Humanitarian volunteers detained at gunpoint by feds near Arizona-Mexico border

Sasabe, Arizona – In the remote desert of Sasabe, Arizona — a southern corridor heavily crossed by asylum seekers in recent years and regularly traveled by humanitarians, law enforcement, armed groups and ranchers — what began as a weekly routine aid mission for 74-year-old volunteer Gail Kocourek took a frightening turn. 

On March 12, she and 22-year-old fellow volunteer Evan Spry with Tucson Samaritans were stopped at gunpoint and handcuffed by plainclothes federal agents near the U.S.–Mexico border, an incident captured on video that is now raising questions about law enforcement intimidation tactics and the risks faced by humanitarian workers at the border.

The events, according to Kocourek and her legal representation, could lead to a lawsuit against the federal government as they await a response to a legal claim filed in July.

Recently, CALÓ News joined the Tucson Samaritans on one of their trips to the U.S.–Mexico border, where volunteers provide aid to migrants and food for abandoned dogs on the Mexican side of Sasabe, Sonora — animals left behind amid ongoing cartel violence. During the hour-and-a-half drive from Tucson to the desolate border, Kocourek, at the wheel, recounted the events of that day.

Two days before her apprehension, she got word that a vigilante by the name of Anthony Aguero had filmed himself draining a water tank provided by Humane Borders. Days later, when she embarked on her two-to-three times a week volunteer routine along the border wall, she said she saw three armed individuals she believed were vigilantes.

“In my mind, I was convinced they were vigilantes. I’ve seen a lot of vigilantes out here and this was the first thing that came to my mind,” Kocourek recalled. “I told my passengers to film them and to get their license plates. We don’t engage with them. I said, ‘let us continue,’ and that’s what we did.”

Kocourek said she kept driving to the end of the border wall, but as she turned back, she again noticed the same vehicle. “I see the vehicle on a distant hill, and I realized, it’s not Border Patrol, it’s probably those vigilantes. I didn’t want to encounter them, so I went around them,” she said.

A few miles later, she spotted a U.S. Border Patrol vehicle and pulled over, feeling a sense of relief. “I rolled down the window and my passenger told the agent, ‘We’re being chased by guys with guns,’” she said. According to Kocourek, the Border Patrol agent recognized her as she drove a Tucson Samaritans vehicle marked with a red cross and was initially friendly — until a call came over his radio.

“He told me to turn off my vehicle, then said, ‘They are federal agents,’” she recalled. “The truck pulled in behind me and they yelled, ‘Open the doors … get out of the car and put your hands behind your back.’ They put Evan and me in handcuffs.”

Kocourek then asked, “are you going to file charges? On what grounds? And they said, ‘Attempted murder of a federal agent.’” 

According to Paul Gattone, the civil rights attorney representing Kocourek and Spry, the attempted murder allegation “is ridiculous.”

“Gail wasn’t trying to hit anyone, nor was she anywhere close to doing so. That claim was made up to threaten and intimidate them. In fact, no charges were ever filed; the U.S. Attorney’s Office closed the investigation. Our position is that there was no valid reason to confront them at gunpoint, place them in handcuffs or force one of them to the ground, even for a moment.”

Following the incident, two notices of claim were filed against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the parent agency of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). 

In the notices, the volunteers say they were assaulted and falsely arrested by ICE agents during the March 12 encounter near Sasabe, a border town about 70 miles southwest of Tucson. They also claim the experience caused lasting emotional distress. They are seeking more than $500,000 each in damages, including attorney’s fees, for pain and suffering.

“What needs to happen is we need some sort of response from the government — they need to take responsibility and be accountable for their actions. While we are in a holding pattern, we are still working up the case, still investigating, still working with our clients, and we believe we will need to file affirmative litigation in a federal civil rights lawsuit,” he said.

CALÓ News reached out to HSI spokesperson Yasmeen Pitts Okeefe, who said the agency was not offering interviews and encouraged people to follow the case through the court systems. 

In a follow-up email on Sept. 3, Gattone said he had yet to receive any acknowledgment from HSI, a division of ICE and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

“While sometimes a federal agency responds in a timely way to the (claim) to acknowledge or make a counteroffer, it is also not uncommon for the federal agency to ignore the (claim) completely and wait for a full-blown lawsuit to be filed against them. We will need to review with our clients the next steps, recognizing that there is no response yet,” he concluded.

Dawn Page (she/her; Latine) is a freelance writer for CALÓ News. She grew up on the U.S.-Mexico border between Douglas, Arizona, and Agua Prieta, Sonora. She recently earned a Master’s in Bilingual Journalism from the University of Arizona. Her reporting focuses on immigration, borderlands issues, lifestyle, business and entertainment.