Posted on 03/03/2007 10:00:07 AM PST by A. Pole
SGT NEWS - Texas police officer Gilmer Hernandez sits in a federal prison in Del Rio County, Texas for the crime of shooting at the rear tires of a van after the driver attempted to run the officer over. The catch is the van was filled with illegal immigrants.
Reports from WorldNetDaily indicate the federal government recommends seven years in prison for violating the civil rights of the occupants of the van. A fragment of the bullet hit a woman passenger in the mouth, breaking two of her teach and cutting her lip.
Hernandez’s attorney, Jimmy Parks, has described his client as "terrified'. "If the judge sends him to prison," says Parks, "he will spend every day of the next several years trying to protect himself from the very people he dedicated his life to protect us from."
Parks continued, "Gilmer worked diligently and assiduously to put criminals away, to take people who were committing dangerous crimes away, to assure that they are placed behind bars to protect us and to rehabilitate them, and now all of a sudden Gilmer is facing a time where he will be locked up in a cage with these criminals and he knows they are ready and prepared to retaliate and seek their vengeance."
The recent case of Ramos and Compean, the border patrol agents sentenced to more than 11 years in prison for shooting an illegal drug smuggler on the United States/Mexican border, sets a frightening precedent of how lazy, inactive and downright neglectful our nation is becoming in the fight to protect our nation’s borders and control illegal immigration.
Ramos was beaten in prison by 5 Hispanic inmates. Ramos said the inmates repeatedly kicked him with steel-toed boots and unloaded a verbal tirade of curses, spoken entirely in Spanish. The prison was forced to place Ramos in the Special Housing Unit of the prison until the investigation of the incident was completed.
In a society where police offers are looked at with increased scrutiny, especially when illegal immigrants are involved, this case further proves the priority of our federal government seems to lie more with the protection of the rights of illegal immigrants, rather than the protection of our national security.
Parks said the outpouring of support on Hernandez’s behalf from the small Texas community has been overwhelming.
Feds preventing local governments from solving problems.
Again.
hopefully everyone in the van will get several hundreds of thousands of dollars to testify against this man so he can spend many years in jail.
This is border control policy from the bizarro world.
"protection of the rights of illegal immigrants, rather than the protection of our national security"
I see..
Since when did illegal border invaders get civil rights? I thought those were reserved for American citizens.
Outrageous, pure white-hot outrage.
The federal government has an agenda to flood the USA with illegal immigrants for the purpose of multiculturalism. This will dissolve the bonds that Americans hold with each other, and for there country. This in turn will open them up to gain more control of us because we will be too divided to fight against the actions of the government. It is in fact already happening on a large scale. Since this same thing is happening in most countries then it will soon open up the door to one world government. So if you ever ask yourself why the federal government is so protective of illegal immigrants?- well then just think about what they are really trying to achieve in the long run.
The officer should know better by now: NEVER shoot at the Aliens of Peace -- not at weapons-carrying drug smugglers, not at those who attempt to kill you by running you over in van. .....never.
Sets back full national integration, doncha know.
Four Boxes:
Soap,
Ballot,
Jury,
Ammo.
Use in that order!
Don't worry, the Bush Bots will cook up some story about how this guy violated some procedure in some rulebook and therefore deserves what he gets.
"A fragment of the bullet hit a woman passenger in the mouth, breaking two of her TEACH and cutting her lip."
That orter lern her....!!!
There's so much to this case than the article you posted reported. Why this guy is in trouble is he pulled out his gun and shot at a vehicle that was driving away. The illegal issue aside, since when do cops get to shoot at people who are driving away when there is no gunfire directed towards them.
This case involves government checking the powers of police. If they were gang bangers or church ladies late for bingo the situation doesn't change. The hate cops lobby would be all over this guy if it wasn't for the fact he was shooting at illegals.
Why they would toss this guy in general population is beyond me though.
He shot at the vehicle as it was driving away. That's why he's got problems.
It appears that our government is heading us in the direction of "One America".....North America & Latin America all one entity, much like the EU. that is the only plausable reason for not protecting our borders.
The FROBLs will say that the cop deserved what he is getting, and that the people supporting him hate little brown people and hate Bush.
Your Honor,I have served the enforcement of the law and the protection of the public for 25 years, 15 of them as an elected Sheriff. I have been cross-designated with the DEA. I was the Task Force Officer and case agent in the prosecution of a Conspiracy to Traffic Narcotics in violation of Federal Statutes. I fully understand the need to protect the rights of all individuals, especially the rights of the accused. I understand the need to defend the rule of law and the Constitution. I understand the need for 18 USC § 242, Deprivation of Rights Under Color of Law. I also understand the Doctrine of Self-defense from the use and threatened use of deadly force.
I have always believed that those of us that protect and defend the law are obligated to truth. The truth to disclose to a Jury or Grand Jury all the facts, all the evidence, the truth and the whole truth. We must do this even if the guilty are not indicted or found not guilty. Justice is only truly served with the truth.
I cannot begin to explain to anyone my dismay when I was informed of the guilty verdict handed down against Deputy Sheriff Guillermo F. Hernandez. I assure you that I became truly ill. I could have not been any more upset if the verdict had been passed on my own son.
My first thoughts were that the system that I have served for 25 years had failed. For about three days I was ashamed to be part of the law enforcement community that serves and protects the Constitution. Finally I remembered what I already knew. The Grand Jury did not fail, they indicted on the information they were given. The Jury did not fail, they convicted on the evidence presented. The Court did not fail the system. The Court does not control the investigation or the prosecution’s presentation of the facts.
I know that the system only fails when we (law enforcement officers and prosecutors) the protectors of the system fail the system by not disclosing to the jury the whole truth, all the facts and all the evidence. We fail the system when we imply to the jury wrong doing when there is none. When it is implied that evidence was not collected to protect an officer from prosecution. When we know that the policy requires another agency to collect that evidence and the prosecution knew the evidence was collected. We fail the system when we imply to the jury that policy is law. When we know that policy is only a guideline for operations. When we imply before a jury that evidence may have been tampered with. When those of us who know better know that it is a simple thing for the FBI to test a videotape to see if it has been erased or tampered with. We fail the system when an expert witness testifies with words like “There were four shots fired and maybe six.” When we posture before the jury with implications that we do not believe the integrity of a witness when we know the witness is honorable and truthful. We fail the system when we know a witness for the government has made false statements to investigators and we justify those statements as confusion and we do so for a conviction. We fail the system when we buy witnesses and purchase testimony at the expense of our Statutes.
Your Honor, no man should stand for judgement based on prosecution courtroom antics in the name of advocacy based on false statements and implied evidence. As God is my witness Deputy Hernandez is a good and honorable young man. Deputy Hernandez told the truth when he said the driver of the vehicle tried to run him over. Even the statement of Yvonne Hernandez-Morales supports Deputy Hernandez. “When the officer got to the drivers door the driver took off.” Deputy Hernandez and his wife could have told any story they wanted. Deputy Hernandez was shooting at the tires trying to stop a vehicle whose driver was evading arrest or detention. Deputy Hernandez had every right to arrest and detain the driver of the evading vehicle. Deputy Hernandez did not intentionally harm anyone. Deputy Hernandez is a good enough shot to have placed all the rounds in his weapon right through the back glass of the suburban.
Your Honor, I respectfully request that you sentence Guillermo Falcon Hernandez to time served and release him from custody.
Sincerely,
Don G. Letsinger,
Sheriff, Edwards County
Right, because he assumed that the country wanted him to enforce laws and keep illegals out. Silly border patrol agent.
Lets face it, Bush does not want any enforcement of any kind on the border and is more than willing to put officers in jail to keep it open. I am sorry to say buy Bush has really turned out to be a great disappointment.
Disappointment is one thing. Putting good americans in jail on behalf of mexicans is something else altogether.
Bush will go down in history as one of the worst Presidents ever.
AMrk my words.
If we don't want a SECOND and WORSE Bush II , we need to MAKE SURE Rudy Giuliani, John McCain and Mitt Romney are defeated at the polls!!!!!
"Why this guy is in trouble is he pulled out his gun and shot at a vehicle that was driving away".
_____________________________________________________________
If the driver attempted to hit the officer with the van..... this would make him a feeling felon. Use of deasly force is allowed.
This is what this case will come down too.
Does this qualify as a tin-foil hatter?
When the van itself was used as a deadly weapon?
This is such a load of crap!!You wonder why I'm starting to hate ALL politicians,I don't care what party they are in.
The border states are taking a direct hit. They represent the people more than the Feds. This problem is going to continue to fester, unless people begin demanding states rights prevail. The Feds are sending the message to the border patrol on how what discretion is to be used to enforce immigration. Now they are sending the message to the states. This is not good for the ideal of American individualism.
I can't believe that this is happening in Texas. Are there no Texans left down there?
I support America taking the fight with Islam to Iraq. I think Bush's support for International Globalism at the expense of ordinary Americans, illegal immigration put Bush in the red. If the Democrats were to impeach Bush for Iraq, I would cheer them on even knowing they would be impeaching him for the wrong reason.
He shot at the vehicle when is was driving away, AFTER the driver attempted to run the police officer down. He has every right to stop a fleeing criminal with force if the criminal will not stop and submit to arrest. He did nothing wrong and if you think so, you have your head screwed on backwards. A more likely explanation is that you are either an illegal alien, have friends or relatives who are illegal aliens or are just stupid as hell. I think the latter explanation is most likely considering your idiotic comments.
I agree, and I voted for the guy twice.
Nah, there is a group of people at FR who will say or do anything to prevent W from ever looking bad. W could go on a Andrew Cunanan gay killing spree and they would make up some reason why he did the right thing.
Don't know if he still does the sketch, as I can't take the cry-baby act he has started pulling since going national. He was sooo much better doing afternoons in Tampa.
Scouts Out! Cavalry Ho!
After the fact.
Wow, that's a reach. It's Bush's fault that the guy got in trouble for shooting at a vehicle driving away from him. No matter whatever laws existed before he got into office. No matter that Bush wasn't there at the time, that he didn't build a fence 6 years ago and have it in place on January 21st 2001, that he didn't station troops on the border since we have tons to spare right now, etc., etc.
Illegal immigration goes well beyond Bush and you know it.
Hey DB, go check the statutes and see what they say. If he broke the law then he broke them. Your childish and bogus attempts at smearing me don't impress me in the least.
He shot at a van that tried to run him over! Last time I checked, attempting to murder a police officer was something that might just get you shot. The van in this instance is a deadly weapon. If some thug shoots at an officer and then attempts to flee, does that mean the officer cant shoot him. It certainly does not! The Texas Rangers investigated this action and recommended no action against the officer. They said that it was a righteous shooting. It wasn't until the FBI acting on behalf to the Mexican Government got involved that this officer found himself behind bars. Our boy Johnny Sutton was on the job again.
It is a fairly well known concept in management that the tone and the culture are set by the guy at the top. If this was a single event, then you would be totally correct. Instead, however, it is a pattern by the administration to circumvent the immigration laws, to the point that the administration is going out of its way to arrest and jail the few people who are actually trying to stop illegal immigration.
But don't worry, as soon as there is a democrat president you will come around on this issue, just as you were I am sure on our side on this issue before W was president.
The great thing about being a bushbot is that as long as you out live him you can always come back around to basic conservative principles.
Tell me what the statute says. Note that I never said I fully agreed with it but I have never heard of a case where a cop can shoot when the vehicle is driving away.
1. Federal prosecutors are traitors.
2. I am ashamed that I voted for gutless George Bush.
Cops are not allowed to shoot vehicles driving away from them unless they can show some damned good reason. We have the cop's word that someone tried to run him down and he felt it necessary to shoot at the vehicle when it was well past him.
Tell me the open invitation to abuse that offers.
That the cop shot at illegals makes it okay in someone people's book. They would likely have a different story if the people in the van were not.
I wish we would just secede from the union, build a fence around the whole damn state and tell Washington to go to hell.
That is exactly what they are doing. They damn sure don't want to know what millions of Americans Citizens are doing right now to prepair for when the u.S is compleatly overrun in the human garbage from mexico's failed socialist government
It will not be pretty and it will not be fun but it will have been predicted.
There will be no guilty conciseness on the part of American Citizens that finally correct this treason.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.