Kate Steinle
A San Francisco jury acquitted a Mexican national Thursday of murdering Cal Poly grad Kate Steinle, prompting an angry reaction from President Donald Trump and other federal officials.
In July 2015, Steinle, 32, was walking with her father along a pier in San Francisco when she was shot in the back and killed. Jose Ines Garcia Zarate, 45, a repeat felon who had been deported five times, then admitted to shooting Steinle.
A few months prior to the shooting, Garcia Zarate was let out of jail and allowed to stay in the United States following an arrest because San Francisco, as a sanctuary city, does not comply with federal immigration detainer orders. Steinle’s death quickly became a national controversy, and Trump repeatedly spoke out about the issue during his presidential campaign.
At trial, prosecutors argued that Garcia Zarate intentionally shot and killed Steinle. The defense argued that Garcia Zarate accidentally fired the stolen gun that was in his possession.
On Thursday, the jury acquitted Garcia Zarate of charges of murder, involuntary manslaughter and assault with a deadly weapon. Jurors found him guilty of being a felon in possession of a firearm.
“A disgraceful verdict in the Kate Steinle case! No wonder the people of our country are so angry with illegal immigration,” Trump tweeted after the verdict was announced. “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.”
Tom Homan, the deputy director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, released a statement saying ICE will now work to take custody of Garcia Zarate and deport him. Homan’s statement blamed San Francisco and its sanctuary city policy for not preventing Steinle’s death.
“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 simply turned the alien over to ICE, as we requested, instead of releasing him back onto the streets. It is unconscionable that politicians across this country continue to endanger the lives of Americans with sanctuary policies while ignoring the harm inflicted on their constituents. Following the conclusion of this case, ICE will work to take custody of Mr. Garcia Zarate and ultimately remove him from the country,” Homan said in the statement.
The guilty one for all of this is San Francisco. They will have to pay the price for this, money will not remedy this, but their liberal attitude towards the law of our state and country need to obeyed and not modified because of personal feelings. And at the same time I hope that the family of Ms. Steinie pursue those who allowed this and clean them out but at the same time do it individually and not on the backs of the taxpayers.
In a sanctuary city and sanctuary state, how would an illegal alien get a fare trial? I believe it should have been moved to a non-predudice state.
Hmmmmm……….What a tragedy for her family:(
I wonder if the Feds could step in and charge Garcia Zarate with violating Kate Steinle’s Civil Rights!!!
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness, as well as the right to walk down the street and not get murdered!!!
It’s a hierarchy of victims. An Illegal Immigrant outranks an American Citizen or Women being murdered. That my friend is the state of the State in California.