Family to sue Border Patrol, seeks $15M in fatal shooting of Tohono O'odham man

TUCSON — Attorneys representing the family of Raymond Mattia, a member of the Tohono O’odham Nation, announced their intent on Friday to file a civil lawsuit against U.S. Customs and Border Protection for the agency’s role in the killing of Mattia.

Three U.S. Border Patrol agents shot Mattia nine times on May 18 as he stood steps away from his front door in the Menagers Dam Village within the Tohono O’odham Nation. Agents fired roughly 38 shots after Mattia lobbed a sheathed machete in front of a Tohono O’odham Nation Police Department officer, according to the notice document that lawyers sent to CBP.

The family’s lawyers are demanding CBP provide $15 million, a comprehensive account of exactly what happened during the shooting, and a public review of CBP’s role in assisting local law enforcement outside of the agency’s stated mission.

If CBP is unwilling to reach a settlement, the family plans to file a civil rights lawsuit against the agency and the agents involved.

Filing a lawsuit was not the first choice for the Mattia family but it’s the choice they’re making as a last resort, according to the family.

About two dozen friends and family of Mattia, 58, gathered with the attorneys outside of the Evo A. DeConcini Federal Courthouse in Tucson on Friday to announce the filing. Attendees held signs with Mattia’s photo that read, “Justice for Raymond Mattia.”

“(The Department of Justice) has chosen to remain silent in protection of the agents who killed Ray (Mattia) and in defiance of their obligation to the public,” said Ryan Stitt, a San Diego-based attorney representing the Mattia family.

In October, federal prosecutors announced that they weren’t going to file charges against the Border Patrol agents who shot and killed Mattia. U.S. Department of Justice employees previously had met with the Mattia family to discuss their decision but refused to share substantive details about what happened.

No charges for agents: Prosecutors will not charge Border Patrol agents in shooting of Tohono O'odham man

When the family asked specific questions about what led to the shooting, a representative from the U.S. Attorney's Office responded by reading from a CBP news release recounting details of the incident, said Tim Scott, an attorney representing the Mattia family.

Scott described the CBP news release as “essentially propaganda” during Friday’s event.

“We were interested in the facts of what happened, not in their propaganda statement,” Scott said.

Attorneys decry edited footage as community is ‘eerily’ devoid of agents

CBP has only released a selective portion of edited body camera footage of the shooting, despite multiple body cameras capturing the entirety of the encounter, according to Stitt. CBP edited audio content in portions of the released body camera footage, Stitt claimed.

“It's clear to us that they've done that in an effort to present a narrative that's most favorable to them,” Stitt said. “There's clear wrongdoing on the part of the agents.”

At least 10 Border Patrol agents were present for the shooting alongside one police officer. Agents shot Mattia several times after he took his hand out of his jacket pocket while he was holding onto his cellphone, according to edited CBP bodycam footage released in June.

Agents appeared to believe that Mattia had a gun in his hand. No gun was found on Mattia after he was shot.

The Tohono O’odham Nation Police Department officer present for the shooting had harassed Mattia “countless” times before the incident, according to Ophelia Rivas, a longtime friend of Mattia who lived nearby.

The Tohono O’odham Nation Police Department had requested assistance from Border Patrol to respond to a "shots fired" call west of the community. The call is what led to agents converging on Mattia’s home.

'We want justice': Family, friends of Tohono O'odham man protest Border Patrol killing

After the shooting, Rivas saw 13 to 14 agents picking up bullet casings near where Mattia was shot. Rivas stayed with the Mattia family near where he was killed.

The agents were laughing and carrying on like they had just done a “great deed,” Rivas said. The agents were discussing what angle they should have shot at or did shoot at, Rivas added.

“It was very disturbing to hear that," Rivas said. “They didn't hide the fact that they were really excited and overjoyed to have killed somebody.”

Police officers were monitoring and guarding Rivas and members of the Mattia family in the hours after the shooting. Officers followed them, even if they only went to the bathroom, Rivas said.

“We felt like we were just under that really intense surveillance and we felt like, ‘Why are we treated like criminals when they killed somebody,’” Rivas asked.

The entire community seems on edge following the shooting, Rivas said. The Border Patrol used to be a constant presence in the community, patrolling the village and parking on the sides of people’s yards.

Now, they’re gone.

“Very eerily, there's no Border Patrol around in the community now,” Rivas said.

DOJ declines to attend news conference

On Wednesday, Stitt invited Rui Wang, the criminal division chief for the U.S. Attorney’s Office, to Friday’s news conference in order for her to address the Mattia family. Wang was in charge of the criminal investigation into the agents who shot Mattia.

Stitt subsequently received word from the U.S. Attorney’s Office that no representative would be present for the event.

“The fact that the U.S. Attorney's Office isn't showing up here today is telling, but it's not surprising,” Scott said. “Their silence is deafening.”

The family’s plan to file a civil lawsuit comes in a legal landscape that has become increasingly difficult for victims to navigate in the wake of a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling. The high court’s ruling in Egbert v. Boule has severely hindered people’s ability to hold Border Patrol agents accountable for acts of excessive force and constitutional violations.

'Point of the spear': Families look beyond U.S. courts to hold border agents accountable

The decision has further limited people’s ability to receive monetary compensation in court against Border Patrol agents.

“We're certainly familiar with the legal landscape that's before us and understanding all of those hurdles that will come before us,” Stitt said in regard to the Supreme Court decision. “We're unbowed by those challenges and we'll press forward.”

‘There's no healing yet’

Rivas still expects a knock at her door when she prepares her coffee every morning. She waits for Mattia to knock and ask, “Oh, is the coffee on?”

“It's just a complete void in our neighborhood,” Rivas said. “It's just a void that doesn't seem to go away.”

Mattia was a father of two as well as a skilled artist, prospector, sculptor, hunter and traditional ceremony singer. Mattia lived most of his life in the community, which sits about a mile north of the U.S.-Mexico border.

Mattia sat on the community council, where he was a strong advocate for keeping everyone safe, Rivas said. He had just celebrated his 58th birthday one day before he was shot and killed by agents.

'My baby brother': Family of Tohono O'odham man speaks out after Border Patrol shooting

“It just seems like there's no healing yet,” Rivas said.

Have a news tip or story idea about the border and its communities? Contact the reporter at josecastaneda@arizonarepublic.com or connect with him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @joseicastaneda.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Lawsuit coming in fatal Border Patrol shooting of Tohono O'odham man