[Inclosure.—Translation.]
The consul of Mexico at Brownsville, Tex., reports as follows in a
note dated the 27th of January last:
“I regret to bring to your knowledge an outrage suffered by the
Mexican citizen, Eulogio Zambrano, who was attacked from behind
while absolutely defenseless by the ranger, Sam McKenzie, who fired
three shots at him—two of which inflicted wounds, one through the
neck and another through the shoulder, Zambrano now being in serious
danger of death.
“The facts are as follows:
“Eulogio Zambrano, a domestic servant of Mr. Santiago A. Browne,
pawned in Mr. Lastra’s shop a rifle belonging to Browne, and the
Ranger McKenzie brought Zambrano before the owner of the pledge (it
was then 3 o’clock in the afternoon and the pawn shop stands on one
of the most central streets of Brownsville). Zambrano there
confessed to having pawned the rifle and, as he says, tried to run
away when McKenzie fired his pistol at close range; he could, in the
opinion of all the eyewitnesses, very well have seized him with his
hand, for, as above stated, Zambrano carried no arm, or have fired
for the purpose of frightening him, or lastly refrained from a show
of temper and passion on the person of a wounded and defenseless
man, all the more as this is expressly forbidden by the criminal
code of the State—Willson’s, pages 91 and 92, which read word for
word as follows:
“Art. 276 (255) What force may be used:
“In making an arrest all reasonable means are permitted to be used to
effect it. No greater force however shall be resorted to than is
necessary to secure the arrest and detention of the accused. O. C.
229.
“Note 1. Decisions under preceding article.
“In attempting to make an arrest for a petty offense, the officer is
not authorized to shoot at the party fleeing from such arrest.
Tinner V. S., Tex., 128.
“Nor to kill a prisoner who is not attacking or resisting him, but
merely running away from him. Caldwell V. S., 41 Tex., 86. Nor to
strike a prisoner except in necessary self-defense. Skidmore V. S.,
43 Tex., 93. See other decisions upon the subject collated in P. C,
Art. 670, note one, ante.”
But unfortunately, Mr. Secretary, this is not observed in dealing
with Mexican people, and incidents similar to this one occur almost
daily in Texas, as in the case of the shocking murder of the Cerda
brothers, also committed by rangers, and duly reported by me to your
office; it is true that in many cases intervention is precluded by
doubts concerning the rights belonging to them or Mexicans; such was
the case of the Cerda brothers who, under article 1, Chapter I,
Section III of the law of alienage and naturalization, had lost
their rights, inasmuch as the parents, sons of Mexicans, had lost
their nationality, and of the two murdered sons one was over 21
years of age and had not been registered, and the other, less than
21 years old, had, one month before being killed by Ranger Baker,
evidenced his intention and desire to be registered as a Mexican
citizen; but it is not so in the present case, for it was barely
four months since Zambrano had come from Mexico and was in the
service of Mr. Browne.
Ranger McKenzie, the principal of this deed, like those who caused
the treacherous death of the Cerda brothers, was freely walking the
streets of the city, on bail, one or a half hour after the
crime.
