Court documents reveal details of migrants-Texas National Guard confrontation at border

Hundreds of migrants rushed toward Texas National Guard troops, allegedly assaulting soldiers while encouraging other migrants to enter the U.S. illegally as some chanted "La union hace la fuerza," court documents state.

Court documents reveal new details of what played out on March 21 at the U.S.-Mexico border in El Paso's Lower Valley as the migrants confronted National Guard troops after breaching concertina wire barriers.

Some of the migrants chanted "La union hace la fuerza," meaning "together we are stronger" in English, as they pushed past Operation Lone Star soldiers positioned on U.S. territory between the Rio Grande and the actual border fence, according to state complaint affidavits.

Nine of the migrants involved in the confrontation face felony state charges. Seven of those migrants are in state custody and two remain outstanding on felony warrants. Another 214 migrants face state misdemeanor "riot participation" charges.

El Paso County Public Defender Kelli Childress, whose office is representing most of the migrants, said on April 2 that "the charges against these migrants are false. They're an attempt to inflame the public."

In total, 682 migrants were detained in the March 21 confrontation with Gov. Greg Abbott's Operation Lone Star forces, the affidavits state. All of the migrants are facing federal illegal entry charges.

Two National Guard soldiers were injured in the clash that saw migrants aggressively pushing past razor wire barriers as they rushed to the steel border fence to surrender to Border Patrol agents to seek asylum or other immigration relief.

It's not the first time hundreds of migrants have gathered on the north side of the Rio Grande. At times, Border Patrol agents created mobile processing setups for asylum-seeking migrants north of the Rio Grande in El Paso.

Migrants became violent, outnumbered National Guard soldiers

The lead up to the breach of the razor wire barriers started when more than 600 hundred migrants began to gather about 8:55 a.m. March 21 at Gate 36 of the border fence in El Paso's Lower Valley. Gate 36 is about 8 miles from Downtown El Paso.

Texas National Guard troops claimed the migrants began to become violent about 10:45 a.m. as about 100 migrants "forced themselves against the additional security barrier, cutting the concertina wire with the goal to destroy and breach the security barrier to make illegal entry into the U.S.," the affidavits state.

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The details of the "riot" in the affidavits filed by Texas Department of Public Safety troopers are from interviews with Texas National Guard troops, U.S. Border Patrol agents and the migrants, as well as multiple videos taken of the incident.

National Guard troops assaulted

In nearly 20 court documents filed in Texas state district court reviewed by the El Paso Times, only one migrant, 21-year-old Junior Evaristo Benitez-Martinez, of Venezuela, is explicitly named as having physically assaulted a National Guard soldier.

Benitez-Martinez is facing state felony charges of rioting, criminal mischief and assaulting a public servant.

Court documents state the eight other migrants charged with state felony charges "were present during the breach and participated in the breach which led to damage to the temporary border barrier, assaults to (troopers), and addition to interfering with the duties who were conducting security duties," the affidavits state.

A National Guard soldier saw the group of migrants run toward the troops and attempted to stand in front of the group, the affidavit states. He then fell to the ground as the migrants allegedly pushed him. The soldier said he saw Benitez-Martinez "purposefully and with malice" stomp on one of his knees multiple times, the affidavit states.

The soldier identified Benitez-Martinez as the suspect because of the clothes Benitez-Martinez was wearing and the "small amount of chin hair" he had, the affidavits state.

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Another soldier was "pushed, shoved, kicked in the shins" by multiple migrants. One "unknown" man was caught on video allegedly punching the soldier in the chin, the affidavits state. Another "unknown" man is seen on video attempting to take away the soldier's gun.

The other eight migrants facing state felony charges are:

• Keider Jose Zurita Aponte, 21, of Venezuela. Charges: rioting – felony, criminal mischief and assault public servant.

• Gregori Jose Guilarte-Acosta, 18, of Venezuela. Charges: rioting – felony, criminal mischief and assault public servant.

• Omar Alejandro Graterol Colmenares, 27, Venezuela. Charges: rioting – felony, criminal mischief and assault public servant.

• Joshua Fernando Garcia Juarez, 18, of Guatemala. Charge: rioting – felony.

• Luis Jesus Chacon, 27, of Venezuela. Charge: rioting – felony.

• Martin Elias Villasis Cedeno, 46, of Ecuador. Charge: rioting – felony.

• Juan Jose Colorado Gutierrez, 34, of Venezuela. Charges: rioting – felony, criminal mischief and assault public servant.

• Gabriel Enrique Angarita Carrasquero, 22, of Venezuela. Charges: rioting – felony, criminal mischief and assault public servant.

Gutierrez and Carrasquero are wanted in connection with the "riot."

Migrants gave statements to Border Patrol agents

The large group of migrants allegedly involved in the confrontation was made up of men and women from Venezuela, Guatemala, Ecuador, Colombia, Cuba, Nicaragua, Honduras and El Salvador, Texas Department of Public Safety officials said.

Zurita Aponte was interviewed by a Border Patrol agent after his arrest and admitted to he acquired a bolt cutter and breached the fence line, the affidavit states.

He said he heard about an "uprising" near the U.S. fence and jumped the fence where he was immediately confronted by a soldier. He jumped over the soldier to evade capture, the affidavits state. He added he cut some of the concertina wire.

Zurita Aponte said he had organized migrants into lines to get them ready to cross the border, the affidavit states. He then "joined the rioters in their surge to infiltrate the C-wire at all cost," affidavits state.

Chacon, another defendant, told investigators he was selling marijuana to migrants and had been charging migrants money to go into Mexico to buy them food, affidavits state.

Guilarte-Acosta told investigators he was at the front of the crowd and saw soldiers being trampled, affidavits state. Videos allegedly showed Guilarte-Acosta pulling a fence outward to create room as he assisted at the main breach point.

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Graterol Colmenares said he was part of the "riot" and helped a woman and her two girls illegally enter the U.S., the affidavit states.

Zurita Aponte, Chacon, Guilarte-Acosta, Graterol Colmenares, Cedeno and Garcia Juarez allegedly admitted to participating in the incident. They each told investigators what they did "was wrong and illegal, but did not want to turn back because (they) saw an opportunity to cross," the affidavit states.

Gutierrez and Carrasquero were seen on video participating in the "riot" but were processed and released by federal officials before state charges were filed because of a lack of space to detain the men, affidavits state. Gutierrez is in Arizona and Carrasquero is in San Antonio, affidavits state.

Aaron Martinez may be reached at amartinez1@elpasotimes.com or on Twitter @AMartinezEPT.

This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Court documents reveal new details about 'border riot' with migrants