A Border Patrol agent who was accused of intentionally knocking down a Guatemalan migrant with his government-issued vehicle in 2017 sent a text message to a colleague calling migrants "mindless murdering savages," according to court documents.
Agent Matthew Bowen was indicted by a federal grand jury in May of 2018 on charges that he deprived the Guatemalan man of his civil rights and filed a false report in the December 3, 2017, incident. Bowen used his Ford F-150 to strike the victim in the back to stop him from fleeing and arrest him for unlawful entry into the country, a misdemeanor, according to court documents filed in US District Court in Tucson earlier this month.
Bowen pleaded not guilty to the charges, according to local media reports. Bowen admitted to intentionally hitting the victim with his truck in December 4, 2017 text message to a fellow agent, according to court papers.
"I used an f150 to do a human pit maneuver on a guat running from an agent," Bowen wrote." Just a little push with a ford bumper."
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