Two
brave U.S. Border Patrol agents are headed to prison
for a combined 23 YEARS!
Their crime?
Defending our nation's southern border against
illegal alien drug smugglers.
In other words, these two men are going to jail for what
Congressman Tom Tancredo called,
"doing their job" --
securing the border.
Here are the facts:
On
February 17, Agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean
noticed a suspicious van near the Rio Grande.
The
van was being driven by illegal alien Osvaldo
Aldrete-Davila -- who was smuggling 743 pounds
of marijuana into the United States.
When the illegal drug smuggler saw Agents Ramos and
Compean, he ran for the border. The agents heard
gun shots while pursuing Davila on foot.
According to media reports, Davila at one point
turned toward the pursuing agents and pointed what
appeared to be a gun. The border agents fired their
weapons at the fleeing illegal alien drug smuggler.
Davila was hit in his buttocks -- although Compean
and Ramos apparently did not know it at the time --
and Davila didn't even slow down. He jumped into a
waiting van and sped off in the night.
What happened next is so unbelievable, so outrageous
that it should boil the blood of every American.
As The New American put it:
"Incredibly, while agents Ramos and Compean and
their families face economic ruin, emotional
devastation, and real physical danger, as a result
of that 15-minute chase, Osvaldo Aldrete-Davila --
an admitted felon and drug smuggler -- has not only
gotten off scot-free, he stands to become a rich
man, courtesy of the U.S. taxpayers. In a seemingly
unbelievable turn of events, agents for the U.S.
Department of Justice and Department of Homeland
Security contacted the smuggler in Mexico and
offered him complete immunity if he would testify
that the Border Patrol agents Ramos and Compean had
violated his civil rights."
We
couldn't make this up if we tried.
Johnny Sutton -- U.S. Attorney for the Western
District of Texas -- then charged these two heroes
with Causing Serious Bodily Injury, Assault with a
Deadly Weapon, Discharge of a Firearm in Relation to
a Crime of Violence, and -- get this -- a violation
of the "civil rights" of an illegal alien.
He threw the book at them.
Use the hyperlink below to send your 30 urgent and
personalized Blast Fax Messages to President Bush and
the leaders of the House and the Senate.
Tell them TODAY that the President MUST use his power of
presidential pardon, as granted by the United States
Constitution in Article II, Section 2, to pardon Agents
Ramos and Compean!
The American people will not tolerate the imprisonment
of two brave border patrol agents who did nothing more
than pursue an enemy of their country.
This terrible wrong must be righted.
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What
Happened at the Trial?
At the trial, the prosecutor dismissed Ramos's testimony
that he saw
"something shiny"
in Davila's hand. She said Ramos
"couldn't be sure it was a gun he had seen."
In other words, if it's dark and you can't be
absolutely certain that the shiny thing you see
pointed at you and your fellow agent is a pistol,
don't fire until you get a bullet between your eyes.
Then you'll know for certain it's a gun.
Also, the prosecutor said it was a violation of Border
Patrol policy for agents to pursue dope dealers on the
run. As she explained it:
"Agents are not allowed to pursue. In order to
exceed the speed limit, you have to get supervisor
approval, and they did not."
Ramos, who had a stellar 10-year record and who had been
nominated for the Agent of the Year award, said in
reply:
"How are we supposed to follow the Border patrol
strategy of apprehending terrorists or drug
smugglers if we aren't supposed to pursue fleeing
people? Everybody who's breaking the law flees from
us. What are we supposed to do? Do they want us to
catch them or not?"
The answer to Officer Ramos's question is:
"OBVIOUSLY NOT!"
And that's why criminals like Davila are crossing our
borders illegally every single day.
And when two law enforcement officers try to carry
out the will of the American people -- when they try
to do their jobs -- they are handcuffed and hauled
off to prison.
Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean deserve to be commended
for their bravery and service to our country, not
charged by our government for supposedly violating an
illegal alien drug smuggler's
"Civil Rights."
What the system has done to these agents is wicked and
must be undone immediately.
This terrible wrong must be righted.
http://www.cfiflistmanager.org/compeanbe.html
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What
About the Jury?
Question:
What about the jury? Why did all 12 jurors agree
that both Border Patrol officers were guilty?
Answer:
They didn't!
Three jurors now say THEY DIDN'T WANT TO VOTE GUILTY and
at least two more were disturbed by the verdict.
Robert
Gourley, Claudia Torres, and Edine Woods say they
were told the verdict HAD TO BE UNANIMOUS, which was
flat-out untrue.
The
three signed sworn affidavits stating that they had
been incorrectly instructed.
In
addition, some jurors allegedly bullied other
jurors, intimidating them into changing their votes.
One
juror said he thought that 10 years in prison for
the agents was excessive punishment.
"Had we had the option of a hung jury,"
he said,
"I truly believe the outcome may have been
different."
Another
said of the jury foreman,
"I felt like he knew something about the judge that
we did not know. I did not think that Mr. Ramos or
Mr. Compean was guilty of the assaults and civil
rights violations."
In light of these juror statements, defense attorney
Mary Stillinger asked that the verdict be set aside, but
the judge oddly, arbitrarily denied the motion.
Use the hyperlink below to send your 30 urgent and
personalized Blast Fax Messages to President Bush and
the leaders of the House and the Senate.
Tell them TODAY that the President MUST use his power of
presidential pardon, as granted by the United States
Constitution in Article II, Section 2, to pardon Agents
Ramos and Compean!
The American people will not tolerate the imprisonment
of two brave border patrol agents who did nothing more
than pursue an enemy of their country.
This terrible wrong must be righted.
http://www.cfiflistmanager.org/compeanbe.html
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What
are Others Saying?
People all over the country have expressed their
indignation at this sickening misuse of our judicial
system, which further hamstrings and intimidates our
Border Patrol.
Tom
Tancredo -- Congressman, anti-illegal immigration
activist, and author of In Mortal Danger --
said:
"This is not the message that our legal system
should be giving to the drug cartels that are
smuggling drugs, people and terrorists across our
borders."
Andy
Ramirez, of the non-profit Friends of the Border
Patrol, said:
"This is the greatest miscarriage of justice I have
ever seen. This drug smuggler has fully contributed
to the destruction of two brave agents and their
families and has
sent a very loud
message to the other Border Patrol agents: If you
confront a smuggler, this is what will happen to
you."
[Emphasis
Mine]
Twelve members of Congress have already sent a
letter to President Bush, in which they said in
part:
"We ask that a full investigation of this case be
ordered immediately. We are confident that during
such an investigation you will find that these
Border Patrol agents were acting within the scope of
their duty and were unjustly prosecuted. Also, we
ask that you use your power of presidential pardon,
as granted by the United States Constitution in
Article II, Section 2, to pardon these two Border
Patrol agents."
These expressions of outrage and anguish underline the
monumental importance of this case.
The drug cartels, gangs, and even terrorists seeking
to exploit our nation's open borders have just seen
the light turn green.
The Border Patrol
has been stripped naked. It can't fire a gun without
risking more than ten years in prison. It can't
violate the speed limit without saying, "Mother, may
I?" And if it detains an illegal alien dealing
drugs, it may be violating his civil rights.
If you think illegal immigration is a problem, wait till
you see what happens after Compean and Ramos are hauled
off to prison in chains.
And what about Osvaldo Aldrete-Davila?
He'll be back. (He's probably back already): selling
drugs to America's children and grandchildren, thumbing
his nose at Homeland Security -- a hero to all his drug
smuggling and criminal friends back home, where he is
hailed as the smuggler who disarmed the U.S. Border
Patrol.
And next time he'll bring more just like him -- all
of them gleefully gloating over the knowledge that
this country doesn't have the will to close its own
borders.
Use the hyperlink below to send your 30 urgent and
personalized Blast Fax Messages to President Bush and
the leaders of the House and the Senate.
Tell them TODAY that the President MUST use his power of
presidential pardon, as granted by the United States
Constitution in Article II, Section 2, to pardon Agents
Ramos and Compean!
The American people will not tolerate the imprisonment
of two brave border patrol agents who did nothing more
than pursue an enemy of their country.
This terrible wrong must be righted.
http://www.cfiflistmanager.org/compeanbe.html
AOL Members Use This Hyperlink
If the above hyperlink does not function, please copy
and paste it into the address bar of your browser.
The
U.S. is Sending the Wrong Message to our Border Patrol
Retired Border Patrol Supervisor David Stoddard -- a
Border Patrol veteran of 27 years -- said of Ramos' and
Compean's situation,
"This is outrageous. This whole incident tells the
Border Patrol agents all over the country it's better to
go out to their areas of responsibility and bring a
portable DVD player and watch a movie, because that way
you won't get into trouble."
In
fact, this situation has destroyed the morale of our
Border Patrol agents. According to one source,
"A lot of agents are now
saying, 'We don't want to be the next Ramos and Compean.'"
If President Bush pardons officers Compean and Ramos, he
will be sending a strong message that America is
committed to securing our borders -- that our brave
border patrol agents can do their jobs without fear of
prosecution by our own government.
If he signs these pardons,
it will infuse the
Border Patrol with a new sense of pride and purpose.
They will know the President of the United States stands
behind them with all the awesome power of his office.
