This year marks the 50th anniversary of Buckley v. Valeo, the Supreme Court ruling that first equated campaign spending with “free speech.” Sixteen years ago, Citizens United extended similar rights to corporations and unions.

The results are clear: an explosion of campaign spending and growing concern that our democracy is being dominated by a small, wealthy few. In California, outside money plays an outsized role, causing our elections to be among the most expensive in the nation.

Polling shows broad, bipartisan agreement that money has too much influence in politics.

Americans want voters and elected officials — not the courts — to set the rules.

The solution is a constitutional amendment to restore the authority of Congress and the states to regulate campaign spending. We have amended the Constitution before to correct our nation’s course. It’s time to do it again and put “We the People” back in charge.

— Rosalind Hirst, Normal Heights

A federal grand jury in San Diego has indicted a U.S. Border Patrol agent on a civil rights violation for shooting an unarmed 19-year-old U.S. citizen in 2022 in Calexico, according to an indictment unsealed Thursday.

Marcos Javier Andrade faces one count of deprivation of rights under color of law and one count of use and discharge of a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence. He is scheduled to be arraigned on the charges next week in U.S. District Court in San Diego.

The indictment alleges that on July 11, 2022, Andrade tried to stop a minivan that he suspected of smuggling undocumented immigrants on a highway in Calexico, in Imperial County. The van was being driven by a teen “who was unarmed and was not engaged in smuggling activity,” according to the indictment, which identifies the teen only by his initials, A.F.

After the teen failed to pull over and then became stuck in traffic, Andrade allegedly pulled up next to the van, exited his Border Patrol SUV and fired eight shots at the driver, striking him in his neck, hip, shoulder and hand, according to the indictment. The teen survived after undergoing surgery for his injuries.

The indictment alleges that after the shooting, Andrade “refused to answer basic safety questions that all Border Patrol agents are required to answer on scene when they discharge their firearms.” It also alleges that Andrade had been disciplined previously for firing his gun “at civilians” in 2012 and 2017.

Andrade could not immediately be reached for comment Thursday, and it was unclear if he had an attorney who could comment on his behalf.

Officials from the Border Patrol, as well as its parent agency, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment late Thursday afternoon.

The indictment against Andrade comes at a time when Border Patrol agents and other immigration officers have faced increased scrutiny for shooting U.S. citizens. In October, a Border Patrol agent shot and wounded Marimar Martinez in Chicago, and in January, a Border Patrol agent fatally shot Alex Pretti in Minneapolis just weeks after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer fatally shot Renée Good in the same city.

Gregory Bovino, the Border Patrol’s former “commander at large” who spearheaded the Trump administration’s immigration operations in Chicago and Minneapolis, and who sent an email to the Chicago agent just hours after he shot Martinez praising his “excellent service,” was the chief of the El Centro sector in 2022 when Andrade allegedly shot the teen driver.

Border Patrol officials had previously released few details about the shooting in Calexico, which occurred in the middle of the day near a busy intersection. Andrade’s name was never publicly linked to the shooting before Thursday.

The indictment alleges that when Andrade tried to pull over the driver, the teen continued along state Route 98, driving at the speed limit until he came to a stop behind a line of cars at a stoplight. Andrade allegedly pulled his SUV partially in front of the minivan on the left side, exited his SUV and pointed his gun at the teen.

At that point, both the teen and the driver of a semi in the lane to his right began to pull forward “with the stop-and-go pace of traffic,” traveling between 1 and 5 mph, according to the indictment. The teen then steered his minivan slightly to the right, away from Andrade’s vehicle, in an effort to get around, the indictment alleges.

“At no time did A.F.’s vehicle pose a threat to defendant Marcos Javier Andrade or anyone else,” the indictment alleged. “Nevertheless … Andrade fired eight shots at A.F.”

The indictment alleges that one shot struck the hood, three pierced the windshield and four went through the driver’s side window. In addition to the gunshot wounds the teen suffered, he also sustained injuries from shattered glass that lodged in his right eye, according to the indictment. Six of the eight shots allegedly traveled through the van and also struck the tractor-trailer.

A photo published by the Calexico Chronicle the day of the shooting showed a Border Patrol agent taking cover behind an SUV and pointing his gun at the van, which at that time was riddled with bullet holes.

Andrade is facing the same two charges that federal prosecutors in San Diego brought against a sheriff’s deputy who fatally shot an unarmed, fleeing man in downtown San Diego in 2020. An initial jury in that case deadlocked after being unable to reach a unanimous verdict, but a second jury convicted the deputy last month on both counts.

Several lanes are closed on the northbound Interstate 805 due to a fatal crash on Thursday morning.

The crash was reported at around 5:30 a.m. at Murray Ridge Road and closed all lanes, but by 6 a.m., two lanes reopened while three lanes remained closed, according to Caltrans.

By 8 a.m., all lanes had reopened to traffic.

Update: NB I-805 at Murray Ridge, the two right lanes are open while the three left lanes remain closed due to a traffic collision.

— Caltrans District 11 (@SDCaltrans) April 2, 2026

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Heavy traffic is reported in that area.