Dogs and American P***ies

Hawaii Reporter ^ | 09/15/06 | Malia Zimmerman

[GrandmaPatriot]

The U.S. government is appeasing the Mexican government at the expense of three of its own reputable American citizens and their families -- even though the country hasn’t been a good neighbor or done anything to stop drug trafficking, illegal immigration and other criminal activity brought by Mexican citizens across the American border.

The U.S. Office of International Affairs in Washington D.C. gave an order earlier this week for the arrest of the Bounty Hunter Duane "Dog" Chapman, 53, his son Leland Chapman, 29, and his brother Timothy Chapman, 41, with the intent of extraditing them to Mexico.

The trio are well known for their reality show on A&E, based on their work in Hawaii and the mainland as bounty hunters where they chase down and apprehend criminals who've violated the terms of their bail. They not only put on a popular entertaining show and promote law and order, but they run a compassionate and conservative operation through their business, Da Kine Bail Bonds. They pray during every television episode before they apprehend a suspect. They preach to the suspects about Jesus Christ, getting off of drugs, and turning their life around. And they even feature a picture of President George W. Bush in their shows.

Hawaii’s head U.S. Marshall, Mark “Dutch” Hanohano, says the order for their arrest came from Washington D.C. The warrant was prepared Wednesday and executed by seven deputies without incident at 6:30 a.m. Thursday morning at the Chapmans’ Hawaii Portlock home, Hanohano says.

The Chapmans made an appearance in Hawaii’s federal court Thursday and will be back in court Friday.

The irony is they are being arrested for doing what American law enforcement failed to do.

The Chapmans went to Mexico in 2003 in hot pursuit of a serial rapist, who fled the United States after being convicted in a California court for three rapes. The target was the Max Factor heir Andrew Luster, who is now serving 104 years in prison in the United States as a result of their work. They apprehended Luster on June 18, 2003, and he was jailed the next day.

But rather than cheering the Chapmans for removing a convicted serial rapist from their country before he struck again, the Mexican government charged the Chapmans with illegal detention and conspiracy, throwing them in a cold, dark and dangerous Mexican prison for refusing to turn over Luster to them. Bounty hunting is illegal in Mexico.

The case -- and their treatment by the Mexican government -- launched them into the international spotlight, and eventually landed them the A&E gig, now the most popular series on the network for the past two years.

The Chapmans were supposed to appear at a court hearing there on July 15, 2003, but wisely never showed.

Now instead of defending three citizens who have collectively rounded up an estimated 6,000 bail jumpers and criminals in the last quarter of a century, through their offices on three Hawaiian islands, the U.S. government is willing to turn them over to what could essentially turn out to be their death sentence. Mexican prisons are not patrolled by the ACLU and prisoners don’t have cable television, private cells, and three meals a day or the same rights as they would in America.

So the question is why? Why is the U.S. Office of International Affairs having them arrested and extradited? Why is that office throwing three of its most famous, do-good citizens to a lawless country run by thugs who will take cash over principal any day? At what political price are these government bureaucrats selling the Chapmans to a foreign government?

It is outrageous that the federal government is endangering the lives of these three men.

Hawaii law enforcement officers muttered something about an international treaty with Mexico, but the bottom line is the United States owes Mexico nothing except the return of its hundreds of thousands of illegal aliens and all the crack and cocaine smuggled from there to America’s 50 states.

Chapman's publicist, Mona Wood, released a statement to the media on Thursday morning, saying her client will be vindicated. “This is obviously a very upsetting time for the Chapman family. Duane “Dog the Bounty Hunter” Chapman is a true modern-day hero. He arrests the bad guys -- he is definitely not one of them.”

She’s right -- he is a hero. Americans should rally, write their Congressman and the president, and demand freedom now for "Dog" and the other two Chapmans.

Congress should intervene on the Chapmans’ behalf and open an investigation into the behavior of the heads of this so-called Office of International Affairs.

Whoever gave that arrest and extradition order should be fired and appropriately humiliated in the national and international press for making the American government appear hostile and unjust to its own citizens and unethical, and for embarrassing America on an international level.

The Chapmans deserve the thanks of all Americans -- including local and federal law enforcement -- for rounding up so many criminals who jumped their bail with no intention of serving jail time.

Just ask Andrew Lusters’ three rape victims who can rest a little easier knowing their seemingly untouchable and untraceable attacker is behind bars for life.

The Chapmans made the streets safer. They should be rewarded -- not punished -- and they should be put back to work. There are, after all, still thousands of real criminals to catch.

[William Terrell]

But was the information in the article true? Is the truth scratched on a rock less true than a lie printed on fine linen?

[BallyBill]

I can see Mexico freaking out if the Luster guy was a Mexican citizen and he was taken to the U.S. Technically he broke the law and I can see charging him and releasing him with a promise not to do it again.

Mexican drug smugglers may have gotten freaked out about this and decided to make an example. It seems no one is able to stand up to them and they may have grabbed some hostages and demanded the Dog pay the price.

[mc6809e]

Bush is the Chief executive. He could fix this in about 5 seconds.

[widowithfoursons]

"Wreak havoc, and let loose..." the DOG!!!!!!!

[MonroeDNA]

Let the DOG LOOSE!!!!

[MineralMan]

"But was the information in the article true? Is the truth scratched on a rock less true than a lie printed on fine linen?
"

I don't know. I was not there when this man was arrested. I do know that there have been several other stories posted about this, in reputable sources. I have not compared them. A search for "Dog" will find them, though.

[S.S. Monkeyface]

Don't put the dog out.

[William Terrell]

I would think an article should be evaluated for its truth rather than who published it. That's just me, though.

[Shimmer128]

I had to go see the article, I couldn't believe a paper had actually named it that!
It did. Thanks for posting it, Brave Grandma

[tanger03ttt]

I agree with you 110%!!

Since when does Mexico ORDER the USA around? It sounds like the Mexican government is ordering around 2 year olds. And why did our government allow the orders to be given to have Americans arrested for helping bring a serial rapist to justice?

This is a very dark day for the United States!!! God help us all!!

We have Mexican rapists here as well. If Mexico wants them-by all means get them out of here!! (The last count I had was about 12 MILLION illegals here.) SEND THEM ALL BACK WHERE THEY BELONG!!!!!!!!!!

I think that the Chapman's have done the USA a great service, and are still doing so. They had the guts and the belief that getting Luster back to the US was the right thing to do. I agree with them. Ask any woman who has been raped and I'm sure that they will all tell you that knowing the rapist is in prison enables them to live some sort of normal life.

Americans need to stand up and rally together to keep the Chapmans on US soil. (As anyone knows, most people who go to jail in Mexico are not treated fairly.)

Call your local congressional office, Attorney Generals office, local news channels-whoever we have to call. If people really wish to-They can call the White House.

Maybe if everyone asked for the Chapman's to be pardoned, it would happen.

I beg the US to let the Chapman's out of jail!

GOD BLESS THE CHAPMANS AND THEIR FAMILIES!!!! Please keep them in your prayers.

[Bommer]

Neither is changing article titles permitted. Which rule am I supposed to obey? They seem to be contradictory.

Where does it say that? Titles are changed all the time. Here are the rules:

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[MineralMan]

"I would think an article should be evaluated for its truth rather than who published it. That's just me, though."

Me, too. Here's the deal, though. This wasn't a news article. It was an editorial. News articles include the facts, but without editorial comments. The article posted at the top of this thread made all sorts of judgments about what actually happened, rather than just telling what happened.

That's certainly a valid thing to do, but it's not news.