages because the U.S. Congress has passed laws providing compensation – including death benefits – for survivors of federal officers killed in the line of duty.
“The Court recognizes that Plaintiffs have suffered a great loss, and that any financial remedy is likely insufficient to redress their injury,” Campbell said in the eight-page ruling.
“But as the Supreme Court has made clear, the bedrock principle of separation of powers counsels against judicially-created remedies when Congress has established a remedial scheme,” he added.
Family members said they are likely to appeal the ruling.
Robert Heyer, Brian Terry’s cousin and the chairman of the foundation set up in Terry’s name told Reuters, “”We’re reading over his order and it appears that he has ruled strictly on a technicality. He has not considered the basis of the claim that said that ATF and the U.S. Attorney’s office had created a danger in their pursuit of this gun trafficking operation.”
“This has never been about a financial amount, this is about gaining justice and holding those individuals accountable for their actions,” he added.
Terry’s family blasted Barack Obama in July over the claims that Brian Terry’s death and Fast and Furious were “phony scandals.”
Terry was ambushed and killed on December 14, 2010 and he and others were patrolling 11 miles from the Mexican border at Peck Canyon, Santa Cruz County, Arizona. Coming across five suspects, they had fired non-lethal beanbag guns, but the suspects used real bullets, hitting and killing Terry.
So far, no one in the federal government has been held accountable, though several suspects have been arrested and indicted in the murder.
Tim Brown is the Editor of Freedom Outpost.
