Many witnesses testified with both acknowledgment and ambivalence to the Rangers ' acts of violence . One , Judge James B. Wells , testified both that he believed Rangers were responsible for a mass murder of 11 Mexican men whose corpses he had personally discovered on the side of the road in a state of decay . Nonetheless , he testified , " I thought it was my duty and I never took a cent of compensation . Defended several for murder . " The Porvenir massacre was an incident on January 28 , 1918 in Presidio County , Texas in which the Rangers and local ranchers killed 15 Mexican villagers . The Texas Rangers Company B was sent to the area to stop banditry after the Brite Ranch raid . However , despite having no evidence that the Porvenir villagers were involved , witnesses testified that “ American soldiers , Rangers , and Texas Ranchmen ” executed fifteen men . Porvenir resident Rosenda Mega testified that the Rangers " took them about one-quarter of a mile from said ranch , and then in a very cowardly manner , and without examining any of them , shot them . ” Canales highlighted the murder of Lisandro Muñoz and the disappearance of Florencio Garcia . Canales had brought the murder of Lisandro Muñoz to the committee , charging that Ranger John J. Edds had murdered Muñoz on October 6 , 1918 . Edds admitted he had entered the home of a deserter without a warrant , and that he was overpowered by Muñoz , arguing that the murder was in self-defense . Regarding Florencio Garcia , two rangers had taken Garcia into custody for a theft investigation . The next day they let Garcia go , and were last seen escorting him on a mule . Garcia was never seen again . A month after the interrogation , bones and Garcia 's clothing were found beside the road where the Rangers claimed to have let Garcia go . The Rangers were arrested for murder , freed on bail , and acquitted due to lack of evidence
Brite Ranch raid
Brite Ranch raid
Canales investigation