Slain Border Patrol agent Brian Terry kept a diary showing he was tracking AK-47s at the border weeks before his 2010 murder exposed the Obama administration’s disastrous Fast and Furious gun-running scheme, according to excerpts from the journal obtained by Just the News.

Terry's journal shows he stopped a shipment of AK-47s from entering the country just a month before he was murdered, according to his brother, Kent Terry. But his supervisors told him to allow the weapons to cross the border, the brother said.

“AK-47 in crate,” Brian Terry wrote on one page about a silver SUV he was tracking, adding that he had informed the FBI of his finding. The page is dated Nov. 2, Kent Terry believes it was written in 2010, just one month before the murder.

On another page, dated Nov. 16, Brian Terrywrote that he was performing surveillance at night and wanted to “confirm or deny wpns smuggling.”

The final page shared with Just the News is not dated, but appears to show Brian Terry was looking for weapons that had traveled from Honduras through Guatemala and into Mexico, writing an incomplete sentence: “Determine how wpns are…” He also wrote that he needed to seek an interdict “to reduce arms/criminal org” for the Sinaloa cartel.

Operation Fast and Furious began in September 2009 by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) under the direction of the Obama administration. The idea was to allow illegal weapons to flow into the hands of those suspected of selling to Mexican cartels to track where the guns would end up. It wasn't until Terry's murder, where weapons from the same operation were used, that the scandal was exposed.

President Barack Obama and his Attorney General Eric Holder both denied knowing about Fast and Furious, even though memos sent to him in July 2010 showed otherwise. Holder denied seeing the memos and refused to turn over additional documents requested by House investigators. He was held in contempt of Congress but never faced consequences. No one in the Obama administration faced consequences for the botched operation, though the acting director of ATF and an assistant U.S. attorney were reassigned.

Kent Terry told Just the News that he didn’t know if his slain brother was on to something when he wrote those notes in his journal, or was just making daily notes.

“We don’t know exactly why Brian wrote those things. We don’t know if he was onto something or knew about something,” Kent Terry said. “That’s the question we’re trying to figure out – or if he knew about it and he didn’t know the depth of it.”

Following his death, Brian Terry's father tried to enter his son’s house, according to his brother, but Border Patrol wouldn’t let him in. Looking through the windows, the father could see that the house seemed to be in order.

Once they were allowed in, the Terry family cleaned out his house and removed his possessions, with Kent getting Brian’s clothes, since they were the same size. About a year after Brian Terry's death, Kent Terry said he finally decided to try on a pair of brand new tactical boots he had found in Brian’s home. When trying on the boots, Kent found the journal taped inside the toe of one of the boots.

“We just thought it was kind of odd that we found it in a pair of tactical boots, a brand new box of tactical boots,” Kent said.

He said that his father told Dennis Burke, the U.S. Attorney for Arizona at the time, and not long after, Brian Terry's house was “ransacked,” Kent Terry said.

“Like somebody was looking for something,” Kent Terry said.

Brian Terry's personal laptop had been wiped clean, the brother added.

“Not even the Hewlett Packard icon would show up,” he said. “And you can see where someone’s tampered with it in the back because some of the screws are missing.”

Burke did not respond to a Just the News inquiry.

Before the Terry family found the journal, they said they had a strange encounter with Border Patrol union representatives in a hotel room after a memorial for Brian Terry, according to his sister and brother.

His sister, Michelle, explained that she, her brother, their father, and other family members were asked to meet with the representatives in a hotel room and were told that Brian Terry had been concerned for his safety in the months prior to his death, sending them three emails about his concerns.

Kent Terry told Just the News that the reps also told the family that Brian didn’t die the way they were being told but they wouldn’t elaborate.

“He goes, ‘but what they’re telling you what happened to your son really didn’t happen to your son the way they’re telling you,’” Kent said, adding that the reps told them: “We’re here to throw you a bone, but that’s all we can tell you.”

The representatives later denied ever having this meeting, Kent and Michelle said, but they and their family members – at least 10 people – were all in the room and heard what was said.

“Ten people can’t be lying,” Michelle said.

Brian Terry's siblings say they just want answers, and know there is more to the story of their brother's murder than what has been reported.

“Brian had 15 more minutes to go on a shift with a two-week furlough and then this happened,” Kent Terry said. “I’m not speculating on a conspiracy, but it just seems the timing seems all wrong to us.”

“It’s not even answers for us,” Michelle added. “We want them for Brian. He deserves the truth and deserves people to be put in prison.”

Seven men were sentenced for the murder of Brian Terry, but his family said it isn’t sure they are the real culprits or if even more people were involved.

In 2022, Jesus Rosario Favela-Astorga became the seventh man sentenced in Brian Terry's murder, pleading guilty and getting 50 years in prison.

The Department of Justice said in a press release that Favela-Astorga admitted to being one of several armed bandits who illegally entered the U.S. from Mexico to rob marijuana smugglers.

When Brian Terry’s team attempted to apprehend Favela-Astorga’s crew, one member opened fire, striking Terry. Terry died from his injuries shortly after.

Border Patrol, DOJ, and the Bureau of Alcohol and Tobacco (ATF) did not respond to a Just the News inquiry seeking comment.

Nearly 16 years after his murder, Brian’s sister Michelle still remembers his love for his country.

“He was a true, dedicated, American patriot. Brian loved this country, he spent his whole adult life protecting this country. From being a marine to a police officer to a federal agent. He does not deserve what happened to him.”