Thursday, July 26, 2007

My comments to a pinhead, biased journalist

Reuben Navarrette, a syndicated columnist, wrote an article the other day concerning the recent Senate Judiciary hearing on the case of former Border Patrol Agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean.

The article by Mr. Navarrette can be found HERE.

I don't want to post it myself because I am not sure about copyright violations. But if you know anything at all about the case regarding these two former Border Patrol Agents, you will be just as mad as I was.

I sent Mr. Navarrette a little piece of my mind after reading his column. I thought I would share it with you now.

>>>>>>>>>>>My letter to this pinhead<<<<<<<<<<<<<<


Mr. Navarrette,

I read your columns every Wednesday in my local paper. I have noticed that you have a decidedly biased slant to your articles that heavily favor the illegal alien population in this country. That was tolerable for me, as everyone is entitled to his or her opinions. However, in today's article, No get-out-of-jail card for ex-Border Patrol Agents, you, sir crossed the line.

As I stated, you are completely entitled to your opinion, but you are not entitled to mislead the people by your careful omission of facts.

Sir, you stated in your article, "The facts of the case haven't changed. On Feb. 17, 2005, Ramos and Compean were on patrol on the U.S.-Mexico border near Fabens, Texas, when they spotted a suspicious van. When they approached, they discovered Aldrete-Davila, who began running toward the Mexican side of the border. The agents opened fire."

You then went on to say, "Nor has there been any change in the law under which Ramos and Compean were tried, convicted and sentenced. It's still a crime for officers to shoot an unarmed suspect and then lie about it."
Your article makes it sound like Agents Ramos and Compean just began shooting at Osvaldo Aldrete-Davila without provocation. That sir is either an outright lie on your part, or a misrepresentation of the truth.

First of all, Agents Ramos and Compean were not together initially. Agent Compean had anticipated that Davila would attempt to flea back to Mexico and tried to head him off. Davila and Compean got into a scuffle and Davila managed to continue fleeing towards Mexico. The fact that Davila assaulted Agent Compean is a crime.

Agent Ramos fired upon Davila only after he reported seeing something that appeared to be a weapon in Davila’s hand. Since Davila was not apprehended and searched, we will never know the truth as to whether he did in fact have a gun or not. However, to take the word of a drug smuggler over two law enforcement officers is ludicrous. For these Agents to be convicted for shooting an unarmed man is a heinous miscarriage of justice, since we cannot prove without reasonable doubt that he did not in fact have a weapon.

In your article you did mention that Davila was caught a second time smuggling drugs into the United States. However, the jury did not have the chance to hear that evidence, evidence that may have changed the outcome of the trial.

Defense lawyers may also have been prevented from learning that a half dozen other agents and supervisors of Customs & Border Protection and the Homeland Security Department were at the scene or nearby when the incident took place. This evidence would disprove the fact that Agents Ramos and Compean tried to cover up the evidence. If that were so, all the agents at the scene would have to have been involved in the cover up as well.

Your article sir is a disgrace to the profession of journalism. Does it sound like I am mad? Your darn tooting I am mad!

I am mad that you would try to say that anyone who wants justice done is attempting an ‘old West style jailbreak’. I am mad that for 21 years our federal government has ignored the problem of illegal immigration and now we are stuck with anywhere from 10-30 million illegal aliens that nobody knows what to do with. I am mad that the governments of Mexico, and all the other countries that these illegal aliens come from have not done all that they could to provide an economic climate that would provide decent jobs for their own citizens. I am mad that the United States is expected to take in all the poor from all over the world, like some sort of a global welfare state. I am mad that illegal aliens like Julio Villasana, who was deported three times and left of his own volition eleven others, still re-entered this country illegally and killed a guitar maker in a drunk driving accident in Nashville Tennessee. I am mad that the President of the United States openly promises to the people of Mexico that he will do all he can to pass immigration reform legislation, yet he will not promise the American people that he will enforce our current immigration laws to the fullest extent. I am mad that hundreds of thousands of illegal aliens can take to our streets demanding rights that they are not entitled to, yet if half that number of Americans took to the streets of Mexico City and demanded that we receive benefits, free medical service, free education for our children, we would most certainly be carted off to jail. I am mad that our government is trying to pass legislation that would give millions of dollars in grant money to the National Council of La Raza, which supports groups that believe in La Reconquista.

Finally, I am mad that a known drug smuggler walks free while two fine Border Patrol Agents are spending a decade each in prison for shooting said drug smuggler in the buttocks. Am I sad that Mr. Davila was shot in the buttocks? Yes I am. I am sad that one of those bullets had not found its way to Mr. Davila’s head. He is scum and the world would be a better place without him.

The next time you wish to state your opinions on an issue such as this, please be sure to include all the facts. Agent Ramos and Compean may have been guilty of not following procedures, but whatever their crime, it certainly does not justify ruining their lives and putting them in jail. As I stated before, you are entitled to your opinions, but I would hope that you would have enough personal integrity to give your readers all the facts, not just your lopsided view of the truth.

1 comment:

The Zombieslayer said...

Neal - finally did that post on La Raza's racism. Thanks for those quotes.