The family of the slain border agent whose death sparked an investigation into Operation Fast and Furious is calling for the firing of the Justice Department and ATF officials singled out in a recently released Inspector General report.
Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry’s family calls for Attorney General Eric Holder to “immediately ask for the resignation” of the officials found at fault in the long-awaited report, released last week.
“The decisions made by these officials and their failure to stop the flawed tactics of Operation Fast and Furious has created a substantial risk to public safety on both sides of the border,” the family’s statement said. “Their faulty judgment and failure to act has brought discredit on U.S. federal law enforcement officers whose primary mission was and must always be to protect the public. These officials failed in their primary mission and it resulted in the death of Brian Terry.”
Fourteen officials were cited in the Inspector General’s report for failures in the botched gun-walking operation. Holder said after the report’s release that he was referring those pinpointed from the Arizona U.S. Attorney’s office and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives for discipline, but he said he could not divulge further information, citing the Privacy Act. Some of those discussed in the report have said they disagree with the findings.
Terry was killed in December 2010 in a shootout between border patrol agents and Mexican bandits. Two guns found at the scene were later linked to Operation Fast and Furious.
