Terry family marks one year anniversary of death of their son, Brian Terry, murdered border patrol agent

By: Sharyl Attkisson
Topics: Law and Order

Brian Terry with his father Kent Terry, Sr. in an undated family photo.

/ CBS News/Terry family

WASHINGTON - One year ago today, Border Patrol Agent Brian A. Terry was gunned down in Arizona near the Mexican border by illegal immigrants armed with weapons from the now-infamous ATF "Fast and Furious" gunwalking operation.

In Fast and Furious, ATF secretly encouraged gun dealers to sell to suspected traffickers for Mexican drug cartels to go after the "big fish." But ATF whistleblowers told CBS News and Congress it was a dangerous practice called "gunwalking," and it put thousands of weapons on the street. Many were used in violent crimes in Mexico.

PICTURES: ATF "Gunwalking" scandal timeline

Read the family's statement

Terry's killing has touched off a firestorm that crossed international borders and trigger investigations, Congressional hearings, denials and admissions to the upper levels of the Justice Department.

A statement issued today by Terry's family raises the notion that responsible government officials should be prosecuted. "We now believe that if it can be shown that laws were broken, then all those responsible for Fast and Furious should be held criminally liable," reads the statement.

Continued Secrecy

365 days after Terry was shot dead, his family still has few answers. The U.S. government continues to keep many details secret and - several weeks ago - moved to seal the case against Terry's alleged attackers, shielding all details from the public and Terry's bereaved family.

Read the affadavit in the Brian Terry killing

Because Terry's murder continues to be wrapped up in the controversy over Fast and Furious, it makes answers doubly difficult to come by. The U.S. Attorney's office in Arizona would normally prosecute the alleged killers there, in the state where the murder occurred. But Arizona's U.S. Attorney at the time Dennis Burke, is linked to the gunwalking operation that allowed the weapons into the hands of Terry's attackers. So the prosecution has been moved from Arizona to a less controversial venue: California.

Several illegal immigrants who were arrested right after Terry's attack near the murder scene, were summarily released and sent back to Mexico. U.S. officials refused to release their names, normally considered part of the public record. CBS News' Freedom of Information requests about the most basic facts in the case have been processed slowly and, ultimately, produced no meaningful information or were denied in total.

More Fast and Furious coverage:
Memos contradict Holder on Fast and Furious
Agent: I was ordered to let guns "walk" into Mexico
Gunwalking scandal uncovered at ATF

Brian Terry's family members say it's hard for them to understand how a year after their loved one's murder, there's still such a cloak of secrecy. They say Brian was part of an elite unit patrolling the border, on the lookout for illegal bandits preying on other illegal immigrants in a known dangerous crossing area.

Terry Family: Condolences and Gratefulness

Today's statement from Terry's family focuses largely on the missing links in the ATF operation that allowed thousands of guns to be trafficked to Mexican drug cartels: who thought it up, and who thought it was a good idea. "Much to our dismay, no one in ATF or DOJ has come forward to accept responsibility for Fast and Furious," says the statement.

Terry's family members also extend condolences to the families of those in Mexico "affected by the violence... caused by the guns of Operation Fast and Furious." And they thank whistleblowers such as ATF Special Agent John Dodson who stepped forward to tell what they knew after Terry was shot.

Sharyl Attkisson
Sharyl Attkisson is a CBS News investigative correspondent based in Washington. All of her stories, videos and blogs are available here.
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by Resculptit June 20, 2012 7:25 AM EDT: The HeadLine should read, "WE AT CBS want to drag the Terry Family back into this Mess one year later." Families may have a personal gathering to remember their dead - but for the news media to make this sound like some One Year Memorial is weird. I remember my family's dead all during the year. I don't need CBS to remind me. This is CBS's One Year Memorial period to keep this issue spinning.; Reply to this comment


by cbunix23 December 18, 2011 10:23 AM EST: Eric Holder, current attorney general of the United States, managed an FBI operation that provided explosives to Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols just prior to the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Building in Oklahoma City on April 19, 1995, according to official documents released during the ongoing investigation into government foreknowledge of the supposed terrorist attack.

Follow the link for the rest of the article: http://americanfreepress.net/?p=1885; Reply to this comment


by hipshotpercusion December 15, 2011 1:22 PM EST: As long as you have utter scum Bags like O-Bozo, Holder and Clinton in charge, you will never get the truth.; Reply to this comment


by hipshotpercusion December 15, 2011 1:15 PM EST: As long as you have utter scum Bags like O-Bozo, Holder and Clinton in charge, you will never get the truth.; Reply to this comment


by HanzelkaJ December 15, 2011 10:08 AM EST: The reason Obama has not gotten rid of Holder? Answer:
Tony Rezko's partner Daniel T. Frawley will be sentenced on Tuesday in the court room of Ronald Guzman. Tony Rezko and Daniel Frawley were partners in Companion Security, their goal was to supply security for an electric plant in Chamchamel Iraq...They secured the use of a military base in Savanna Illinois to trian Iraqi's to use Ak-47's and other assault weapons although the now convicted felons Frawley & Rezko have/had no related experience...Frawley was picked up by the feds in March of 2006 and immediately began working as an informant for the feds seeking the help from Illinois politicians and their staff...Including then Senator Obama, Frawley met with his staffer Seamus Ahern numerous times and wore a wire recording coversations...He kept a copy of the recordings and is using to black-mail/sue his lawyer of 23 years...When Obama was running for President in 2008 he was intereviewed by local press where he said he "didn't know Frawley was Rezko's partner"...The possibity of that statement being ture are slim to none...
What happened with "fast and furious" was/is horrendous...What could of happened IF Frawley and Rezko were successful in bringing Iraqi's to Illinois to train to use assault weapons would have been much worse. The now convicted Frawley was not only not qualified for such a task he suffers from mental illness, was fired from the CPD for being an "extreme racist" and has a history of violence...The media for the most part has ignored this story with the exception of the Chicago Sun-Times, Brenda Elliots RBO, John Batchelor of Human Events, The Chicago Daily Observer, Citizen Wells, Bill Baar Westside...; Reply to this comment


by wfw3536 December 15, 2011 12:04 AM EST: This is so sad for this family, and yet no one from the Attorney Generals office has been fired or facing criminal charges. What we need is an independent council who can look into this terrible decision that provided over 2,000 guns to criminals in Mexico. I am sad that no one seems to care about all of the innocent Mexicans who will also die as result of this action.; Reply to this comment


by expatriate2 December 14, 2011 9:03 PM EST: I appreciate the sympathy for the Terry Family because he was simply one of yours. But there were hundreds of "ours" who died from the arms illegally sent to Mexico and into the hands of the cartels. I see no mention of them here. I have to think of the mother riding a bus when her baby was shot out of her arms by a stray bullet. The 14-year-old boy knocking on the door of his girlfriends house and gunned down only because he saw the faces of men who executed a store owner who refused to pay his protection money.
It isn't only the Terrys. There were many, many more and it seems a shame that they are so easily forgotten.; Reply to this comment


by rshawk December 14, 2011 8:49 PM EST: It's been 1 year and the DOJ is still hoping that the details of Brian Terry's murder and the policies that were involved will evaporate. On March 4 Sharyl Attkisson reported on an internal ATF memo from Scot Thomasson, Chief ATF public affairs division, which he states "Fortunately, the CBS story has not sparked any follow up coverage by the mainstream media and seems to have fizzled." The memo also
references Calderon's visit last March. "he will probably draw attention to the lack of political support for demand letter 3 and project gunrunner." It is evident by this memo that the "state of mind" of the DOJ is to deceive. Lord help the Terry and Zapata families and help our nation.; Reply to this comment


by jt92202 December 14, 2011 7:51 PM EST: The American people need to continue the fight to find out exactly went down with this operation so we can bring closure to the Terry Family! WE THE PEOPLE OWE THEM THIS!!!

To the Terry Family, I am so sorry for your loss and all the red tape you have had to endure since his passing! I hope that someday we can give you the answers you deserve!; Reply to this comment