EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) – More than 200 individuals are facing state charges for participating in a riot in El Paso County. Records show some also were federally charged in connection with an illegal entry to the United States on March 21.
That’s the day a large group of presumptive asylum-seekers tore down razor wire property of the State of Texas and forced their way through a barrier of outnumbered Texas Army National Guard troops.
State court records show seven individuals were charged last Thursday for participating in a riot and also criminal mischief; Junior Evaristo Benitez was additionally charged with assault on a public servant. Another 118 were charged on Friday with participating in a riot, as were 97 more between Saturday and Sunday.
Records show many of those charged remained in custody at the El Paso County Jail on Monday.
Venezuelan nationals like Omar Alejandro Graterol Colmenares and Jose Guillarte Acosta also faced federal charges. The two were charged with improper entry by an alien, committed to federal custody for one day in addition to time already served, then passed on to state custody for prosecution.
Records show Graterol was being held on a $42,000 bond in El Paso County on state charges of riot participation and criminal mischief under $30,000; Guilarte had a $57,000 bond for similar charges.
According to a state court records search, seven were charged with riot participation following an indictment on March 28. The remaining 50 individuals were charged on March 29.
KTSM and Border Report reached out to the Texas Department of Public Safety for comment and to find out if charges against additional defendants are pending. DPS did not immediately respond.
The March 21 events unfolded as hundreds of migrants gathered near the border wall south of El Paso on the same day a federal court put on hold Texas’ controversial SB4 law, which gives local police authority to arrest undocumented migrants.
Tempers flared and a large group of migrants tore down razor wire placed by Texas south of the U.S. border wall and tried to make its way past Texas Guard troops. One guardsman was thrown to the ground and a Honduran national later identified as Everisto Benitez Martinez allegedly stomped on the guardsman’s knee repeatedly, court documents allege.
Benitez has been charged with assault on a public servant.
After the fracas, Texas deployed an additional 200 Guard troops to El Paso, rebuilt and reinforced the razor wire that is considered state property and is constantly playing a recording in Spanish reminding migrants along the Rio Grande that it is illegal to enter the United States between ports of entry.
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