We’re preparing for another great season here at POV — and now, we’re less than two months away from the first broadcast of the summer. Today, we’re taking a sneak peek at The Ballad of Esequiel Hernández by Kieran Fitzgerald.
In 1997, U.S. Marines patrolling the Texas-Mexico border as part of the War on Drugs shot and killed Esequiel Hernández Jr. Mistaken for a drug runner, the 18-year-old was, in fact, a U.S. citizen tending his family’s goats with a .22 rifle. He became the first American killed by U.S. military forces on native soil since the 1970 Kent State shootings. The Ballad of Esequiel Hernández, narrated by Tommy Lee Jones, explores Hernández’s tragic death and its torturous aftermath. His parents and friends, the Marines on patrol and investigators discuss the dangers of militarizing the border and the death of one young man.
For more previews of 2008 POV films, check out our TV Schedule.