After a not guilty verdict in the death of Kate Steinle, Mexican man Jose Inez Garcia Zarate will get deported. The Department of Justice has an arrest warrant for Garcia Zarate, who got deported on five separate occasions in the past.
Three months before the San Francisco pier incident that ended Steinle’s life, Garcia Zarate got released from jail. Federal immigration authorities requested his transfer to their custody, but as a sanctuary city, San Francisco denied their request.
Garcia Zarate got acquitted of first and second-degree murder, involuntary manslaughter and found not guilty of assault with a semi-automatic weapon. He was, however, found guilty of possession of a lethal firearm by a listed felon.
“Following the conclusion of this case, ICE will work to take custody of Mr. Garcia Zarate and ultimately remove him from the country,” the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency said. The arrest warrant is from 2015 but got amended this week to include violations related to the Steinle case.
Tom Homan, ICE’s Deputy Director, added, “San Francisco’s policy of refusing to honor ICE detainers is a blatant threat to public safety and undermines the rule of law. This tragedy could have been prevented if San Francisco had turned the alien over to ICE, as we requested, instead of releasing him back onto the streets.”
Homan was not the only individual to be upset with the verdict. President Donald Trump also expressed his discontent through his favorite source of communication – Twitter – calling the decision disgraceful while pushing his border wall agenda.
A disgraceful verdict in the Kate Steinle case! No wonder the people of our Country are so angry with Illegal Immigration.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 1, 2017
The Kate Steinle killer came back and back over the weakly protected Obama border, always committing crimes and being violent, and yet this info was not used in court. His exoneration is a complete travesty of justice. BUILD THE WALL!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 1, 2017
The jury was not told the killer of Kate was a 7 time felon. The Schumer/Pelosi Democrats are so weak on Crime that they will pay a big price in the 2018 and 2020 Elections.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 1, 2017
During the trial, Garcia Zarate’s defense claimed he didn’t shoot Steinle on purpose. They said he found the gun on the pier, wrapped in a t-shirt, and that he shot at a seal, but that the bullet ricocheted over 80 feet to pierce Steinle.
The prosecution told the jury Garcia Zarate was, in fact, playing his version of Russian roulette. They said he shot randomly into the crowd to see who he would hit, but the jury sided with the defense and acquitted Garcia Zarate.
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