http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=53805
Disgrace or what?
Giving the drug-dealer full immunity not once but twice.
Another heck of a job.
INVASION USA
Border agents sent to prison
Angry Republican congressman calls President Bush 'disgrace'
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Amid protests and a flurry of last-minute efforts by congressmen, two border
patrol agents are scheduled today to begin long prison sentences for shooting
and wounding a Mexican drug smuggler who was granted full immunity to
testify against them.
In an interview with WND, an angry Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif., called
President Bush a "disgrace" for refusing to pardon Jose Alonso Compean and
Ignacio Ramos, who were sentenced to 12 years and 11 years, respectively,
in October. With hopes for a presidential pardon dwindling, the lawmakers had
requested that Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez assist in a motion to keep
the agents free on bond during the appeals process. But late yesterday, U.S.
District Judge Kathleen Cardone in El Paso, Texas, ruled the men must
surrender to federal marshals at 2 p.m. Mountain Time today.
"This is the worst betrayal of American defenders I have ever seen,"
Rohrabacher said of the president. "It's shameful this was done by someone
who is in the Republican Party. He obviously thinks more about his agreements
with Mexico than the lives of American people and backing up his defenders."
The California lawmaker, who has helped lead efforts to obtain a pardon,
charged the Bush administration has been playing a "cruel game." Initially, he
said, officials insisted the agents could not be pardoned because they had not
filled out the proper paperwork. But Rohrabacher told WND the White House
did not explain to the public that the agents were being required – without
justification, he contended – to first admit guilt.
Then, last Friday, presidential press secretary Tony Snow addressed the issue
for the first time, arguing that prior to the shooting, the agents did not know
if the smuggler, Osbaldo Aldrete-Davila, was an illegal alien, and they were
unaware he had about 750 pounds of marijuana.
Compean and Ramos say they thought the smuggler had a gun, but no
weapon was found.
The agents, Snow said, "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."
"Instead," Snow continued, "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."
'Monday-morning quarterbacking'
TJ Bonner, president of the National Border Patrol Council, a union
representing 1,500 agents, argued failure to report the discharge of a firearm
is an administrative offense that, at the most, merits a five-day suspension.
"How that translates into 11- and 12-year prison terms is beyond me," he told
WND. "They fired at someone they believed had a weapon. He resisted their
commands, assaulted one of the officers and then wheeled around and
pointed something at them. Logic would say it would be a weapon.
"After all the Monday-morning quarterbacking, I would have to come to the
same conclusion," Bonner said. "He's a drug smuggler, for God's sake."
The Department of Homeland Security sent an investigator to Mexico to offer
the smuggler, Aldrete-Davila, full immunity in exchange for his testimony
against the agents. Now, Aldrete-Davila is suing the U.S. Border Patrol for $5
million for allegedly violating his civil rights.
U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton initially granted immunity to Aldrete-Davila for
illegally entering the U.S., drug smuggling and unlawful flight to avoid arrest.
Later, Sutton expanded the immunity to cover a second drug offense by
Aldrete-Davila – an attempt to smuggle another 1,000 pounds of marijuana
into the U.S.
Agent Jose Alonso Compean (Courtesy: KFOX-TV)
Bonner said Ramos and Compean will be incarcerated at the El Paso jail this
week then be moved to separate low-security federal prisons. He's concerned
about their safety.
"Bad cops are accepted by the prison population, but good cops are not,"
Bonner point out. "They'll be surrounded by people they arrested."
Rohrabacher suggested Bush was sending the men to prison in order that his
immigration policy not be disrupted.
"He talks about being a Christian, but he has shown no Christian charity," the
congressman told San Diego radio host Roger Hedgecock after speaking with
WND last night.
Asked by WND for a response to Rohrabacher's remarks, White House
spokesman Alex Conant deferred to Snows comments on the case.
Rohrabacher told WND he sees a serious residual result of the administration's
handling of the agents.
"The word is out that the southern border is undefended," he said. "Border
agents won't dare to draw their weapons, and the drug cartel will double their
effort to drive a wedge in our border."
Rohrabacher said he has been disturbed by an "arrogant" lack of response from
senior Justice Department and White House officials who have "shoved over"
their inquiries to lower-level staff.
"I've never seen an administration that does it this way," he said. "In the past,
if there is a senior member of Congress calling, it would require a call back
directly from the administration official in question."
The Justice Department did not respond to WND's request for comment.
Bush has received a letter about the case from more than 50 Congress
members, and yesterday an online petition by Grassfire.org with more than
225,000 signatures calling for a presidential pardon was delivered to the White
House.
'We both yelled out for him to stop'
As WND has reported, a federal jury convicted Compean, 28, and Ramos, 37,
in March after a two-week trial on charges of causing serious bodily injury,
assault with a deadly weapon, discharge of a firearm in relation to a crime of
violence and a civil rights violation.
Ramos is an eight-year veteran of the U.S. Naval Reserve and a former
nominee for Border Patrol Agent of the Year.
According to the agents, Ramos responded Feb. 17, 2005, to a request for
back-up from Compean, who noticed a suspicious van near the levee road
along the Rio Grande River near the Texas town of Fabens, about 40 miles
east of El Paso. A third agent also joined the pursuit.
Aldrete-Davila stopped the van on a levee, jumped out and started running
toward the river. When he reached the other side of the levee, he was met by
Compean who had anticipated the smuggler's attempt to get back to Mexico.
"We both yelled out for him to stop, but he wouldn't stop, and he just kept
running," Ramos told California's Inland Valley Daily Bulletin.
"At some point during the time where I'm crossing the canal, I hear shots
being fired," Ramos said. "Later, I see Compean on the ground, but I keep
running after the smuggler."
At that point, Ramos said, Aldrete-Davila turned toward him, pointing what
looked like a gun.
"I shot," Ramos said. "But I didn't think he was hit, because he kept running
into the brush and then disappeared into it. Later, we all watched as he
jumped into a van waiting for him. He seemed fine. It didn't look like he had
been hit at all."
The U.S. government filed charges against Ramos and Compean after giving
full immunity to Aldrete-Davila and paying for his medical treatment at an El
Paso hospital.
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Texas issued a
statement in September arguing "the defendants were prosecuted because
they had fired their weapons at a man who had attempted to surrender by
holding his open hands in the air, at which time Agent Compean attempted to
hit the man with the butt of Compean's shotgun, causing the man to run in
fear of what the agents would do to him next."
The statement said, "Although both agents saw that the man was not armed,
the agents fired at least 15 rounds at him while he was running away from
them, hitting him once."
* To join/leave the list, search archives, change list settings, *
* etc., please visit http://raven.utc.edu/archives/hp3000-l.html *
|
