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.
Try again.
For shooting a drug smuggler and an illegal in the ass???????
This is b.s. and I am losing patience with the republican party and THIS president.
Because he knows that to do so would bring the facts of the case into public knowledge, and destroy his craven pandering.
Bush makes me sick. I will never vote for another Republican(no matter who the alternative is) if they aren't serious about stopping illegal immigration. Bush doesn't care about the illegal immigration problem and it's obvious. The reason the problem is so out of control is because idiots like Bush don't even see it as a problem. Who cares if a liberal democrat gets in office when the nation will be destroyed regardless unless we stop this invasion.
No politician will ever again get my vote unless they understand the damage that illegal immigration is doing to our nation and have the balls to do what is necessary to stop it.
Well then blame the jury.
Ditto that.
Shame on the Congressmen trying to cover up for these men.
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Thanks for sharing your view of this whole unfortunate affair.
I would add tha We as a people for the most part lost our respect for the law in the 1990s.. when Senators covered up for an impeached President and a government refused to do its duty and enforce its laws without prejudice. The repercussions are still being felt to this day.
That being said, the biggest mistake these agents made was policing their rounds as part of a clean-up of the scene, imo.
In the heat of the moment, people do things that they wished they hadn't, only to find it makes the outcome more severe than it might have been initially.
I'm guessing these guys had a history of trouble. Border patrol and police personnel would have covered for them otherwise. Somebody -- maybe lots of people -- wanted to get rid of them, and they provided the ammo.
Personally I don't have a problem with the idea of Border Patrol agents shooting KNOWN illegal border-crossing drug-smugglers in the back, but it doesn't sound like that's what really happened here.
Say speaking of cheap, you still using those illegals on your projects?
We are losing our souls due to anger at our opposition.
Those Border agents realized that they screwed up, yet most of us cant, because of ideology.
It is exactly what we accuse the Left of doing, and we should be better than that, but more and more often, we are not.
I believe one of the two had been named Border Patrol "agent of the year," or some such thing. Perhaps another FReeper can elaborate.
I can barely comment. I'm just too sad and angry. Prayers for these BPs.
"Is President Bush the only guy involved in this case."
No Bush isn't the only one to blame but he the most powerful individual in the world so he carries most of the blame when it comes immigration is this nation. I also blame him for not pardoning these guys when he has the power to do so.
I don't like Bush or any other politician that doesn't seem to understand that illegal immigration is even a problem when it's the biggest problem facing this nation. It's obvious Bush doesn't think illegal immigration is a bad thing.
If you could argue the subject, you wouldn't try to change it.
Coward.
"This country is about due process, not vigilante justice."
If the government is going to protect Americans than the citizens themselves have a right to whatever it takes to defend themselves and take back their country.
I don't know what really happened here. I read your version and did some searching. I found a few mentions of attempted cover-up, but not much.
Most telling though is that of all the replies to your post, not a single one refuted your version. I don't know you personally, but we've been on the same side of an argument before and I know a bit about your background. I can only conclude that you are correct and that we have another round of FRknee-jerking going on here.
Thanks for your insight.
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