Posted on 01/17/2007 4:24:55 PM PST by Mr. Mojo
(CNSNews.com) - As two U.S. Border Patrol agents surrendered to federal marshals Wednesday afternoon to begin serving more than a decade in jail for shooting an illegal drug smuggler, a federal lawmaker and conservative advocacy group expressed outrage at President Bush for not pardoning the men.
"This is the worst betrayal of American defenders I have ever seen," Rep. Dana Rohrabacher said of the president.
"It's shameful this was done by someone who is in the Republican Party," the California Republican added in comments coinciding with the jailing of agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean.
Rohrabacher said Bush "obviously thinks more about his agreements with Mexico than the lives of American people and backing up his defenders."
Ramos and Compean reportedly handed themselves over to the U.S. Marshal's office in El Paso, Texas, early Wednesday afternoon, facing the prospect of 11- and 12-year prison terms, respectively, for a string of offenses including the use of a firearm during the commission of a crime of violence.
Steve Elliott, president of the conservative group Grassfire.org, also lashed out at Bush on Wednesday.
The American people "have a vivid picture of where the Bush administration really stands on border security," Elliott charged in a news release.
He described the crimes committed by Ramos and Compean as "so-called civil rights violations against an illegal alien drug smuggler who has been smuggling drugs into this country for years and was smuggling 743 pounds of marijuana at the time of the confrontation."
Elliott also argued that the U.S. attorney's office did not have to pursue the case, prosecute the men, "take the word of an illegal alien drug smuggler over that of our border agents" or give the illegal alien immunity.
"President Bush could have spoken out publicly in support of these agents and how their incarceration could further cripple our border security efforts," he added.
Instead, Elliot said, "when it came time to stand and be counted on the side of our border agents, the president's administration chose to side with a career illegal alien drug smuggler."
As Cybercast News Service previously reported, Ramos and Compean encountered Osvaldo Aldrete-Davila while on duty on Feb. 17, 2005. When they tried to stop him, he fled and was shot and wounded. Aldrete-Davila was treated at a hospital in El Paso and then returned to Mexico.
After learning of the shooting, U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton sought out Aldrete-Davila in Mexico and offered him immunity from prosecution if he would return to the United States to testify against Ramos and Compean.
Sutton later defended the decision, arguing that the agents did not have knowledge of any criminal activity involving Aldrete-Davila at the time they shot him.
Ramos and Compean were charged with assault with a dangerous weapon, assault with serious bodily injury, discharge of a firearm during the commission of a crime of violence, willfully violating Aldrete-Davila's Fourth Amendment right to be free from unreasonable seizure and obstruction of justice for intentionally defacing the crime scene, lying about the incident, and failing to report the truth.
During a press briefing last Friday, White House spokesman Tony Snow addressed the case and criticism at some length.
"According to the facts presented in court, you had an incident in which there was an attempt to pull somebody over. He finally got pulled over; somebody holds out a gun. Sort of scuffling ensues," Snow said.
"And what happens is you've got a fellow running away, and a couple of agents eventually in pursuit, firing 14 shots at him - I think 15, actually. Fourteen by one agent missed, one did strike him in the fleshy hindquarters," he added.
"Now, at the time this happened, they did not know if he was an illegal," Snow continued.
"They did not know that there were 700 pounds of marijuana [in Aldrete-Davila's van]. They didn't know any of those things. But instead you had this. They also 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," he said.
"Instead, 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," Snow added.
Snow noted that a jury convicted the agents on 11 out of 12 counts and defended the government's stance.
"This is not the case of the United States saying, we are not going to support people who go after drug dealers. Of course we are ... we also believe that the people who are working to secure that border themselves obey the law," he said.
Actually, it's more like a circle jerk : )
I still like FR, but between the conspiracy nuts, creationist nuts, and loser-candidate nuts FR is changing, and not for the better. But I'll stick around-this is still the premier conservative forum, even if the nuts seem to have taken overe parts of the asylum!
P.S. I've badmouthed Bush and the GOP myself plenty of times-but only when they actually deserved it : )
"Three of whom have now come forward to say they were coerced by the prosecutors to find the agents guilty"
Then the jurors failed in their duty. I seem to recall
that they take an oath to do true justice in the appraisal
of the evidence.
"And you think this is acceptable?"
actually, no. I was only responding to another poster who stated that police do not shoot people in the back...
I fear our justice system if jurors are this stupid.
get lost
dittos!
Crikey -- tough call. Seems the "Rule of Law" was broken by both the agents and the drug-smuggling scroat. Me, I'd prefer to see the scroat imprisoned rather than the border guards: the latter serve a useful purpose to Society: the former do not, by any stretch of the imagination.
That said, the law was broken by all...
Eeeny-meeny-miney-moe:
Who to Convict?
I don't know.
They'll both holler:
Let 'em Go.
Eeny-meeny-miney-moe.
Seems to me a good solution moving forward would be to invent and make available a series of good, fool-proof, long-range, non-lethal weapons: particularly to Law Enforcement. Weapons that cause no lasting damage, but at the same time certainly aren't gentle.
Issue them to cops and border guards, take away their service revolvers, and say "go to it, guys! Blaze away! We want to take the Bad Guys ALIVE."
Within this proposed solution is scope for all kinds of creativity and innovation: of the sort that would make Tasers look clumsy and tame.
Such weapons would need to be small, good range of say 100 yards accuracy, and be able to render a fleeing scroat "hors de combat" with one shot.
Ideas?
We have a bigger problem.
My wife - my wife who volunteered at phone banks for El Presidente Bush. My wife - who stood in line at his rallies. My wife - who is as loyal a person as I have ever met . . . a home-schooling, Christian, conservative . . .
. . . has just told me that she is done voting for Republicans.
She just told off the Right to Life phone solicitor that wanted a donation, pointing out that nothing happens when Republicans are in power so why help or work or pay to keep Democrats out.
She is not voting for Republicans anymore.
That ought to scare the Republicans. When they have lost her, they are done. They ain't gonna win any more elections. Not here in Ohio.
This coddling of drug dealing illegal immigrants is simply a symptom of how far from their base and their former principles they have drifted.
They love power and do not love America anymore.
Did Brian Kilmeade on Fox & Friends just say that the President may pardon these guys???
yes
.
Have any other LEOs been criminally charged with violating 4th Amendment rights? Ever? In history?
I hope that he does.
He ought to.
But the "base" is moving on. My dear wife says it's not worth voting anymore.
Compare the way things have gone under Bush vs. under Clinton and she's got a point.
Gay marriage. Universial healh care coming. Television is a cesspool. Made in China junk everywhere. Factory closings everywhere.
What did Bush do for us anyway? (I know the "judge argument" but the Supremes will never rule on firearms or abortion or anything else "reactionary" - they are too jealous of their power and prerogatives).
Montgomery County Maryland...it was reported on the news yesterday that the county council is mulling giving day laborers business loans.
I suppose the idea is to get them into the system and turn them into bonafide taxpayers.
Now an illegal can obtain a loan from the local government to say...buy a van...and become his own general painting contractor..."hire" his buddies and BAM...a competitor is born.
Ain't America great?
We have large pockets of insurgency in Maryland, Monty County being just one of them.
If you have a link to that story I'd appreciate it.
I heard it on the radio yesterday. I will search for a link.
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