Texas National Guard member stabbed while off duty in Mexico

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This article is co-published and co-reported with Military Times, an impartial news group reporting on points essential to the U.S. navy. Sign up for its daily Early Bird Brief newsletter here.

A service member deployed on Gov. Greg Abbott’s border mission was stabbed this weekend in Mexico while off duty. He is predicted to recuperate.

The incident occurred early Sunday in Ciudad Acuña, the place he and one other service member on the mission attended a live performance, in accordance with a supply accustomed to the incident.

The injured soldier was transported again to the U.S. in a private car and brought to a hospital in San Antonio for therapy, the supply mentioned.

Texas Military Department public affairs workers didn’t instantly reply to an emailed request for remark relating to the stabbing.

Troops deployed on Operation Lone Star are banned from crossing into Mexico until that journey is authorized, in accordance with a coverage letter obtained by The Texas Tribune and Army Times. Mission leaders describe Mexico as a “High Threat Area” in the memorandum, which specifies that violators may face punishment.

The service members had not been cleared to cross into Ciudad Acuña, which is throughout the border from Del Rio, a South Texas metropolis that has seen massive will increase in migrant crossings during the last two years. It is a serious space of focus for the border mission and is the place an estimated 12,000 Haitian migrants have been camped out beneath a bridge ready to cross into the nation in September 2021.

It is unclear if the service member will face disciplinary motion. Members of the Texas Guard on state duty can face critical penalties for flouting insurance policies — starting from unfavorable efficiency evaluations to prison fees beneath the Texas Code of Military Justice.

After the incident, OLS commanders cited the stabbing in a publication circulated all through the border activity power and exhorted leaders to tighten self-discipline and “know where your people are.” The Tribune and Army Times obtained a replica of the publication, which additionally reminded troopers that “if [they] see another [soldier] performing unsafe acts, tell them to STOP!”