Posted on 02/15/2003 9:55:03 AM PST by hoosierskypilot
If you recall in our previous report from San Antonio Texas, a 14 year-old girl was shot in the head by officers of the Drug Enforcement Administration. Many regular readers know by now that little Ashley Villarreal was taken off life-support yesterday. She’s dead. Now, you’d figure that would be the main focus of the follow up stories, and what steps the DEA would take to ensure justice in this matter. But think again. This is a Whack’em & Stack’em clean up – at it’s best. Class is in session. Let’s walk through it, shall we?
DEA case troubled by timing By Maro Robbins - San Antonio Express-News
The stakeout that ended with a 14-year-old girl shot in the head was part of a federal narcotics investigation that had been marked in recent days by several instances of unfortunate timing.
[The key here are the words ‘unfortunate timing’. You can translate that into, “it wasn’t our fault.” You see, in the whack & stack culture, it’s NEVER the fault of the executioner. By merely inserting the two above mentioned words, the reader will overlook the blatant disregard for public safety demonstrated by the DEA. Read on…]
Drug Enforcement Administration agents say they were looking for cocaine trafficking suspect Joey Villarreal and believed he might be trying to flee Sunday when they shot into the darkened car, driven by his daughter Ashley Villarreal.
[Just in case an eyebrow got raised over “they shot into the darkened car” meaning, they didn’t know who or what the heck they were shooting at, you can relax since the phrase “cocaine trafficking” was used in the same sentence. Already, the reader is feeling easier about the whacking of an unarmed, teen-aged girl]
Officials said the agent, Bill Swierc, fired as the sedan tried to ram him. But as family members arranged Wednesday for the girl's funeral, they dispute that she was to blame for her own death.
[Whack & Stack fans: How many times have you heard about that dead witness attempting to “ram” the officer? It’s like an epidemic: driver sees cop, cop pulls gun, driver hits the gas, cop has justified kill. It is a common tactic (excuse) used when explaining why they simply shot into a car. After all, you’re not going to get the other side of the story. That potentially damaging witness was lethally dealt with. And if you think we’re getting carried away with this, read the last part of that paragraph again:”…they dispute that she was to blame for her own death…”
Excerpt from our previous report in this case:
“…Not to worry, the local police said they are conducting an investigation, and the DEA is cooperating. TRANSLATION: Give us a day or two to come up with a reason why that little 14 year-old girl deserved what she got…”
As you can see, this is already the trial balloon that is being peddled on the streets of San Antonio. And by the way: if you go back to the original story, the girl also took enemy fire while backing the car up (conspicuously omitted in this version of their story). Let’s move on…]
The incident at South San Joaquin at Motes streets has inflamed local sentiment, both for and against the agents, and is under review by San Antonio police and a DEA team from Washington.
[Get it? Locals are outraged, as well they should be. But in a classic whack’em & stack’em, the mission is to make you forget about that, and focus only on what those wonderful ‘agents’ were doing to protect the public. Watch how this story suddenly changes direction.]
Meanwhile, in hindsight, the shooting was only one instance in which the timing appeared unfortunate. For example:
DEA agents helped Kerrville police arrest Villarreal on minor charges barely two days before federal agents were looking for him again, this time after receiving information alleging that he might bolt for Mexico.
While agents were searching for Villarreal, his lawyer says the 36-year-old musician was making plans to turn himself in. The meeting at the attorney's office ended roughly three hours before Ashley was shot.
When federal authorities charged Villarreal after the shooting, they based the complaint on information they had possessed for some time but had not wanted to use until the rest of the investigation ripened.
"He was and is part of an ongoing investigation in a larger drug trafficking case," said Greg Surovic, the assistant U.S. attorney who supervises federal drug task force prosecutions. "The plan was not to arrest him on Monday."
[Let’s stop right here – See how we’re suddenly into the drug case and the dead girl is all but forgotten? Go on – there’s more…]
But the chain of events that put agents in front of Villarreal's home on Sunday appeared to start two days earlier.
That's when Kerrville police Sgt. Harry Fleming received a tip alleging that the odor of marijuana had wafted from the hotel room Villarreal was renting…
[ Oh for Gosh sake – with the High Terror Alert going on these days, someone was smoking a joint – call in the SWAT TEAMS]
…The police, aided by DEA agents and others, set up surveillance. Court records indicate that they determined the room was being used to distribute drugs.
A search of the room found "white powdery substance" on the nightstand and floor, the documents state. Villarreal had cash totaling $986.
[If it was cocaine, they would have said it was cocaine. Lesson for all you travelers: Don’t spill that coffee creamer – your daughter’s life may depend on it]
Villarreal was charged with possessing less than a gram of controlled substance and driving with a suspended license. He spent the night in jail and posted bond Saturday.
After his release, investigators received the information alleging that he was about to flee the country.
[Sure, you just killed his daughter – thinking they were going after him. Yes, I’m sure I’d feel safe and have complete faith in the justice system after that. After all, you’re the only other witness to the execution.]
"There were things going on in the organization that probably led him to believe the heat was on," Surovic said.
[TRANSLATION: “The only way the DEA could cover their tracks is to set up another take down – this time not missing their target. We suspect is was trying to get out of our reach so we could finish the job.]
Surovic said a prosecutor came into the office and had typed up the complaint against Villarreal hours before Sunday's shooting. The document alleged that Villarreal was the "leader" of a cocaine trafficking group.
[…and you see – by the time you get to this point, you too would be almost convinced that that poor little girl had it coming. “Collateral damage” as they say.]
Meanwhile, the Villarreal family was adamant that Ashley should not be blamed. The girl's uncle, Pete Villarreal called the shooting senseless. He said nothing the girl did was suspicious enough to justify agents opening fire. As he put it, her only crime was driving around the block without headlights and without a license.
"She was killed because she committed a traffic violation," he said.
Visitation for Ashley will started at 2 p.m. Thursday, followed by a rosary at 7 p.m. at the Castillo Mission Funeral Home at 520 N. Gen. McMullen Drive. A Friday Mass was scheduled for 10 a.m. at St. Jude's Catholic Church at 130 S. San Augustine St. Burial will follow at San Fernando Cemetery No. 2.
"A 14-year-old girl," Pete Villarreal said, "should not be buried on Valentine's Day."
[And…may she rest in peace. You see Nick and Norm – the drug war DOES produce terrorism.]
Would you pull over for gangbangers with guns, or try to drive away?
So9
Actually, IMO, it was the girl's father who sacrificed her life with his drug culture life. Where was he? Why was an underaged driver driving late at night. Shouldn't he be at home? Where was the mother? Who was her guardian?
Questions not asked in this biased screed.
No actually she was driving a car and ramming cars and putting other people in danger.
Like I said before it was her father and the crowd he hung around with that put the girl's life in danger.
Last I heard, running away from a properly dressed cop was a) not a capital crime, and b) not equivalent to a courtroom verdict regarding same.
Questioned not asked because cerfew violation is not a capital crime, either.
If my sister and I decided to leave our father’s house and move to our grandmother’s house in order to stay way of my father’s legal problems, would it be fair for my sister to get shot and killed?
It is inevitable and it will get worse.
Policemen in blue or brown uniforms are our friends. Headhunters in black ninja suits and face masks are not. When you put a cop into undercover work or on a SWAT team, his outlook changes. Everyone is now a probable criminal and there are no good guys. They are dressed like spies and warriors and they treat our streets as enemy territory to be conquered at any cost.
No possible harm drugs could do would be as bad as the damage the war on drugs has done to the relationship between police and citizens.
So9
If my sister and I decided to leave our father’s house and move to our grandmother’s house in order to stay way of my father’s legal problems, would it be fair for my sister to get shot and killed?
Then why was her father's buddy in the car with her? How come the grnadmother let the girl go out with one of her father's buddies, late at night? How come he was not driving? Could it have been him who said, it's the fuzz hit the accelerator?
Like I said before this whole tragic situation is because of the father's drug culture lifestyle, IMO.
Robles, 44, described himself as the household handyman who lives with the teenagers Ashley and Adrianna and their grandmother on South San Joaquin Street.LinkRobles said that he had waxed the Eclipse earlier in the day and that at the end of the night, Ashley told him she wanted to move it to the back where it could be covered and protected from dew.
They had to drive around the block to reach the rear entrance. And, like a lot of youths too young to have a license to drive, Ashley wanted to move it herself, Robles said.
Once they backed out of the driveway, a car tailed closely behind. Ashley said she thought they were being followed and sped up.
Another vehicle, a pickup, came at them from the front, Robles said. When Ashley veered right onto Motes Street, they collided.
Robles said the agents opened fire immediately after the crash and didn't identify themselves until afterward.
"The first shot was fired and Ashley didn't say a word," he said. "She didn't scream or anything and I knew she was hit with the first shot."
Robles contended Ashley never tried to back up unless, somehow in the collision, the automatic transmission was knocked into reverse. And he insisted that there was no way for the car to endanger the agents.
"How could they feel threatened when we were jammed in between (their vehicles) like a sandwich?" he said.
Officials declined to respond to Robles' version or to discuss details of the case Tuesday, citing the pending investigation.
After the gunfire, Robles said, the agents pulled him out through the passenger side and handcuffed him. Then they reached in and lay Ashley on the grassy curb.
"They knew. I could see it. They had made a big mistake,
How would a 14 year old unlicensed driver know that she is being followed? Why would she be afraid of being followed if she is just going around the block.
Again this Mr. Robles account. Could it be possible that Mr. Robles was the one who thought they were being followed and told her to speed up and make the situation more dangerous? That is not out of the realm of possibilty, unfortunately we will never know. Dead people can't talk and Mr. Robles can hide behind the body of the unlicsened 14 year old girl, as his allaby, IMHO.
I posted the article for other readers who want more information, not just the official version.
The damage to the car is consistent with Mr. Robles' account.
Neighbors also seem to confirm Mr. Robles' account.
Of course, those are "cop-hating neighbors" who have zero credibility in your book.
NOT!
The Fresno PD used this same "cop out" (a family member "in the drug culture" was really at fault) when one of Fresno's finest murdered a teenager who was unarmed, laying on the ground and not resisting (the stupid cop claimed his shotgun fired "accidentally).
Police are bound to the same standard in the use of deadly force as any civilian. So, the fact that they might have been pursuing a drug kingpin is irrelevant. As with the Fresno case, either the shooters where derelict or else their management was derelict.
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.