Free Republic

It’s a good thing someone in Basalt is paying attention. The victim of the Basalt 7-Eleven armed robbery spotted the knife-wielding, illegal alien in a local gin mill and called him in. Amazingly, the Basalt cops couldn’t find the felon, who was living in the trailer park next to the store he had robbed. Makes one wonder if Basalt’s boys in blue could find their butts in the dark with both hands. Twenty-five years ago, two officers did a better job than Ikeda’s dozen donut-dunkers do now. That trailer park is Basalt’s version of East Los Angeles replete with gang...

U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo is calling for the Glenwood Springs Police Department and Garfield County Sheriff's Office to get tougher on immigration. The outspoken immigration hawk lowered the boom on the downvalley police agencies last week upon learning 7-Eleven shooting suspect Ricardo Ramirez had at least two previous contacts with police that failed to put him in custody. Records show that Ramirez, an illegal immigrant, cursed at police and was uncooperative in 2006 when he was the passenger in a Glenwood Springs drunken driving case that occurred two years after he had been deported to Mexico and illegally returned here....

In the past, if Bruno Kirchenwitz wanted to see his name in print or vent about U.S. immigration policy, he would write letters to local newspapers about "illegal hordes" and stemming "the tide that threatens our sovereignty." Today, the former 7-Eleven clerk who was fired from his job after a shooting at the Basalt store has become a minor celebrity in local and regional media and a full-fledged poster child on conservative Internet Web sites dedicated to immigration reform. "I'm kind of like the kid that's gotten a thousand presents for Christmas," he said of the recent media attention. "I've...

A 7-Eleven clerk who was fired after a bullet-riddled dispute over his U.S. Border Patrol cap passed a lie-detector test indicating that he didn't instigate the clash, a radio talk-show host said Friday. [...] He said he was fired because of his views on immigration. But Margaret Chabris, a spokeswoman for 7-Eleven Inc., said Kirchenwitz was dismissed for violating company rules prohibiting employees from engaging in confrontations with customers. "He wasn't fired for his political position. It has nothing to do with that or his views on illegal immigration," she said. Interviews with Kirchenwitz's co-workers and feedback from store customers...

BASALT — The Basalt 7-Eleven clerk who may have been the target of a shooting there last week said he was placed on one week’s paid leave of absence Saturday by the corporation. Bruno Kirchenwitz said he was placed on leave while “some guy from Dallas is going to come down and check it out.” The convenience store corporation is based in Dallas. Kirchenwitz said he has no reason to believe his job is in jeopardy. He noted that he works 32 hours per week at the store and was given 40 hours of pay during the leave. Margaret Chabris,...

Police think Ricardo Ramirez, 23, of El Jebel used a semi-automatic M-1 carbine rifle to fire shots through the store window, into the area behind the counter where the clerks work, shortly after 11 p.m. that night. Police are looking to arrest Ramirez on felony charges. Police said they found an M-1 rifle in Ramirez's El Jebel home on July 11 and that three 30-millimeter shell casings found at the 7-Eleven after the shooting were consistent with the type of ammunition typically used with an M-1 rifle. The rifle has since been sent to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation for...

Corporation tells Kirchenwitz dismissal unrelated to shooting incident. Bruno Kirchenwitz was fired Monday from his job at the Basalt 7-Eleven. The firing came nearly two weeks after Kirchenwitz may have been the target of a person or persons who fired five shots from a rifle into the store. Kirchenwitz said a 7-Eleven official who called to inform him of his dismissal claimed it was unrelated to the shooting incident. He isn't buying it. Kirchenwitz believes he was fired because his presence as a clerk at the store could be bad for business. He is an outspoken critic of illegal immigration....