News; International
Back of the Book: More Shots Fired at U.S. Border Patrol on Mexican Border
Bill O'Reilly

11/14/2000
Fox News: The O'Reilly Factor
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O'REILLY: In the "Back of the Book" segment tonight: THE FACTOR continues its
investigation of violence
along the Mexican border. We've already documented two occasions where Mexican
authorities shot at

American federal agents. In the first incident, Mexican troops actually crashed
through a fence in Texas, came
on to American soil and shot at two border agents who were on horseback. Now
comes word that in California
more shots have been fired at American agents, and the story is being kept under
wraps.

Joining us now from San Diego is the president of the National Border Patrol
Council, T.J. BONNER.

So tell us, Mr. Bonner, what happened?

T.J. BONNER, PRESIDENT, NATIONAL BORDER PATROL COUNCIL: On October 24,
at just after noon, a
U.S. Border Patrol helicopter clearly marked dropped off two agents close to the
border, obviously on our side
of the border. Shortly after that, these agents came under fire, at least eight shots
were fired at them by 10
Mexican military troops. The agents clearly identified themselves as Border Patrol
agents and told the troops
that they were in the United States. The troops nonetheless advanced into the
United States, telling the
agents to come out of the brush. The agents again identified themselves, told the
Mexican troops that they
were in the United States and they needed to go back to Mexico. When
reinforcements started to arrive from
the Border Patrol, the Mexican military got into a minivan, at least some of them
did, and drove off.

O'REILLY: All right, so how many shots were fired at the U.S. agents?

BONNER: At least eight.

O'REILLY: And nobody was hurt, obviously, right?

BONNER: No, nobody was hurt, thank God.

O'REILLY: OK, investigation, subsequent investigation revealed what?

BONNER: Well, the U.S. Border Patrol claims they did an investigation, although we
have it on good authority
that there never was an investigation, that the matter was just swept under the
carpet.

O'REILLY: So this is the -- this is what happens on most of these things, they don't
want any international
incidents, so when this stuff happens, they just let it go, right?

BONNER: Right.

O'REILLY: Is that orders from the Justice Department?

BONNER: I'm not sure where it's coming from. It could be Justice. It could be State. It
could be coming from as
high as the White House.

O'REILLY: Now, the two guys who were -- are they angry, the two guys who were in
the brush getting shot at
by the Mexican troops?

BONNER: They're not the only ones who are angry. All Border Patrol agents are
angry, we're angry at the
Mexican government for allowing this to happen, for letting their troops take
potshots at our agents. We're
angry at the U.S. government for trying to sweep this under the carpet.

O'REILLY: Now, when you hear about reports like this, what do you, yourself, do as
a president of the union?
What do you do?

BONNER: Well, in the last incident, the one in New Mexico, we wrote to just about
everybody that we could
think of asking for a full and complete investigation. We got back a letter from the
president of the United
States that addressed some water boundary issue, it wasn't even the right issue. We
got back a letter from
the head of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, the commissioner,
responding on behalf of the
attorney general some four months after the fact telling us that it was all right,
that this would never happen
again, and here we are. It happened again.

O'REILLY: All right, so basically, the situation we have down there from Brownsville
to San Diego is you have
U.S. Border Patrol agents on our side being shot at by Mexican military. Now, we've
heard accusations that
the military assists drug runners across the border and, you know, is actively
involved in the smuggling of
narcotics into the United States. Do you believe that this was what this was about in
this incident?

BONNER: It's really hard to say, because we'll never know. Mexico denies that their
troops shot at our people.
And amazingly, the U.S. Border Patrol says that the reason they dropped the
investigation is that the question
of he said/she said. But we have four U.S. Border Patrol agents swearing that these
are the facts. And then
we have Mexico denying. And somehow, in their eyes, this makes for a he said/she
said. We can't sort this
out.

O'REILLY: Well, I know who I believe, Mr. Bonner. And I think know who the millions
of people watching THE
FACTOR right now believe. And they believe the border agents. We know this is
going on. And you know the
tragedy of this: The elite media won't report on it. You didn't get any national
publicity on this at all, did you?

BONNER: No, we didn't.

O'REILLY: Well, it's a shame. Now, you let us know when this happens again, or
what -- you investigate it
yourself. You let us know every step of the way what happens, and we'll report it to
the folks. OK?

BONNER: Great. I appreciate it.

O'REILLY: All right, Mr. Bonner. We'll do everything we can to help you guys out
down there.

And next, we'll wrap things up with "The Most Ridiculous Item of the Day" and some
of your mail.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'REILLY: Time now for "The Most Ridiculous Item of the Day."

Like the ballots in Palm Beach County, we had some confusion by folks visiting our
Web site yesterday.
Walker English, who lives in Houston, e-mailed me, saying: "I read on your Web site
that Jesse Jackson was
coming on THE FACTOR. What happened to him?"

What the Web site should have said is that we were doing a story about Reverend
Jackson. He refuses to
come on this program because we've been investigating his finances and have many
questions about his
failures to itemize expenses -- big expenses. Jackson knows we'll ask him about
this, and, obviously, doesn't
want to answer. But he's welcome to come in here any time. A conversation with the
reverend on THE
FACTOR might clear the air a bit, and would certainly not be ridiculous.

Finally tonight: the mail, much of it about Jesse Jackson's intrusion into the Florida
election situation.

Lonnie Polk, Kentwood, Michigan: "Mr. O'Reilly, you are in no moral position to say
that Jesse Jackson is a
troublemaker. He has a right to go anywhere and say what he wants to say. It
seems you have a personal
vendetta against Reverend Jackson."

Mintrel Martin, Birmingham, Alabama: "O'Reilly, as a black man, I agree with your
position regarding Jesse
Jackson. It is wrong to tie in the disenfranchisement of the black vote with what is
going on right now."

Sally Hannah, San Jose, California: "Would Jesse Jackson be down in Florida if
Governor Bush were
challenging the ballots?" Only playing golf, Ms. Hannah.

Ken Burney, Ann Arbor, Michigan: "I listened to the talk about Jesse Jackson and all
I have to say is: Hey,
O'Reilly, cut us some slack and knock of the political commentary."

What hypocritical commentary, Mr. Burney? Everything I've said about Jesse Jackson
is absolutely true --
period.

Joyce Johnson, Jefferson City, Missouri: "O'Reilly, you are right. Jackson has no right
to break down our
nation. When I heard you speak, I said: Finally, we have a media individual who
has the guts to call it the way
it really is."

Mary Wasinger, Springfield, Missouri: "I believe it was unseemly for Jerry Falwell to
call Jesse Jackson a
'hot-dog.' Falwell needs to be at home praying."

David Vinantonio, Willoughby Hills, Ohio: "O'Reilly, Jerry Falwell was intimidated
after you shouted him down."

No one is ever shouted down on this program, David. You better adjust that
volume. And Reverend Falwell is
never intimidated.

Sharon Harmon, Los Angeles: "O'Reilly, what a farce! Jerry Falwell tells us that Jesse
Jackson runs where the
camera is. And Falwell doesn't?"

Well, he didn't go to Florida, Ms. Harmon.

Helen Joy, Melbourne, Florida: "Bill, your defense of Al Gore in your exchange with
Falwell makes me doubt
your visual and auditory senses."

About Hillary Clinton's proposed bill that would dump the Electoral College and
institute a popular vote for
president, Dr. Gonzalo Sanchez, Sioux Falls, South Dakota: "Bill, you are absolutely
right: The abolition of the
Electoral College will result in the permanent control of the government by
whomever can buy the masses in
the large population centers."

Leslie Baker, Los Angeles: "O'Reilly, you are totally wrong about the Electoral
College. Voters in Wyoming
have more influence than I do here in California. How fair is this?"

Bob Prather, McLean, Virginia: "Mr. O'Reilly, I have been watching you for more
than a year and haven't been
able to determine your political bias."

That's because I don't have a political bias, Mr. Prather. I vote for people who are
honest and have the ability
to solve tough problems. I don't care what party they are in.

And Rick Goldsberry, Chillicothe, Ohio: "Whoops, Lanny Davis could not name one
Republican partisan
demonstrating in Florida. Your no-spin zone works, Bill."

And Barry A'Hearn, Cedar Rapids, Iowa: "Mr. O'Reilly, my parents watch THE
FACTOR. Could you tell them
that a signed copy of THE FACTOR book is at the top of my Christmas wish list?"

Be happy to pass that information on, Barry, in the spirit of the holidays, of course.

And if you would like to pass on some information to us, the e-mail address:
oreilly@foxnews.com --
oreilly@foxnews.com. U.S. mail: THE FACTOR, Fox News Channel, 1211 Avenue of the
Americans, NYC,
10036. And altogether now: name and town, name and town, name and town on all
correspondence. And
there is the Web site.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

MICHAEL KEATON, ACTOR: I wonder where a guy, an everyday Joe like myself, can
find a little action?

(END AUDIO CLIP)

O'REILLY: On the Web site, Beetlejuice! Get on there. My column for WorldNet
Daily is about vanishing
values in America. And we also have our Christmas gift offer of signed books on the
Web site -- and "Talking
Points Memo," "Most Ridiculous." Get online with THE FACTOR for the time of your
life.

That is it for us today. As always, we thank you for watching. I'm Bill O'Reilly. See
you again next time.

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