The Spark

the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist

“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx

Culture Corner:
Critical Incident

Feb 16, 2026

Film: Critical Incident: Death at the Border, directed by Rick Rowley, 2025. Streaming on HBO Max.

This documentary follows an investigation into the violent death of an immigrant, Hernández Rojas, at the border in the custody of the Border Patrol in 2010. Of course, the agents said he violently resisted and they had to defend themselves. But after years of agitation by the family and the community and the efforts of a reporter, a witness found the courage to come forward with a video of the entire event. Rojas didn’t resist; he was handcuffed, lying on the ground, and was brutally beaten to death.

The publicity around this caused international scrutiny, and gave other families courage to come forward with their stories. And the investigation uncovered an illegal secret unit within the Border Patrol that investigated any “critical incidents,” and forbade any local police to do their own investigating, all to mitigate “liability.” This system continues today.