SASABE, Ariz. (KGUN) — A Tucson non-profit filed a federal claim alleging Homeland Security agents pointed guns at border volunteers before a vehicle pursuit led to them being placed in handcuffs. The volunteers believe they did nothing wrong.
On March 12, Gail Kocourek was driving down the Sasabe border wall, a twice-a-week routine as a volunteer for local non-profit Tucson Samaritans. During her trips, she checks on the camp at the end of the wall that provides humanitarian aid. Along the way, she checks on the Humane Borders water tanks.
As previously reported, the tanks had been vandalized and emptied by vigilantes. Kocourek explained that's who she thought she was seeing when driving by one of the tanks. She described men in plainclothes standing by the wall near the tanks.
"I go, 'It's not border patrol, because I recognize their vehicles.' So I said, 'If it's those vigilantes, I don't want to deal with them,'" Kocourek said.
Kocourek drove to the end of the wall and then turned around. She later returned to the area where she first saw the men.
"We zoom around them, and I see Border Patrol up ahead. I pull over, and I go, 'Oh, thank God.'"
She says she told a Border Patrol agent about the situation, who advised her that the men were federal agents. This was after the men chased Kocourek's vehicle for several minutes.
"They yelled at us to get out. They said 'Put your hands behind your back,' and they slapped the handcuffs up. It happened really fast."
As others in the vehicle were also placed in handcuffs, Kocourek says she was asked why she didn't pull over.
"I don't think it's against the law to drive around people that have guns pointed at you," said Kocourek.
She and the other volunteer with the Tucson Samaritans were released and took their case to local attorney Paul Gattone. Gattone filed a federal claim stating the involved government agency intentionally inflicted emotional distress, assaulted, and falsely arrested his clients.
"It was an assault," Gattone said. "They had not done anything against the law. They were not there was nothing they should have been detained for. It was just out of a whim or the attitude of these federal agents, as for some reason they did something wrong. They were not charged."
Kocourek and the other volunteer are asking for $543,750, but Gattone says it's mainly about accountability.
"It was clear to us that this was a case that we needed to take because, you know, things are crazy now and unacceptable, that federal agents are going to be pointing weapons at people and trying to stop people who did absolutely nothing, who were acting within the law and exercising their rights," Gattone said. "And we needed to take this case because, you know, it's time to stand up and fight back."
The federal claim is a precursor to a lawsuit, and they're waiting to see if there's a settlement or if the claim is denied. KGUN 9 reached out to Homeland Security, but we are told the agency doesn't comment on pending litigation.
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Reyna Preciado is a reporter for KGUN 9, she joined the KGUN 9 team in July of 2022 after graduating Arizona State University. Share your story ideas with Reyna by emailing reyna.preciado@kgun9.com or by connecting on Instagram, or Twitter.
