Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights et al v. Deal et al
Filing
3
MOTION for Leave to Proceed under Pseudonyms by Plaintiffs. (Attachments: # 1 Memorandum of Points and Authorities in Support, # 2 Exhibit A, # 3 Exhibit B, # 4 Exhibit C, # 5 Text of Proposed Order) (jtj)
Exhibit A
"Ga. lawmaker: u.s. border agents should 'shoot
to kill' to defend themselves"
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Ga. lawmaker: U.S. border agents should 'shoot to kill'
to defend themselves
Anti-Defamation League recently condemned similar statements by another lawmaker
By Jeremy Redmon
The AtlantaJournal-Constitution
5:43 p.m. Thursday, January 20, 2011
A state legislator who is spearheading efforts to curb illegal immigration in Georgia said U.S. border authorities
should be empowered to "shoot to kill" under certain circumstances, although he later softened that comment.
"Stop fooling around with it and say, 'If they come across, you have the power to arrest them and arrest them on
the spot,' " state Sen. Jack Murphy, R-Cumming, said during a panel discussion on immigration Wednesday
night in Canton. "And if they start to cause you bodily harm, you have the right to shoot to kill them, like you
would any other criminal."
But in a telephone interview Thursday, Murphy said he misspoke when he said "shoot to kill" and that he could
understand why some people might be concerned about those comments. Murphy, who is drafting omnibus
legislation aimed at illegal immigration, said what he meant was that U.S. border authorities should be
empowered to defend themselves.
"Now, I don't know whether you shoot to kill them or not," said Murphy, the co-chairman of a special legislative
study committee on immigration. "Just ... do what is necessary to defend yourself."
After Wednesday night's event -- which was sponsored by the Republican Women of Cherokee County -
Murphy said he would not step down as chairman of the state Senate's Banking Committee. The legislator was
in the news earlier this week after the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. named him and seven other former
insiders at a failed Alpharetta bank in a lawsuit seeking more than $70 million in damages. The FDIC alleges
gross negligence and various breaches of fiduciary duty involving loans that Integrity Bank made from 2005 to
2007. Murphy was a member of the bank's board of directors during that time.
The "shoot to kill" phrase came up while Murphy was answering a question from someone in the audience who
asked what could be done to better secure the U.S.-Mexican border.
Murphy is the second Georgia legislator in as many years to use the phrase "shoot to kill" in the context of
sealing the border. In October, the Southeast office of the Anti-Defamation League condemned state Rep. John
Yates, R-Griffin, for his contention that troops on the U.S.-Mexico border should be given "shoot to kill" orders.
"I would say the National Guard should be armed ..." Yates said at a political forum last year while he was
running for re-election. "They ought to be armed, and word should leak over to Mexico ... that we will shoot to kill
if anybody crosses. And be serious about this. And if they do that, then there won't be anybody killed because
nobody is going to take a chance on it."
Exhibit A
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Bill Nigut, the Southeast regional director of the Anti-Defamation League, said Murphy's "shoot to kill" comments
send the message that "violence against undocumented workers is acceptable."
"What is truly troubling about that is it to me is another example of the demonization of undocumented workers,"
Nigut said. "It is conceivable that it is the sort of message that encourages people far from the border here in
Georgia to look at undocumented workers as a frightening menace."
Federal law permits U.S. Border Patrol agents to use deadly force to defend themselves and others, but the
agents are also equipped with batons, pepper spray and other items they could use under different
circumstances, said a spokesman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
"When somebody else is presenting that danger of death or serious bodily harm, then deadly force may be
used," said Lloyd Easterling, a spokesman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
In an interview after Wednesday night's panel discussion, Murphy said he also wants to see more U.S. troops
stationed along the U.S.-Mexican border, though he hadn't decided on any numbers. He referred to how U.S.
troops are now deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan and said, "if we have the money to put them there, why can't
we put them down there to protect our own borders?"
There are now about 1,000 National Guardsmen stationed along the U.S.-Mexican border, Easterling said. The
guardsmen are not empowered to arrest and detain people caught illegally crossing the border, Easterling said,
but they do help Border Patrol agents spot them.
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Exhibit A
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Page 2
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