U.S. Border agent charged with murdering Mexican claims self-defense

By Paul Ingram

TUCSON, Arizona (Reuters) - A U.S. Border Patrol agent charged with murdering a Mexican teenager when he fired across the border in 2012 testified on Monday that he acted in self defense after rocks were thrown at him.

Agent Lonnie Swartz, 43, is charged with murder in the shooting death of 16-year-old Jose Antonio Elena Rodriguez on Oct. 10, 2012. He has pleaded not guilty.

Swartz, who has been on trial in U.S. District Court in Tucson, Arizona, since March 20, sobbed on Monday while recounting the shooting.

The trial, which is expected to run through next week, comes at a time when U.S. President Donald Trump is pushing to build a wall along the border with Mexico in an effort to keep out illegal immigrants and drugs.

Swartz testified that he cautiously approached the border fence and fired in response to the rocks being thrown at him.

"I elected to defend myself, my partner and a police officer, and fired my weapon," said Swartz, who was charged in 2015 and remains on indefinite suspension without pay.

Prosecutors said during opening statements that Swartz "calmly and deliberately" walked up to the border fence and fired 16 shots in less than 34 seconds at Elena Rodriguez, hitting him 10 times including twice in the head.

The teen was shot through a fence separating the cities of Nogales, Arizona - where Swartz was on patrol - and Nogales, Mexico - where Elena Rodriguez was walking.

Swartz's attorney, Sean Chapman, said last month that his client "did what he had to do" when he fired his weapon in response to a hail of rocks that hit a Nogales police dog and a fellow Border Patrol agent. Chapman said then that the use of force was lawful.

(Reporting by Paul Ingram; Editing by Leslie Adler)