In an interview last weekend, Texas Republican Rep. Tony Gonzales said Americans have become “frustrated” about the border crisis unleashed by the Biden administration, The Hill reported.
In an interview with Chris Stirewalt on NewsNation’s “The Hill Sunday” just two days after two New York National Guard soldiers and a Border Patrol agent were killed in a helicopter crash near the southern border, Gonzalez said the crash was one reason many Americans have gotten so frustrated with the crisis at the border.
A UH-72 Lakota helicopter patrolling the southern border crashed in a field near the Texas border on Friday, March 8. Two of the three New York National Guard soldiers aboard were killed, along with an agent with the US Border Patrol.
Authorities identified the three victims of the crash last Monday as Chief Warrant Officers Casey Frankoski, 28, and John Grassia, 30, of the New York National Guard and 49-year-old Chris Luna of the US Border Patrol.
The helicopter crew chief, also with the New York National Guard, survived the crash and was hospitalized. The crew chief’s name was withheld by the National Guard Bureau.
In a press release from the New York State Division of Military & Naval Affairs, Maj. Gen. Ray Shields, the adjutant general of New York, said the National Guard was “shocked and devastated” by the deaths of Grassia and Frankoski. Shields also offered his prayers for the swift recovery of the injured crew chief.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul ordered the flags at all state buildings to be flown at half-staff on Monday, March 11 in honor of Grassia and Frankoski.
Rep. Gonzalez told Chris Stirewalt that the service members and their families knew the “tough job” they were doing every time they “get in a plane or a truck or a boat.” He said his thoughts were with the families of the fallen.
