Tensions between Arizona authorities and residents of a Native American reservation have flared up again after a video surfaced showing a Border Patrol vehicle hitting a man from the tribe before driving away. It is the latest episode in Arizona's strained relationship with the Tohono O'odham tribe, which numbers around 34,000 people and has territory straddling the border with Mexico. In 2003, Border patrol agent Cody Rouse ran over and killed Bennett Patricio, a teenager from the tribe. The victim of Thursday's hit-and-run, a member of the Tohono O’odham Nation identified as Paulo Remes, recorded the incident on his phone. “They just ran me over, bro,” Mr Remes is heard saying on the video. He told the Arizona Daily Star that he was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment of injuries from the incident, which took place on Tohono O’odham land about 60 miles southwest of Tucson, Arizona. Mr Remes appeared to be standing in a dirt road facing the vehicle when it made contact, knocking him to the ground. He also told the newspaper the vehicle's driver did not stop. The footage spread quickly across social media over the weekend after it was posted by several tribe members and Indivisible Tohono, an organisation focused on the impact of border policies. “The nation is aware of disturbing video footage of the incident,” said Edward D Manuel, chairman of the Tohono O’odham tribe. He added that the tribe's police department was investigating the incident alongside the FBI and the US attorney’s office. Leaders of the tribe oppose president Trump’s pledge to build a wall through their land along the border. With strengthened security at other points along the border, the Tohono O’odham reservation has emerged as an important transit point for unauthorised immigrants and drug traffickers - hence the frequent encounters with law enforcement and the Border Patrol. The US border patrol said that it was “actively investigating” the incident and added: “We do not tolerate misconduct on or off duty and will fully cooperate with all investigations of alleged unlawful conduct by our personnel.” Undocumented immigration across the US-Mexico border Show all 14 1 /14 Undocumented immigration across the US-Mexico border Undocumented immigration across the US-Mexico border Immigrant children, many of whom are separated form their parents, are housed in Texas' tent city Reuters Undocumented immigration across the US-Mexico border A two-year-old Honduran asylum seeker cries as her mother is searched and detained near the US-Mexico border Getty Undocumented immigration across the US-Mexico border Undocumented migrants ride on the top of a freight train referred to as the beast, or La Bestia Getty Undocumented immigration across the US-Mexico border A cage inside a US Customs and Border Protection detention facility in Texas Reuters Undocumented immigration across the US-Mexico border US Border Patrol Academy All new agents must complete a months-long training course at the New Mexico facility before assuming their posts at Border Patrol stations, mostly along the US-Mexico border Getty Undocumented immigration across the US-Mexico border US-Mexico border fence A group of young men walk along the Mexican side of the US-Mexico border fence in a remote area of the Sonoran Desert Getty Undocumented immigration across the US-Mexico border US-Mexico border fence in the US Man looks through US-Mexico border fence into the US in Tijuana, Mexico Getty Undocumented immigration across the US-Mexico border US-Mexico border fence US Border Patrol agent Sal De Leon stands near a section of the US-Mexico border fence while stopping on patrol on in La Joya, Texas Getty Undocumented immigration across the US-Mexico border US Border Patrol Academy US Border Patrol instructor yells at trainees after their initial arrival to the academy Getty Undocumented immigration across the US-Mexico border Memorial service in Guatemala Families attend a memorial service for two boys who were kidnapped and killed in San Juan Sacatepequez, Guatemala. 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Getty Robert G Daniels, the Arizona spokesman for the Border Patrol, said the agency was not able to release the identity of the agent involved in the episode. “All I can say is that this incident is under investigation,” Mr Daniels said. New York Times News Service<doc-sep>ALBUQUERQUE — Tensions flared on Friday between federal authorities in Arizona and residents of a Native American reservation straddling the border with Mexico after a video surfaced in which a Border Patrol vehicle appears to hit a man from the tribe before driving away. The video, which was recorded on the phone of the victim, a member of the Tohono O’odham Nation identified as Paulo Remes, spread quickly on social media after several tribe members and Indivisible Tohono, an organization focused on the impact of border policies, posted the footage on Twitter and Facebook. “They just ran me over, bro,” Mr. Remes is heard saying on the video. He told The Arizona Daily Star that he was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment of injuries from the incident, which took place on Tohono O’odham land about 60 miles southwest of Tucson. Mr. Remes appeared to be standing in a dirt road facing the vehicle when it made contact, knocking him to the ground. Mr. Remes told the newspaper that the driver of the vehicle did not stop. The United States Border Patrol said in a statement that it was “actively investigating” the incident. “We do not tolerate misconduct on or off duty and will fully cooperate with all investigations of alleged unlawful conduct by our personnel,” the Border Patrol said.<doc-sep>This image was removed due to legal reasons. A video uploaded to Facebook on Thursday evening shows a Border Patrol vehicle allegedly running over a Native American man on the Tohono O’odham reservation, near Topawa, AZ. Advertisement The 40-second video shows the Border Patrol vehicle speeding up as it heads straight towards the man, who has been identified as “Paulo” by friends and family on Facebook. Moments later the Border Patrol vehicle is seen driving away as Paulo falls to the ground. Paulo is then heard saying, “they just ran me over, bro.” The video was recorded near the Topawa Village in the Tohono O’odham reservation, according to a community alert posted on Facebook. The reservation has made international news in recent years because it includes 75 miles of the U.S.-Mexico border. Border Patrol agents regularly patrol the reservation but it is unclear why the agent was in that exact location at the time. The community alert claimed the Border Patrol agent was on property owned by Paolo’s family: The Young Man was standing outside talking on the phone with his older brother when he spotted the Border Patrol agent at an abandoned house that belonged to his Grandma. He began to film while the Border Patrol vehicle came towards him and sped up as it got closer, hit him, turned on their sirens and fled the scene! In a statement to a local KOLD anchor in Tucson, Border Patrol confirmed that Customs and Border Protection’s Office of Professional Responsibility is actively investigating the incident: The United States Border Patrol, Tucson Sector is fully cooperating with the Tohono O’odham Police Department as they investigate a Border Patrol agent involved vehicle incident that occurred late Thursday evening on the Tohono O’odham Nation. Tucson Sector has been made aware of a video taken yesterday on the Tohono O’odham Nation relevant to this incident. We stress honor and integrity in every aspect of our mission. We do not tolerate misconduct on or off duty and will fully cooperate with all investigations of alleged unlawful conduct by our personnel. Advertisement On Facebook, family members said Paulo had been taken to the hospital but that he was released and was at home in stable condition. Officials at the Tohono O’odham Police Department refused to release any information about the incident. The police department forwarded requests to a public relations agency, The Strategic Issues Management Group, where two representatives claimed they were unfamiliar with the video. This is not the first incident between the Border Patrol and the Tohono O’odham nation. A U.S. Border Patrol agent in 2002 ran over and killed a teenager named Bennett Patricio Jr. on the reservation. Patricio was reportedly lying on the ground when the Border Patrol agent, Cody Rouse, ran over him. A judge in 2006 ruled that Rouse did nothing to breach his duty to act as a “reasonable, prudent person,” according to the Arizona Daily Star. Advertisement A woman who identified as Paulo’s sister said on Facebook that her brother was an “enrolled tribal member of a [federally] recognized tribe and a U.S. citizen in this country.” She asked: “If you can do this to an enrolled tribal member of a [federally] recognized tribe and a U.S. citizen in this country.....how do you really treat the people who do cross thru there?”<doc-sep>"We stress honor and integrity in every aspect of our mission. We do not tolerate misconduct on or off duty and will fully cooperate with all investigations of alleged unlawful conduct by our personnel," the agency said.<doc-sep>
Police have launched an investigation after a video emerged appearing to show a Border Patrol vehicle hitting a Native American man at a reservation on the U.S.-Mexico border in Arizona. The video shared on Facebook and Twitter appeared to show a Border Patrol vehicle hitting a man in the Tohono O'odham reservation around 60 miles southwest of Tucson, on Thursday, causing him to fall to the floor. "They ran me over, bro," the man is head saying in the video. The man was later identified as Paulo Remes, a member of the tribe. He claimed to The Arizona Daily Star the vehicle did not stop after hitting him. U.S Border Patrol ran over an O’odham man today on the Tohono O’odham Nation. This is an example of the fear O’odham have to face everyday because BP ravage our communities & are careless with our lives. pic.twitter.com/ZEbVlIe5cl — Indivisible Tohono (@Indivisible_TO) June 15, 2018 Tohono O'odham Police Department is investigating the incident with the FBI and the U.S. Attorney's Office according to a statement by Tohono O'odham Nation. The Border Patrol did not respond to a request for a comment. The agency said in a statement seen by KVOA.com: "The United States Border Patrol, Tucson Sector is fully cooperating with the Tohono O'odham Police Department as they investigate a Border Patrol agent involved vehicle incident that occurred late Thursday evening on the Tohono O'odham Nation. "We stress honor and integrity in every aspect of our mission. We do not tolerate misconduct on or off duty and will fully cooperate with all investigations of alleged unlawful conduct by our personnel. Robert G. Daniels, a spokesman for the Arizona Border Patrol, told The New York Times the agency could not reveal the identity of the agent involved in the incident. On Friday, Tohono O'odham Nation Chairman Edward D. Manuel labeled the video disturbing in a statement. He said a 34-year-old member of the tribe, whom he didn't identify, had visited a health care facility for non-life threatening injuries and had since been released. "The safety and wellbeing of the general public is the Nation's top priority, and the Nation's leadership is monitoring this issue closely," Manuel said. The incident comes amid a climate of tension between the federal authorities and the Tohono O'odham, a federally-recognized tribe with around 28,000 members populating land in Southwestern Arizona, according to its website. The reservation is the second largest in the state, both in terms of population and the 2.8 million acres of land it controls. In March 2017, members of the tribe protested outside the Tucson offices of Senator John McCain against President Donald Trump's planned border wall which would cross tribal lands.