A federal court ruled today that two U.S. Border Patrol Agents will stay in jail for shooting an illegal immigrant who was an admitted drug runner as he ran toward the Mexico border.
The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans upheld the jury’s verdict that agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean wrongfully shot Osvalde Arete Davila in 2005.
However, the court overturned the charge that the agents lied under oath.
Ramos and Compean were convicted in 2006 and issued prison sentences of 11 and 12 years, respectively. The agents claimed that they acted in self-defense, but the jury found that the shooting was unprovoked.
The convictions have become a lightning rod among the anti-illegal immigration camp, who view the verdict as unfair prosecution of agents who were simply attempting to do their jobs.
That is a crime…..those men are American heroes. Another case of bleeding heart liberals who are destroying this country. Ramos and Compean should be honored and celebrated, held up as symbols for other to strive to be like. Instead they are incarcerated…….BS
This is by far one of the worst cases that has ever happened in our judicial system. WE ARE PERSECUTING OUR OWN CIVIL SERVANTS FOR SHOOTING A CONVICTED DRUG SMUGGLER!!!!! Where has the country fallen off of the deep end.
This is an outrage. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals should be imprisoned.
Next time an agent shoots an illegal in the back, running towards the Mexican border, turn the body around so it looks as though you shot an illegal in the back running towards the American border.
It amazes me that we can still get border guards to work when our government does this.
Put the judge in jail that ruled this.
This is horrible news, these two HEROES are U.S. political prisoners. And the sad part is most Americans dont know or dont care they would rather watch trash TV. I’m very disappointed in our country & our justice system.
The government should be ashamed of themselves!
I think that the same should be done to all tax cheats.
Once again, justice lost.
This is an outrage. Stats of the jurors, please?
filed under OCR Anti-illegal immigration activists, The Border, The Fence, illegal immigration.
Telling
An incredible injustice! Our govt prosecuting these two border patrol agents is treasonous.
Bush needs to step up to the plate and pardon these heroes.
THIS IS WHO WE HAVE TO DEAL WITH.
GOVERNMENTS FAVORING ILLEGALS OVER OUR LAW ENFORCEMENT.
TWISTED AND SICK.
THIS IS A DISGUSTING INJUSTICE !!!!!!!!!!
ALL FOR DOING THEIR JOB WELL.
I HOPE THAT THE JERKS AND LAWYERS WHO FOUGHT TO PUT THEM
IN JAIL GETS WHAT’S COMING TO THEM.
MAKES ME SICK, THE INJUSTICE.
.
BS
This is disgusting that a Judge has that much power. What can the people do to help these two Officers?
So let me get this straight; illegals trying to get into the U.S., we should shoot on site. Illegals trying to LEAVE the U.S., we should shoot on site?
Is there any scenario in which you people don’t want to shoot on site?
Oh, right…
Good question, Damon. There is a scenario in which we wouldn’t shoot on site.. PEOPLE WHO ENTER THE COUNTRY LEGALLY.
It’s not the philosophical reasoning or justification effort that’s at stake. We complaint that immigrants are breaking the law, regardless of the reasoning behind it. The law would justify the immigration officers if they were actually defending themselves from a direct physical harm not metaphorically adjusted semantics. Even local police officers know the legal stance behind shooting a suspect while running away, why should it be any different on a federal officer who’s rank is higher and higher trainning and knowledge is expected?
“Equal protection under the laws”
In other words, dont ever treat Mexicans or immigrants like this again, and you wont be locked away.
Im sorry but these ICE PIGs deserve what they have coming.
Nothing, but nothing justifies killing anybody like that. Whether they are illegals or legals the mere fact of killing from behind is a cowardly act.
Those inmigrations officers instead of upholding the law took the law in their own hands and killed human beings that were not a physical threat to them.
God bless both of them though.
Every professional organization has its rules of engagement and standards. As a former Marine, I to live by the Uniform Code of Military Justice. You are trained properly on how to act in every situation and you will pay with jail time if you use bad judgement. Even in combat you can’t just shoot the enemy in certain situations. If these idiots failed to follw thier rules of engagement, then they are to pay the price for their poor judgement. It is obvious the a lot of the morons posting messages here have never served in any professional capacity. Hay even Navy corpsmen have toprovide medical aid to enemy injured, what makes these idiots any special? That they are dealing with illegal aliens?
Maybe the metaphor is a little harsh, but too close to the truth to be
ignored.
I bought a bird feeder. I hung
it on my back porch and filled
it with seed. What a beauty of
a bird feeder it is, as I filled it
lovingly with seed. Within a
week we had hundreds of birds
taking advantage of the
continuous flow of free and
easily accessible food.
But then the birds started
building nests in the boards
of the patio, above the table,
and next to the barbecue.
Then came the poop. It was
everywhere: on the patio tile,
the chairs, the table .
everywhere!
Then some of the birds
turned mean. They would
dive bomb me and try to
peck me even though I had
fed them out of my own
pocket.
And others birds were
boisterous and loud. They
sat on the feeder and
squawked and screamed at
all hours of the day and night
and demanded that I fill it
when it got low on food.
After a while, I couldn’t even
sit on my own back porch
anymore. So I took down the
bird feeder and in three days
the birds were gone. I cleaned
up their mess and took down
the many nests they had built
all over the patio.
Soon, the back yard was like
it used to be…. quiet, serene
and no one demanding their
rights to a free meal.
Now let’s see.
Our government gives out
free food, subsidized housing,
free medical care, and free
education and allows anyone
born here to be an automatic
citizen.
Then the illegals came by the
tens of thousands. Suddenly
our taxes went up to pay for
free services; small apartments
are housing 5 families; you
have to wait 6 hours to be seen
by an emergency room doctor;
your child’s 2nd grade class is
behind other schools because
over half the class doesn’t speak
English.
Corn Flakes now come in a
bilingual box; I have to
‘press one’ to hear my bank
talk to me in English, and
people waving flags other
than ‘Old Glory’ are
squawking and screaming
in the streets, demanding
more rights and free liberties.
Just my opinion, but maybe
it’s time for the government
to take down the bird feeder.
If you agree, pass it on; if not,
continue cleaning up the poop.
OpenTheBorder, Are you okay with the piece of trash illegal alient that killed the family in San Francisco?
We have border agents there to protect us from DRUG SMUGGLERS and illegal aliens. Have you seen the charges that have been filed against this low life since he was “shot”.
We can’t treat Mexicans or ILLEGAL immigrants poorly, but that can come and get all the “rights” without responsibilities. What color is the sky in your world.
You need help.
OK, so I guess we just let him run back over the border, export some more drugs that will kill an endless number of AMERICAN citizens and that’s ok. Let’s get serious about border control! Let these people do their jobs! Many of the comments below are from people that are uninformed. Get at the facts of the case before you spew at the mouth (especially Damon), the shootings were not unprovoked.
“open the borders” you are a jerk! You must be illegal. Stay in your country and fix instead of running away from it.
These guys need to be set free and you should be in there instead!
Some of the comments on this page are shocking. Before making off-the-cuff comments based on little facts, you should know the whole story. This drug runner was granted immunity for his testimony despite hauling thousands of pounds of illegal drugs across the border, and he has been caught bringing more drugs into this country after he was granted immunity. Of course the entire story was not printed here, because it would be too long, but comments about “Ice Pigs” are ignorant. Learn all the facts and see why these hard-working, under-paid, and under-appreciated officers should be released from prison.
Before any of you like “opentheborders” start to rant again, please actually look up the case and find out the real details.
The guy that was shot was a drug dealer muling drugs over the border. The agents thought he was reaching for a gun and drew their weapons. As the drug dealer saw this, he turned away from them. By doing so, he was shot in the back.
Regardless of your stance on immigration, you must realize that Ramos and Compean are sitting in jail for NOTHING. Jus doing there job and protecting the country from a drug dealer crossing the border illegally.
Now, if you dug really deep, you will find that the DA in the case made a deal with the DRUG DEALER to bust Ramos and Compean. Does that make any sense?
President Bush should pardon these HEROES!
OCR,
How about doing a little work? I know, I know, it’s much easier to just print what you read somewhere else. (Isn’t there an article about cheating in today’s paper?) Anyway, I digress.
How about doing some reasearch on what exactly happend in the original case so the fine, uninformed people above, making comments on what you printed (that you copied from someone else), can actually have something solid to debate instead of making random comments about who should die, rights, and all.
So how about it OCR? Ready for some real reporting? (you really only have to research archives and print someone else’s article from last year or the year before. I promise I won’t tell anyone you didn’t really have to do anything)
These clowns are obviously guilty and this 3-0 decision seals it up for these two rogue “lawmen”. All the John&Ken fan-boys can freak out and get worked into a slather, but if you really look at the facts, there is no other conclusion than guilt.
Worse! Is that some hair-brained politician wants to change the law that gives mandatory sentencing when a gun is used in the commission of a crime. This is what gave the 2 thugs the bulk of the sentence.
The political type wants an exclusion for law enforcement!! In other words, they want to protect the Police from being charged special when they use a gun in the commission of a crime!! Like these two!! Unbelievable.
This is crazy. I seriously know of people have murdered fellow Americans and spent less time in jail. I feel so bad for their families. There is hope though, I predict our next president will pardon them.
“open the boarders “is a traitor and a threat to our country!!!!!!!!!!
This is tragic. They were doing their jobs, keeping immigrants from crossing into the country without legal means…and with drugs! wtf? The judge and jury should be in jail.
Something’s fishy regarding the Ramos/Campos unfair verdicts….why are they being perscuted? That drug smuggler should be the one in prison! Mexico has too much influence on this crooked deal. Set these 2 Border Patrol heroes free!!
…and how many kids/Americans has this illegal drug runner made sick or even killed from drugs he broght into this country. Now those who are protecting our country from this type of criminal are behind bars for 11 years? Our justice system is corrupt and ridiculous when it comes to illegal immigration.
Lets suppose for a moment that a couple of LAPD shot at a pot dealer and didn’t notice if they hit him or not. Then policed up the cartridges and threw them into the river and lied about the incident.
would these same bleeding hearts come out of the woodwork in support of the cops? Highly doubtful …. so … look at your motives for thinking this is a travesty.
This article should be on the front page OCR.
Why is everyone so outraged over this decision, the Government prosecutes everyone the same way, prosecution by ambush, no it’s a fair trial by any means, but I don’t remember any one whining when John Gottis lawyer was pulled, by naming him as an unindited coconspirator, or when a person in California was sentenced to life in prison for stealing a golf club under 3 strikes law.
Please remember that Ramos & Compean tried to cover up their mistakes and didn’t report the shoot out.
Why should they be treated any different than all the rest of us, every is Ok when the Government overreaches the law (like in the California case mentioned above) they did the same with Ramos & Compean by charging them with using a firearm while committing a felony, thats the law and it applies to everyone, cut & dry.
Jonny Sutton only did what he was trained to do.
Even the ruler must follow the rules.
open the borders your are full of hate I feel very sorry for you.