19 episodes
Rediscovering The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com
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- News
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4.7 • 108 Ratings
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SEASON THREE: Border Patrol Agent Lonnie Swartz responded to a drug smuggling attempt, leaving his assigned post at a Nogales port of entry on Oct. 10, 2012. The night would end with 16-year old Jose Antonio Elena Rodriguez dead on the Mexican side of Ambos Nogales. The event would begin a nearly decade-long court battle for the Elena Rodriguez family as they sought justice for the killing. It also would be a historic moment for the U.S. Border Patrol when Swartz became the first agent to be federally charged on multiple counts, including murder. The case would draw greater scrutiny to the agency and the U.S. court system. What does a cross-border killing mean for people on both sides of the fence? What is the federal government’s use of force policy? Do Mexican nationals have the right to sue in U.S. courts? Families seeking justice would get an answer years later, when another cross-border shooting reached the U.S. Supreme Court. In this season of Rediscovering, host Rafael Carranza focuses on a case that changed the way the U.S. patrols its southern boundary with Mexico and its lasting impacts on both sides of the border.
SEASON TWO: In April 2010, Arizona enacted the Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act, better known as Senate Bill 1070. The state law required police officers to inquire about the legal status of anyone they thought might be in the country illegally. But what would make an officer think someone was in the country illegally?To its opponents, it codified and provided legal cover for racial profiling, something that continues to be an issue. To its supporters, SB 1070 tackled the issue of illegal immigration in a way that Washington would not. The law was a state-level response to a national issue that had stalled in Congress. It sought to break the federal log jam and show the nation that if Congress wouldn't tackle immigration reform, Arizona would. Ten years later, the law played a role in reducing the size of the state’s undocumented population and unquestionably reshaped Arizona politics. It also may have influenced the political rise of President Donald Trump. In season two of Rediscovering, we'll retrace the history of SB 1070: how it happened, who advocated for it and why it still matters a decade later. We’ll speak to former Governor Jan Brewer, SB 1070 architect Russell Pearce, Arizona’s senior Senator Kyrsten Sinema, and young Latino and immigrant activists whose lives were forever shaped by the legislation. This is Rediscovering: SB 1070 for The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com.
SEASON ONE: Our show focused on Don Bolles. Bolles was an investigative reporter for The Arizona Republic in the 1960s and '70s. After years of reporting on corruption in the racing industry, he was killed by a car bomb in 1976. Decades later, we found cassette tapes of his phone calls from the '70s. With those tapes, we're telling the story of Don's life and his quarrels with the mafia before his death and how his spirit was crushed long before his murder.
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S3 EP04: A continuing quest for justice
After two criminal trials against Lonnie Swartz wrapped up in Tucson, Jose Antonio’s family turned to their civil lawsuit against the agent.
Swartz’s attorneys argued that the agent had qualified immunity from prosecution in the case because he was carrying out work for the federal government. They also argued the teen’s family had no standing to sue because Jose Antonio did not have strong ties to the U.S.
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco allowed the family’s lawsuit to move forward. But another case from a Mexican family in Ciudad Juarez who was in a similar circumstance stopped any momentum.
In June 2010, Border Patrol Agent Jesus Mesa Jr shot and killed 15-year-old Sergio Adrian Hernandez Guereca along the El Paso and Ciudad Juarez border. The Guereca family also filed a civil lawsuit against Mesa, but the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals’ decision clashed with judges in San Francisco.
Because of the opposing decisions, the Supreme Court of the United States decided to review the case out of El Paso. This would settle the question about what happens when a U.S. Border Patrol agent shoots and kills someone across the border in Mexico.
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S3 EP03: A historic legal showdown
In a historic move, U.S. federal prosecutors charged Lonnie Swartz, a Border Patrol agent, with three separate charges in the shooting and killing of 16-year-old Jose Antonio Elena Rodriguez.
The most severe of the charges was for second degree murder, that meant prosecutors believed Lonnie had intentionally killed Jose Antonio. It was now their responsibility to prove that in court.
Bringing Swartz to trial took more than six years. In March 2018, the month-long murder trial kicked off in Tucson, about 60 miles north of Ambos Nogales.
A jury of 12 men and women - plus four alternates - would decide if Swartz was guilty of the three charges against him and could bring an end to Jose Antonio's family journey toward justice.
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S3 EP02: An identity revealed
It did not take long for the family of 16-year-old Jose Antonio Elena Rodriguez to start putting pressure on U.S. authorities.
They demanded that the U.S. Border Patrol release the name of the agent who had fired his gun from Arizona into Mexico in Ambos Nogales.
In July 2014, attorneys for Jose Antonio’s family filed a lawsuit in the United States on behalf of Araceli Rodriguez. The lawsuit accused the agent of violating Jose Antonio’s civil rights. The judge in the case would later order his name to be released to the public: Agent Lonnie Swartz.
After the shooting, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection faced questions from the public on its use of force of policy and the lack of accountability when investigating misconduct and wrongdoing.
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S3 EP01: A metal cross and a painful memory
A U.S. border agent shot 16 times through the gaps in the border fence in the span of 34 seconds on the night of October 10, 2012.
Ten bullets struck and killed 16-year-old Jose Antonio Elena Rodriguez, who was standing on the Mexico side of Ambos Nogales, a binational community.
The border agent claimed someone was throwing rocks over the fence and that he fired in self-defense. Jose Antonio’s family disputes that it was him.
The shooting set Jose Antonio’s mother, Araceli Rodriguez, and grandmother, Taide Elena, on a quest to seek answers and justice for his death.
Details about what happened on the U.S side of the border would stay under wraps for years. In the meantime, Jose Antonio’s family mobilized to press the U.S. government to take action.
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Coming Soon - Rediscovering: Killed Through the Border Fence
It’s been almost a decade since a boy in Mexico was shot dead by a Border Patrol agent in the United States.
His family couldn't believe it. And federal prosecutors didn't let it pass, even though Border Patrol agents rarely are scrutinized for excessive force.
Recorded and retold in Spanish and English, these stories go beyond the killing of Jose Antonio Elena Rodriguez in search of something still elusive at the border: justice.
The ripple effects of the violence that night live on at the U.S.-Mexico border today.
Jose Antonio’s story, his family’s grief and persistence in seeking accountability for his death and how the international border affects life in the twin cities known as Ambos Nogales are the subject of a new podcast by The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com.
It's called: “Rediscovering: Killed Through the Border Fence." Season 3 in the Rediscovering series launches Sept. 12.
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How did SB 1070 shape the 2020 election? Two politicos weigh in
Season two of Rediscovering, a podcast from The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com, explored the events leading up to and following the passage of Senate Bill 1070 in Arizona.
The 2010 “show me your papers” law was met with pushback from Latino organizers, grassroots activists, DACA recipients and more.
That pushback didn’t end after SB 1070 was signed. Latino activists continued to organize. They pushed for voter registration. They rallied around local candidates. They helped elect Democrats like Sheriff Paul Penzone and Krysten Sinema.
Now, the 2020 election has come and gone. For the first time since 1996, Arizona voted for a Democrat for president. Joe Biden’s narrow victory was the work of multiple voting blocs and a confluence of events that made for an unforgettable year and an election cycle that will be looked back on for decades to come.
In the immediate aftermath, we wanted to revisit some of the voices you heard in Rediscovering. In this epilogue, we’re bringing together two people from our show to discuss SB 1070’s effect on the election: Tony Valdovinos and Chuck Coughlin.
Valdovinos is a Democratic organizer and DACA recipient who was called to action by SB 1070. In 2010, Chuck was an adviser to Republican Governor Jan Brewer.
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Customer Reviews
Phenomenal
The storytelling, the music, the sound design, the attention to detail — A+. We get to hear from Bolles himself, one of a small handful of U.S. journalists murdered on home soil because of their work, in his own voice through recently unearthed archival tapes. These are taped conversations between Bolles and sources, readers, politicos and others.
To the show’s credit, it does NOT deify or defame Mr. Bolles. It sticks to the facts, noting when Mr. Bolles may have been “overzealous” in his reporting or even somewhat paranoid. Ultimately, he paid for his work with his life. It’s a stirring story, and a must-listen.
Great reporting
I thoroughly enjoyed this podcast. I grew up hearing about Don Bolles and the mafia in Phoenix. This podcast brought Don to life as a person. I love the context of his reporting and passion to find the truth.
Richard Ruelas is a fantastic journalist and raconteur. Please do more podcasts!
Amazing Listen!
I am a native Phoenician and was a new Phoenix Police Officer when Don Bolles was murdered. This horrific crime affected the Phoenix Police Department and the City of Phoenix greatly. My sleepy little home town suddenly changed, and not for the better.
When I heard about this Podcast, I couldn’t wait to listen to it. My husband, also a retired Phoenix Police Officer and I just listened to the podcast in its entirety during a 7 hour car trip. It was captivating. So many familiar names and places; The Phone Booth, Ivanhoe Bar and Durant's, where my husband spent more than a few shifts as a Vice Detective. And the Clarendon Hotel where my Surprise 40th Birthday Celebration was held.
Richard Ruelas does an incredible job of chronicling this story using the contents of Don Bolles recently discovered notes and taped interviews along with taped interviews from investigators and more recent interviews conducted by Richard Ruelas. Richard's conversation with Don Bolles' widow, Rosalie, was particularly poignant. Don Bolles was clearly “the one” for Rosalie and you can hear the pain resonating in her voice as she speaks about this tragic event and unimaginable loss.
I have a question about Don Bolles’ tapes and notes which were archived by the Arizona Republic after his death. Did the police investigators ever see these notes or listen to the tapes, before they were archived? I assumed that the Phoenix Police Department investigators would have sought a Search Warrant for the contents of Don Bolles' desk and files, in search of clues into this horrible crime.
Finally, Kudos to Richard Ruelas for a story well told. He was a perfect narrator and easy to listen to!