Human smuggler is just a cute, pro-illegal immigration term for slave trader. The United States Navy once had an entire squadron that did nothing but patrol the Atlantic looking for slave ships, and they were hardly concerned with "due process" when it came to stopping that.

Why should this be any different?

Absolutely, Gunpowder, absolutely.

So, you "play with snakes" and somehow, we're all supposed to be surprised and saddened when you get bit?

Heh!

Throwing rocks at a Border Patrol agent isn't necessarily a bright thing to do.

I presume he hoped to get in a head shot and knock the officer out in order to take his weapon, and was counting on the typical reluctance of LEOs to not respond with deadly force if not actually being shot at.

I would suggest that the Border Patrol treat all such rock throwing as potentially life-threatening.

Rock-throwing *is* life-threatening, not just "potentially"--he reacted accordingly.

"Human smuggler" ia not just another term for slave trader. Some human smugglers are slave traders. The term has been around for longer than the current debates about illegal immigration.

Gunpowder Chronicle has an interesting take on history. The Africa Squadron to which he refers did not ignore due process. Ships that were seized were entitled to trial. Most of the slavers were acquitted, though a handful received small fines. The total number of seizures averaged just over 2 per year, though there were two period of over three years during which not a single ship was seized. Of the seizures, just over half even went to trial.

So to turn your argument around, the US Navy patrolling for slave ships was very concerned about due process, so why should this be any different?

@Russ - That's a pretty heavy presumption as to what this 15-year-old boy intended, especially since you think it is strong enough to warrant forfeiting his life.