{"id":126588,"date":"2026-01-09T12:35:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-09T12:35:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/126588\/"},"modified":"2026-01-09T12:35:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-09T12:35:08","slug":"commentary-hbo-released-an-explosive-border-patrol-documentary-why-is-its-star-angry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/126588\/","title":{"rendered":"Commentary: HBO released an explosive Border Patrol documentary. Why is its star angry?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

You\u2019re HBO, and your newest release is an explosive documentary about one of the most controversial sectors of the United States government: the Border Patrol<\/a>. What do you do to get it as much attention as possible?<\/p>\n

We\u2019re seeing their strategy play out right now.<\/p>\n

\u201cCritical Incident: Death at the Border\u201d recounts the death of Anastasio Hern\u00e1ndez Rojas<\/a>, a 42-year-old undocumented immigrant who died in 2010 days after immigration agents handcuffed, beat and Tasered him near the San Ysidro Port of Entry after trying to deport him to Mexico. Border Patrol at the time said they used force after Hern\u00e1ndez Rojas, who had lived in this country since he was 15, resisted them.<\/p>\n

The case drew international attention and Hern\u00e1ndez Rojas\u2019 family received a $1-million settlement<\/a> from the federal government, which declined to file criminal charges<\/a> against those involved in his death even though the San Diego County coroner\u2019s office ruled it a homicide. Enter John Carlos Frey, a reporter who has pursued the story for nearly 15 years and who is one of the protagonists in \u201cCritical Incident.\u201d<\/p>\n

He knocks on the doors of agents who were there when Hern\u00e1ndez Rojas died, discovers footage that contradicts the Border Patrol\u2019s official account and uncovers a secretive Border Patrol unit tasked with the \u201cmitigation\u201d of use-of-force incidents that was disbanded in 2022. The documentary includes an interview with a whistleblower who claimed bosses told him to doctor evidence to exculpate the agency in the death of Hern\u00e1ndez Rojas. It also alleges the cover-up went all the way up to Customs and Border Protection commissioner Rodney Scott, who was Border Patrol deputy chief for the San Diego region when Hern\u00e1ndez Rojas died. <\/p>\n

Scott appears near the end of \u201cCritical Incident\u201d to dismiss those \u201callegations\u201d and declines to comment about any culpability those involved may have had, citing ongoing litigation. \u201cThis case from over a decade ago was thoroughly investigated and resolved by the Department of Justice and local law enforcement,\u201d a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson told the Times in a statement when I asked for comment about the documentary\u2019s findings. \u201cEfforts to malign CBP and ICE officers as lawbreakers are slanderous, irresponsible, and only reveal the media\u2019s eagerness to mislead the American people.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cCritical Incident\u201d is taut, disturbing, timely and a brisk hour and a half. It deserves as many viewers as possible and a publicity campaign as ubiquitous as what HBO is currently pushing for its hit hockey romance, \u201cHeated Rivalry.\u201d<\/p>\n

Instead, the network released \u201cCritical Incident\u201d on Dec. 29, when most Americans were lost in a haze of Christmas leftovers, \u201cAvengers: Endgame\u201d reruns and college football bowl games. It\u2019s not listed alongside other recently released documentaries on HBO\u2019s website, and I wasn\u2019t able to find it on the network\u2019s streaming app\u2019s \u201cJust Added\u201d tab. <\/p>\n

Director Rick Rowley was diplomatic about his documentary\u2019s \u201cdifficult\u201d release date, saying he has \u201climited insight\u201d into HBO\u2019s decision. He\u2019s nevertheless confident \u201cthis film is going to have a long life because these [Border Patrol] issues are only more pressing as the days pass.\u201d<\/p>\n

Frey wasn\u2019t as polite: \u201cIf I was an executive and released it on that date, I would be fired.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Rodney <\/p>\n

Rodney Scott, then-nominee for commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, arrives for a Senate confirmation hearing in April 2025. <\/p>\n

(Stefani Reynolds \/ Bloomberg via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

An HBO spokesperson pushed back on Frey\u2019s criticism, stating, \u201cThe documentary was actually released during one of the highest usage times on the platform and we are proud to say the film is doing very well, even showing up in the top 10 rail.\u201d<\/p>\n

In development for four years, Frey said \u201cCritical Incident\u201d was supposed to air just before the 2024 election. He showed me a text message from a senior producer attesting to that. But HBO held on to it even as a Senate committee grilled Scott about Hern\u00e1ndez Rojas\u2019 death<\/a> during his confirmation hearing last April, which isn\u2019t included in the documentary. The documentary didn\u2019t air even as the Border Patrol\u2019s invasion of cities<\/a> far from the U.S.-Mexico border throughout last year made the story \u201cCritical Incident\u201d told more relevant than ever.<\/p>\n

HBO \u201cburied it on purpose,\u201d Frey, 56, told me over breakfast in Boyle Heights. He blames the current political environment \u2014 specifically, Netflix\u2019s proposed $82.7-billion bid<\/a> to acquire HBO\u2019s parent company, Warner Bros., which federal regulators would have to approve. The last thing executives wants to do right now, Frey argued, is anger President Trump by promoting a documentary that attacks his deportation deluge<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey buried it on the worst day of the year when no one is watching, and of course, they\u2019re going to deny it,\u201d Frey said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is, of course, not true,\u201d the HBO spokesperson said .<\/p>\n

Covering la migra is personal for Frey, who grew up in Tijuana and Imperial Beach with views of the U.S.-Mexico border fence. When he was 12, a Border Patrol agent approached his mother \u2014 then a green card holder \u2014 while her son was playing outside.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe wouldn\u2019t believe anything she would say and wouldn\u2019t let her go to our house to get her documents,\u201d Frey said. He\u2019s of average height, deep-voiced and barrel-chested and tends to respond to questions with questions. \u201cWhy would he? The agent deported her.\u201d<\/p>\n

As an adult, Frey began to cover the Border Patrol in a post-9\/11 era. Much like today, it was rapidly expanding, and aggressive tactics like breaking car windows when the occupants weren\u2019t resisting and agent-involved shootings were endemic. The Hern\u00e1ndez Rojas case entered his scope after someone reached out claiming they had footage of his death.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe original narrative was Anastasio became belligerent, they subdued him and he died,\u201d Frey said. \u201cThe case was closed, the Border Patrol had written it off.\u201d<\/p>\n

The source was initially too scared to share their recording, but Frey eventually convinced them after forwarding his stories about repeated Border Patrol abuses of power. What he saw \u2014 about a dozen Border Patrol agents circling a prone, moaning Hern\u00e1ndez Rojas, Tasering and punching him while onlookers scream at them to stop \u2014 left the reporter \u201cdisgusted.\u201d <\/p>\n

The footage eventually aired on a 2012 PBS program, which made the story go national. Frey\u2019s continued work on the case eventually caught the attention of Rowley, whose documentaries on neo-Nazi groups, the murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi and the War on Terror<\/a> have earned him Emmy wins and an Oscar nomination.<\/p>\n

The documentarian wanted to examine the Border Patrol\u2019s impunity, and, he said, \u201cAnastasio\u2019s story is one of the only stories that takes you all the way to the top. And you have to work with John if you\u2019re going to do the Anastasio case. He\u2019s fearless.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rowley is proud of his final product but admitted that he\u2019s \u201cused to having more press around a film release, especially about a film about … the most important domestic issue in the country, especially in the last year.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s what angers Frey the most about the release of \u201cCritical Incident.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe stories I used to hear \u2014 \u2018Border Patrol broke my windows, left me bloodied, grabbed me without asking any questions\u2019 \u2014 it\u2019s now in neighborhoods,\u201d he said. He twisted a napkin, tossed it into the pile of twisted napkins next to his coffee cup.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a deliberate choice when you\u2019re going to release a documentary and how. If I were HBO and I had evidence of a murder by the feds, I would\u2019ve led with that inmy promotion. I would think that\u2019s a selling point, especially with the [immigration] raids. Instead, they have me hugging someone in the trailer.\u201d<\/p>\n

Frey shook his head. \u201cWe made a good film, but half the battle is getting people to see it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"You\u2019re HBO, and your newest release is an explosive documentary about one of the most controversial sectors of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":126589,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[65612,15241,1436,65613,217,339,28729,1924,4987,65611,33403,21225,48,52,51,47,50,49,5848,3044,72],"class_list":["post-126588","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-anastasio-hernandez-rojas","tag-border-patrol","tag-case","tag-critical-incident","tag-day","tag-death","tag-documentary","tag-film","tag-footage","tag-frey","tag-hbo","tag-immigration-agent","tag-la","tag-la-headlines","tag-la-news","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-headlines","tag-los-angeles-news","tag-network","tag-story","tag-year"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126588","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=126588"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126588\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/126589"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=126588"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=126588"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=126588"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}