Posted on 01/16/2007 11:00:57 PM PST by Mr. Mojo
Angry Republican congressman calls President Bush 'disgrace'
Amid protests and a flurry of last-minute efforts by congressmen, two border patrol agents are scheduled today to begin long prison sentences for shooting and wounding a Mexican drug smuggler who was given immunity to testify against them.
In an interview with WND, an angry Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif., called President Bush a "disgrace" for refusing to pardon Jose Alonso Compean and Ignacio Ramos, who were sentenced to 12 years and 11 years, respectively, in October. With hopes for a presidential pardon dwindling, the lawmakers had requested that Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez assist in a motion to keep the agents free on bond during the appeals process. But late yesterday, U.S. District Judge Kathleen Cardone in El Paso, Texas, ruled the men must surrender to federal marshals at 2 p.m. Central Time today.
"This is the worst betrayal of American defenders I have ever seen," Rohrabacher said of the president. "It's shameful this was done by someone who is in the Republican Party. He obviously thinks more about his agreements with Mexico than the lives of American people and backing up his defenders."
The California lawmaker charged the Bush administration has been playing a "cruel game." Initially, he said, officials insisted the agents could not be pardoned because they had not filled out the proper paperwork. But Rohrabacher told WND the White House did not explain to the public that the agents were being required – without justification, he contended – to first admit guilt.
Then, last Friday, presidential press secretary Tony Snow addressed the issue for the first time, arguing that prior to the shooting, the agents did not know if the smuggler, Osbaldo Aldrete-Davila, was an illegal, and they were unaware he had about 750 pounds of marijuana.
Compean and Ramos say the smuggler had a gun, but no weapon was found.
The agents, Snow said, "had received arms training the day before; that said, if you have an incident like this, you must preserve the evidence and you must report it promptly."
"Instead," Snow continued, "according to court documents, they went around and picked up the shell casings. Furthermore, they asked one of their colleagues also to help pick up shell casings. They disposed of them."
Rohrabacher argues that if the men did anything wrong, they should have simply received a reprimand, but instead they are being placed in the general prison population among hardened criminals where their lives may be at risk.
Ramos' attorney, Mary Stillinger, told the El Paso Times the men, both married with young children, may have to spend several weeks at the El Paso County Jail before being transported to a federal prison.
"Why does [President Bush] have to send these men to prison in order that his policy not be disrupted?" Rohrabacher asked San Diego radio host Roger Hedgecock after speaking with WND last night. "He talks about being a Christian, but he has shown no Christian charity."
Asked by WND for a response to Rohrabacher's remarks, White House spokesman Alex Conant deferred to Snows comments on the case.
Rohrabacher told WND he sees a serious residual result of the administration's handling of the agents.
"The word is out that the southern border is undefended," he said. "Border agents won't dare to draw their weapons, and the drug cartel will double their effort to drive a wedge in our border."
Rohrabacher said he has been disturbed by an "arrogant" lack of response from senior Justice Department and White House officials who have "shoved over" their inquiries to lower-level staff.
"I've never seen an administration that does it this way," he said. "In the past, if there is a senior member of Congress calling, it would require a call back directly from the administration official in question."
The Justice Department did not respond to WND's request for comment.
Bush has received a letter about the case from more than 50 Congress members, and yesterday an online petition by Grassfire.org with more than 225,000 signatures calling for a presidential pardon was delivered to the White House.
As WND has reported, a federal jury convicted Compean, 28, and Ramos, 37, in March after a two-week trial on charges of causing serious bodily injury, assault with a deadly weapon, discharge of a firearm in relation to a crime of violence and a civil rights violation.
Ramos is an eight-year veteran of the U.S. Naval Reserve and a former nominee for Border Patrol Agent of the Year.
According to the agents, Ramos responded Feb. 17, 2005, to a request for back-up from Compean, who noticed a suspicious van near the levee road along the Rio Grande River near the Texas town of Fabens, about 40 miles east of El Paso. A third agent also joined the pursuit.
Aldrete-Davila stopped the van on a levee, jumped out and started running toward the river. When he reached the other side of the levee, he was met by Compean who had anticipated the smuggler's attempt to get back to Mexico.
"We both yelled out for him to stop, but he wouldn't stop, and he just kept running," Ramos told California's Inland Valley Daily Bulletin.
"At some point during the time where I'm crossing the canal, I hear shots being fired," Ramos said. "Later, I see Compean on the ground, but I keep running after the smuggler."
At that point, Ramos said, Aldrete-Davila turned toward him, pointing what looked like a gun.
"I shot," Ramos said. "But I didn't think he was hit, because he kept running into the brush and then disappeared into it. Later, we all watched as he jumped into a van waiting for him. He seemed fine. It didn't look like he had been hit at all."
The U.S. government filed charges against Ramos and Compean after giving full immunity to Aldrete-Davila and paying for his medical treatment at an El Paso hospital.
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Texas issued a statement in September arguing "the defendants were prosecuted because they had fired their weapons at a man who had attempted to surrender by holding his open hands in the air, at which time Agent Compean attempted to hit the man with the butt of Compean's shotgun, causing the man to run in fear of what the agents would do to him next."
The statement said, "Although both agents saw that the man was not armed, the agents fired at least 15 rounds at him while he was running away from them, hitting him once."
All the folks jumping to defend these guys forget this one, VERY important fact: The agents knew it was a bad shoot and actively tried to cover it up. The shoot was so bad that even with the USBP's record of finding agents justified, they thought that covering up the shooting would be better than 'fessing up to it.
One can only imagine what would have happened had Davila been a US citizen. There would be howls from every corner about jack-booted thugs and their abuse of power.
Trolling again, joe?
what do you mean, again? :)
Me too--I'm infuriated about this.
Along with those "vigalante" Minutemen.
"All the folks jumping to defend these guys forget this one, VERY important fact: The agents knew it was a bad shoot and actively tried to cover it up. The shoot was so bad that even with the USBP's record of finding agents justified, they thought that covering up the shooting would be better than 'fessing up to it."
Funny thing, their SUPERVISOR was on scene at the time they were "covering it up".
I'm disgusted with this!
sw
This is what happens when you try and stop a Federally Sanctioned Delivery into the US. I can think of no other reason for this Prosecution.
Without the Full Support of the Feds, Controlled Substances could not be brought into this Country.
Without the Full Support of the Feds, Drug Money could not be Laundered through the Federal Reserve System.
We need the Drug War, it is a cash cow for the Government at the expense of liberty and freedom for us peasants.
Not only was he on scene, he assisted in the coverup. That's more indication that they knew how bad of a shoot it really was.
actually.... the OPPOSITE is true, the discharge is so common and frequent and with no obvious result, it was not worth covering up and there is no proof of a coverup. So convict the SUPERVISORS of paperwork neglect and get back to work...
are you really defending decades long sentences for a bullet in the butt? What an indefensible position... but you are welcome to it. Kind of puts you in an interesting catagory
;^p
You obviously have not bothered to read anything about this except what the prosecution is putting out.
The republicans seem intent on destroying us sovereignty and kowtowing to Mexico.
Perhaps not alone, but when combined with the amnesty that'll instantly create tens of millions new voting citizens (many of whom have become addicted to welfare freebees they received as illegals) the GOP can kiss their naive, "compassionate," politically-correct asses adios.
And to think, the Bush Administration staged this whole charade in an effort to gain the Hispanic vote.
More "Rovian genius," I suspect.
Here's what conservative leader Phyllis Schlafly wrote:
"After the trial, two jurors gave sworn statements that they had been pressured to render a guilty verdict and did not understand that a hung jury was possible."
Specifically, these jurors confided to the defense lawyer that the jury foreman told them the judge had said all jurors had to agree on the verdict, that it HAD to be unanimous.
Believing they were compelled by law to vote with the majority, at least three jurors changed their vote! Two were in tears as the verdict was read.
Turns out the judge had said no such thing. If these three are to be believed, what the foreman said was untrue.
And that's not all that was fishy. When the verdict was announced, U.S. Attorney Sutton said in part:
"...when law-enforcement officers use their badge as a shield for carrying out crimes and then engage in a coverup, we cannot look the other way. Agents Compean and Ramos shot an unarmed, fleeing suspect in the back and lied about it."
However, when a rumor spread that Compean and Ramos might get probation, Sutton issued a three-page statement to the media in which he said:
"[The two agents] fired their weapons at a man who was attempting to surrender by holding his open hands in the air."
Was he fleeing or was he attempting to surrender? In the Justice Department these days, you can apparently have it both ways.
.
ok.......so these two jurors did not have the gonads to stand by their belief in innocence, regardless of what the other 10 members thought. I do not believe them.
Failure to report discharge of a firearm is, itself, a firing offense (no pun intended). You don't just bang off fourteen rounds and decide the paperwork's not worth it. Besides, they did fill out an I-44 (basically, an incident report) but they failed to mention the shooting.
There is every proof of a coverup - why police up your brass, even to the point of having a partner go out and get the last five pieces? You'll notice that Compean and Ramos have not disputed *any* of the facts in this case.
are you really defending decades long sentences for a bullet in the butt?
No. I think they should've been fired, but not sent to jail.
Do you have any source that disputes any of the facts in the case?
Specifically, these jurors confided to the defense lawyer that the jury foreman told them the judge had said all jurors had to agree on the verdict, that it HAD to be unanimous.
If true, then it should be easy to get a mistrial declared.
Was he fleeing or was he attempting to surrender?
Who cares? You can't shoot people in either circumstance. When Compean and Ramos started shooting, the only thing Davila was guilty of was failure to stop for an immigration status check. Does that justify use of deadly force?
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