By David Schwartz
PHOENIX, Dec 14 (Reuters) - The parents of a slain U.S.
Border Patrol agent have filed a wrongful death lawsuit in
connection with the botched "Fast and Furious" federal sting
operation that saw guns purchased in the United States slip to
suspected criminals in Mexico.
The lawsuit, which names federal officials and a federal
prosecutor as defendants, was filed in federal court in Arizona
and seeks unspecified damages for Brian Terry's 2010 death in a
shootout with suspected border bandits in southern Arizona.
Terry's slaying set off a political firestorm when it
brought to light the botched probe by the U.S. Bureau of
Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives into gun trafficking
that let more than 2,000 weapons slip across the border into
Mexico.
The operation had been envisioned as a way to track guns
from buyers to senior Mexican drug cartel members. Federal
agents who ran "Fast and Furious" focused on building cases
against the leaders of a trafficking ring, and did not pursue
low-level buyers of those firearms.
Two firearms found at the scene of Terry's death were traced
to the operation, although it was not clear if the bullets that
killed him came from either weapon.
The lawsuit filed by Terry's parents, Kent and Josephine
Terry, names six ATF supervisors and agents in the Phoenix
office as defendants, along with Emory Hurley, who as assistant
U.S. Attorney for the District of Arizona helped run the
operation.
"The ATF defendants and defendant Hurley knew or should have
known that their actions would cause substantial injuries,
significant harm and even death to Mexican and American
civilians and law enforcement, but were recklessly indifferent
to the consequences of their actions," the lawsuit, which was
made public on Friday, stated.
It also named Lone Wolf Trading Company, a Phoenix-area gun
store where gun sales took place under the operation, as a
defendant.
Terry's family had submitted a $25 million claim against the
federal government in February in a step that was legally
required before filing the lawsuit.
A report in September from the U.S. Justice Department's
inspector general found inadequate supervision of "Fast and
Furious" and faulted its tactics. Republicans in the U.S. House
of Representatives earlier this year voted to find Attorney
General Eric Holder in contempt in a dispute over the
withholding of certain documents related to the operation.
Tom Mangan, an ATF spokesman in Phoenix, declined comment on
the lawsuit, as did a representative for the U.S. Attorney's
Office in Arizona.
Five Mexican men have been charged in Terry's killing, two
of whom are in custody while three remain at-large.
Manuel Osorio-Arellanes, one of the men in custody, pleaded
guilty to first-degree murder in the case in October under a
deal with prosecutors that spared him the possibility of the
death penalty.
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