The Christian Science Monitor Jul 24, 7:42 AM EDT
Killings turn focus on San Francisco sanctuary law
By PAUL ELIAS Associated Press Writer
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- The scene repeats itself daily on city
streets: a driver gets stuck bumper to bumper, blocking an
intersection and preventing another car from turning left.
But authorities say that was enough to cause Edwin Ramos to
unload an AK-47 assault weapon on a man and his two sons,
killing them.
The deaths immediately drew public outrage, which intensified
when authorities revealed that Ramos, 21, is an illegal
immigrant who managed to avoid de****tation despite previous
brushes with the law.
The case has put San Francisco's liberal politics to the test,
setting off a debate over its sanctuary law that ****elds
undo***ented immigrants from de****tation.
On Wednesday, Ramos pleaded not guilty to three counts of
murder in the deaths of Anthony Bologna, 49, and his sons,
Michael, 20, and Matthew, 16. Bologna and his older son died
in the intersection on June 22. His younger son suc***bed to
his injuries days later.
Shortly after that, police arrested Ramos, a native of El
Salvador and reputed member of the Mara Salvatrucha gang,
known as MS-13. Investigators believe he was the gunman,
though two other men were seen in the car with him.
The heinousness of the deaths has put pressure on San
Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris to seek the death
penalty against Ramos. Harris, who campaigned on an anti-death
penalty platform and has never pursued capital punishment
during her more than four years in office, has declined to say
exactly how she intends to proceed.
"This case has been charged as a special cir***stance case,"
making it eligible for the death penalty, spokeswoman Erica
Derryck said. "No additional announcement has been made about
this aspect of the charging."
Ramos' attorney, Robert Amparan, said his client was not the
shooter. "They have the wrong person," he said.
Amparan declined to discuss details of the case, but he denied
his client was involved in gang activity and said Ramos
entered the country legally. Federal authorities contend Ramos
is undo***ented.
The victims' family learned that Ramos had been arrested at
least three times before the shooting and evaded de****tation,
largely because of San Francisco's sanctuary status.
The policy, adopted in 1989 by the city's elected Board of
Supervisors, bars local officials from cooperating with
federal authorities in their efforts to de****t illegal
immigrants.
Officials in the juvenile offenders agency interpreted the law
to also ****eld underage felons from de****tation by refusing to
re****t undo***ented ones. Mayor Gavin Newsom said he rescinded
the policy regarding juvenile offenders after learning about
it in May.
The Bolognas' relatives say Ramos apparently benefited from
the policy when he re****tedly was convicted twice of felonies
in 2003 and 2004 but never was turned over for de****tation.
"All San Francisco's sanctuary ordinance has done is bring
violence and death to this once-great city," said Frank
Kennedy, who is married to Anthony Bologna's sister.
Kennedy called for an investigation of the sanctuary policy
and demanded "prosecutions for violating the law."
Meanwhile, local and federal authorities are pointing fingers
at each other over Ramos' most recent arrest before the
shooting.
Ramos was arrested in late March with another man after police
discovered a gun used in a double homicide in the car Ramos
was driving.
The district attorney's office decided not to file charges
against Ramos, and he was released April 2 even though he was
in the process of being de****ted after his application for
legal residence was denied, according to the U.S. Immigration
and Customs Enforcement.
San Francisco Sheriff's Department spokesman Eileen Hirst said
jail officials faxed ICE on March 30 asking if Ramos should
remain jailed. Ramos was freed after Hirst said immigration
officials didn't respond.
ICE spokesman Timothy Counts said his agency did not receive
word of Ramos' arrest in March. He said the only communication
received about Ramos was an "electronic message" from the
sheriff's department three hours after his release.
The case has garnered national attention, leading U.S. Rep.
Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., and an anti-immigration group called
Californians for Population Stabilization to ask the U.S.
Department of Justice to take over, alleging San Francisco
authorities have mishandled it.
"Because San Francisco's political leaders have already
demonstrated their willingness to act in flagrant violation of
federal law, I do not believe that local judicial institutions
can be trusted to fairly try the case or mete out an
appropriate punishment," Tancredo said in a letter sent
Tuesday to U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey.
Justice Department spokesman Charles Miller said he was
unaware of the case and the congressman's request. Miller said
the attorney general routinely responds privately to such
requests.
Diana Hull, president of Californians for Population
Stabilization, called on about a dozen cities nationwide with
similar sanctuary policies to end those programs.
"We need to remember always that a death-dealing policy like
`sanctuary' hides behind the false mantle of compassion," Hull
said.
Nathan Ballard, a spokesman for San Francisco's mayor, said
city officials were wrong to ****eld undo***ented, juvenile
felons from federal immigration authorities.
"The sanctuary program was never intended to ****eld felons,"
Ballard said. "The policy was inappropriate."
However, Newsom "still sup****ts the worthwhile aims of denying
the federal government" assistance in de****ting otherwise law-
abiding undo***ented residents, he said.
http://customwire.ap.org/dynamic/stories/R/ROAD_RAGE_KILLING?
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--
A government, of, by, and, for: Rich, Elite, Freemasons.
But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the
light:
for whatsoever doth make manifest is light.
The light ****neth in darkness;
and the darkness comprehended it not.
The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be
single,
thy whole body shall be full of light.
But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of
darkness.
If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great
is that darkness!
Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead,
and Christ shall give thee light.
For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
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