Posted on 10/05/2012 5:50:35 PM PDT by SandRat
NACO, Ariz. — Nearly 100 people gathered Thursday evening for a candlelight vigil at St. Michael’s Catholic Parish in Naco, Ariz., to remember U.S. Border Patrol Agent Nicholas Ivie and his sacrifice.
Family members, law enforcement officials, local residents and members of the media attended the event in honor of Ivie, who was fatally shot around 1:30 a.m. Tuesday, after he and two other agents responded to a ground sensor hit near mile marker 352 on Highway 80, in a remote area of the desert, about seven miles east of Bisbee.
Rev. Seth Polley, vicar of St. John’s Episcopal Church in Bisbee, who organized the vigil, said, "Because of the events that we do here on the border, like the procession and the economic development, it just made sense that we should be here to acknowledge this death, to mourn, and to support the law enforcement community."
Ivie’s death was more of a sacrifice than an ordinary death, said Father Samuel Jandeh, vicar of St. Michael’s Catholic Parish in Naco, Ariz. He added that law enforcement officials expose themselves to danger and they deserve appreciation for it.
"Their life is a life of sacrifice. So often we are tempted to say, ‘but they are being paid for it.’ But I will tell you there are 1,001 people out there who wouldn’t want to do this job they do … no matter how much they are paid," he said.
During the vigil, the Cochise College Bi-National Choir sang in Spanish a hymn called "Together as Brothers." A portion of it translates as "Let’s go walking to an encounter with the Lord. The desert is ours indeed, to a new world let’s go now, where love will reign, where peace will reign."
Ivie, 30, of Sierra Vista, was assigned to the Brian Terry Border Patrol Station in Bisbee. He was a native of Provo, Utah, and joined the U.S. Border Patrol in January of 2008.
His brother, Joel, who is also a Border Patrol agent, said Ivie loved the Mexican people. He told a story that he recently learned about his brother in which he came across a group of illegal immigrants that included a pregnant woman who did not have any shoes.
"Her feet were tied with cloth to protect her feet that were already cut and scraped. So Nick picked her up and carried her for a mile and a half to where she could get the help she needed," he said. "I never knew that because Nick wasn’t one to come and boast about the things that he did. That was just who he was."
The shooting death of Ivie, which occurred about five miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border, is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Cochise County Sheriff’s Office.
Homeland Security Director of Communications Matt Chandler issued a statement on Thursday announcing that Secretary Janet Napolitano will travel to Arizona today, where she will be joined by U.S. Customs and Border Protection Deputy Commissioner David Aguilar and CBP Commander of Arizona Joint Field Command Jeffrey Self to express their condolences to Ivie’s family.
"Secretary Napolitano, Deputy Commissioner Aguilar and Commander Self will also meet with federal, state and local law enforcement officials at the Brian A. Terry Border Patrol Station in Bisbee, Ariz., regarding the ongoing investigation," according to the press release.
They are starting to float a story that is was green on green, but they aren’t giving much in the way of details. It seems hard to believe three guys dismount together to check out a sensor hit and end up shooting at each other, but weird things happen at night.
Condolences to U.S. Border Patrol Agent Nicholas Ivie’s family and friends.
America’s finest, CBP.
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