"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both" - Benjamin Franklin

Specific notes regarding the encounter appear below:

• All three Border Patrol agents refused to identify themselves. I was forced to read their last names from their name tags with no way to determine the authenticity of the tags.
• The stopping agent immediately demanded my citizenship without explaining the purpose of the stop, the scope of the stop, who she was or who she represented.
• I responded with a request that the agent identify herself.
• After failing to identify herself for a second time, she demanded my citizenship again. I responded by asking her the purpose of the stop. Without answering my question, she demanded that I pull my vehicle to the side of the road to an area where seized vehicles were being loaded onto a tow truck.
• I asked several times if I was being detained. The agents responded by telling me I was not being detained but would then refuse to allow me to leave. This is of course a legal contradiction. If an individual is not being detained, the encounter is consensual and can be broken off at any point without repercussions. If an individual is being detained, he/she cannot leave without facing dire consequences. A law enforcement officer is fundamentally responsible for clearly articulating an individual's status. Failing to do so places everyone at risk.
• At one point during the encounter, an agent demanded that I roll down my window so she could get a better look at me. She was engaging in racial profiling by trying to determine whether or not to detain me based upon the color of my skin and general appearance.
• One of the agents indicated the demand to pull over wasn't based upon 'reasonable suspicion' but rather 'mere suspicion'. He indicated he knew this because he was taught this at the academy. While there are legal definitions for 'probable cause' & 'reasonable suspicion', there's no basis in law to detain an individual based upon 'mere suspicion'.
• My right to travel, my right to privacy, my right to be secure from unreasonable searches and seizures were violated not because these federal agents had 'probable cause' or even 'reasonable suspicion' but rather because they were merely suspicious. Suspicion brought about for having the audacity to request to know who had stopped me and why.
• Near time marker 3:38 in the video below, one of the agents attempted to break into my vehicle on at least two occasions. She can be heard ordering me to unlock the door while lifting up on the door handle. This violation was premised on agents who refused to identify themselves or the purpose of the stop, admitted I wasn't being detained, and who had clearly indicated they lacked 'reasonable suspicion'.
• Towards the end of the clip, one of the agents indicated I was free to go after communicating with someone on her radio. She then told me they had recorded my license plate number and said, "We'll find out who you are".

A YouTube video of the encounter is available below:

	Alternatively, click on the image to the left to play the 6 minute, 6MB wmv file of the Border Patrol roadblock discussed above.

To listen to the audio only, click here for the mp3 file of the stop. I've muted the names of the federal agents in three places and have amplified portions of the audio in order to better hear some of their statements during the stop.

Correspondence

This section contains correspondence between myself and various government officials regarding the incident. I've filed a complaint with the Border Patrol and requested the offices of Congressman Grijalva and Senator Kyl to look into the matter. Contacting Senator Kyl's office was a complete waste of time. They merely forwarded my letter to Tucson Border Patrol Sector Chief Michael Nicley and sent me a copy of the response. On the other hand, Congressman Grijalva's office took my complaint seriously and spent over a year looking into it. At one point, an aid for the Congressman indicated she had never been stonewalled as much by the DHS as she had regarding my complaint.

It should also be noted the Border Patrol packed up their entire 'High Intensity Enforcement Area' operation and moved it to Yuma about two weeks after I posted this page and filed a formal complaint. Additionally, a Homeland Security computer began hitting this website multiple times a day - using up a significant amount of bandwidth in the process. After two weeks passed, I had to block Homeland Security computers from accessing the website in order to stop the harassment.