CNN - Deputies videotaped beating suspected illegal immigrants

Deputies videotaped beating suspected illegal immigrants

April 2, 1996
Web posted at: 1:15 a.m. EST

From Correspondent Jim Hill

LOS ANGELES (CNN) -- Police clubbed two suspected illegal immigrants on Monday after a high speed chase along a California freeway.

Tape from a news helicopter shows a Riverside County Sheriff's deputy swing his baton at one suspect six times. The deputy can also be seen aiming another three blows at a second person -- believed to be a woman -- and pulling her to the ground by the hair. Another deputy appears to strike her as well.

One immigrant rights organization viewed the tape, and said it will seek a federal investigation.

"Enforcement is one thing," said Luke Williams, an immigrant rights advocate. "This is just a clear abuse." (136K AIFF sound or 136K WAV sound)

The Mexican-American Legal Defense Fund told CNN that "the behavior demonstrated by law enforcement officers goes beyond anyone's conception of fair and human treatment."

The U.S. Border Patrol says a pickup truck, crammed with at least 20 people, was chased by authorities for about 70 miles. The chase went through parts of Riverside, San Bernardino and Los Angeles counties.

At times, the suspects pulled off pieces of their camper shell and threw them on the highway.

Border Patrol Agent Ron Henley said the chase began on a road commonly used by smugglers to avoid an immigration checkpoint. Agents pursued with lights and sirens, but -- as is their policy -- Henley said that agents backed off and called the Sheriff's Department when the truck did not stop.

Riverside deputies took over the chase until the truck finally pulled over and the suspects fled. They were later captured in a nearby plant nursery and the surrounding area.

Sheriff's Department spokesman Mark Lohman said that the incident would be investigated.

"We're going to be taking a very close look at the actions of our officers ... so we can make a determination as to what happened out there today," he said.

The videotaped incident comes at a time when illegal immigration is as controversial as ever in California -- where voters recently passed a ballot measure that would crack down on illegal immigrants and deny them public benefits. The measure, Proposition 187, is currently tied up in the courts.

Ron Prince, author of the controversial measure, said that Monday's incident only shows the kind of problems that occur when the U.S. borders are not more strongly controlled.

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Deputies videotaped beating suspected illegal immigrants

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