吃瓜直播

Two days before graduating from the State University of New York-Canton with a degree in law enforcement leadership, 21-year-old Jessica Cooke was stopped in her car by Border Patrol agents at a checkpoint on NY Route 37 along the St. Lawrence River鈥檚 maritime border with Canada.

Ms. Cooke has driven through such checkpoints frequently, and she even completed the first phase of U.S. Customs and Border Protection physical training to apply for a CBP job. As she arrived at the checkpoint, there was no indication she鈥檇 crossed the border; indeed, she showed a driver鈥檚 license to confirm her identity and stated where she was coming from, which is more information than she鈥檚 .

The last thing Ms. Cooke could have expected happened: two Border Patrol agents physically assaulted her and shocked her with a stun gun after refusing to answer her repeated question, 鈥淲hy am I being held?鈥� They explained her detention by saying she looked 鈥渘ervous.鈥� The Border Patrol agent who assaulted Ms. Cooke preceded his violence with a smug 鈥淕o for it鈥� after she warned him she鈥檇 sue if he touched her. Contrary to policy, he wasn鈥檛 wearing a visible nametag.

at the agents鈥� brutality recorded by Ms. Cooke鈥檚 cellphone.

CBP has a terrible track record of use-of-force incidents. Until a new commissioner ordered policy changes last year, the agency strongly resisted releasing a damning external report on its uses of force. Since Anastasio Hern谩ndez Rojas was beaten and tased to death on video five years ago, at least have been killed by CBP agents with . CBP鈥檚 own former head of internal affairs says thousands hired during an unprecedented expansion in the post-9/11 era are 鈥減otentially unfit to carry a badge and gun.鈥� This recent history has left a dark cloud over CBP as a whole, including the many officers and agents who act with integrity.

Border Patrol claims authority to operate checkpoints within 100 miles of any land or water border. They are supposed to be limited to immigration-status inquiries but have into general crime control, resulting mostly in . The agents鈥� excuse for detaining Ms. Cooke was to wait an hour for a dog to sniff her car, yet she wasn鈥檛 arrested for contraband or any other reason. The 吃瓜直播 has long worried that while the 100-mile zone is not literally 鈥淐onstitution free,鈥� because constitutional protections still apply, 鈥渢he Border Patrol frequently ignores those protections and runs roughshod over individuals鈥� civil liberties.鈥�

(The approximate spot of the Border Patrol checkpoint where Jessica Cooke stopped her car.)

Ms. Cooke鈥檚 shocking treatment is sadly symptomatic of a pattern: Border Patrol violence is all over the Internet, victimizing those people who question being excessively harassed during their daily activities (and of course not every incident is caught on camera). Take a look at Border Patrol , or while his toddler鈥檚 in the back seat, or Clarisa Christiansen鈥檚 story of what Border Patrol agents did to her and her five- and seven-year-old kids on a remote Arizona road. The incident was so traumatic that it led her to homeschool her children because they became too scared to ride in the car. These incidents occurred 60, 35, and 40 miles from any border.

CBP Commissioner Kerlikowske has improved use-of-force reporting, which the inspector general badly deficient. CBP that incidents are down by almost 30 percent this fiscal year. But the agency鈥檚 use-of-force policy failed to incorporate a clear definition like the Justice Department鈥檚 鈥� any force beyond peaceful handcuffing that compels someone to comply, including pointing a firearm 鈥� so we don鈥檛 know what those stats really mean.

CBP needs to accurately report how many incidents take place and what happens to personnel involved in incidents like Ms. Cooke鈥檚. Are they immediately placed on administrative leave? Are they eventually suspended or fired? How can the public trust that CBP agents they encounter understand constitutional rights, de-escalation techniques, and proper uses of force?

Ms. Cooke鈥檚 senator, , met with CBP about her incident and emerged with 鈥渟erious concerns about lack of transparency and accountability.鈥� CBP must urgently implement the same best police practices the Obama administration recommends for state and local police reform: comprehensive data collection addressing uses of force and racial profiling, body-worn cameras with privacy protections, and a responsive complaint process.

In horrible pain after being manhandled and electroshocked, Ms. Cooke screamed several times at her government assailant: 鈥淲hat the fuck is wrong with you?鈥�

It鈥檚 up to CBP to answer that question for her and many others who鈥檝e been wronged. Otherwise the border communities CBP serves will continue to question whether unjustified Border Patrol violence ever has consequences.