Who Killed Kate Steinle?
Who Killed Kate Steinle?
The verdict acquitting Garcia Zarate of any charges directly related to Kate Steinle’s death was a shock, to say the least. At the very least, he should have been convicted of involuntary manslaughter; the gun was in his hand when it went off and killed Kate. No doubt, if you or I were in Zarate’s shoes, we’d be serving time. But Zarate is part of a politically correct protected class, the criminal alien. Oh, there will those who will call him an “undocumented immigrant” or even a “dreamer” but he came into this country illegally
six times, and that is a criminal act.
But this isn’t a piece on immigration policy, it is a piece about justice and responsibility. Every event has precedents that lead to it and Zarate’s presence on Pier 14 with a gun is no different. Zarate was a drug addict, dealer and manufacturer. Drugs were central to his “American dream.” He had been deported five times in the years leading up to his appearance on Pier 14. This was not a guy doing jobs Americans won’t
do, there are plenty of native born Americans in the drug trade.
The important events are those that happened in March and April of 2015. He had been in federal custody for several years after his 2009 capture. ICE had issued a detainer but there was a 20 year old warrant on a marijuana charge in San Francisco and he was transferred there. This was a mistake, a question of procedure. Perhaps we can let it slide although there was some idiotic federal bureaucrat who thought turning Zarate over to the sheriff in a known “sanctuary city” was a good idea. That bureaucrat shares some responsibility for Kate’s death.
The San Francisco prosecutor choose not to waste time on a twenty year old charge and dropped it. Now we get to the real culprits. In 2008 the Secure Communities program was implemented which requested police and sheriffs departments to hold criminal immigrant detainees for 48 hours after their release date so they could be put into federal custody. However, President Obama and his Homeland Security secretary Jeh Johnson ended the policy. This gave greater cover to cities like San Francisco which had
declared it’s “sanctuary city” status all the way back in 1989. So policymakers at the highest Federal level contributed to Zarate’s presence on Pier 14.
The sheriff, Ross Mirkamiri, following city policy, ignored federal immigration requests to turn Zarate over to ICE and cut him loose. Now we have direct responsibility. The city commissioners who developed the sanctuary city policy and the sheriff who implemented it are directly responsible for Zarate being on that pier on that night with a gun.
Justice demands that those responsible be held accountable. In no way did this happen. Zarate was acquitted on all but a weapons charge. Kate’s family’s attempt to sue the sheriff, the city and ICE was dismissed. Kate Steinle’s death was a preventable tragedy. Yet all those involved have gotten away with it. The gunman was acquitted and the policymakers have not been held accountable.
This is the real problem. Policymakers, elected and unelected, sit at all levels of government and make all kinds of decisions that affect our lives in profound ways. When those decisions cause real harm, which happens more often than you think, they are immune from responsibility, legally and culturally. We think that because we elect people we are irredeemably subject to their dictates regardless of what those dictates are. If the FDA decides an experimental drug should not be available to your spouse to treat a disease and your spouse dies, is not the FDA responsible for that death? Particularly when that decision is based not as much on science as it is political contributions. When Obamacare prices people out of the insurance market and they cannot afford to get health care and they suffer and die, are not the policymakers responsible? When the IRS makes a mistake and takes everything you own, what recourse do you have? When one of those
Syrian refugees blows up a building, are not the policymakers who let him in responsible for those deaths and injuries? The answer in everyone’s mind should be yes.
There are two problems. One, policymakers should not be making policy in all these areas that so intimately affect our lives. Government exists to protect our rights and that is all. So if an individual in government wants to make policy that affects our lives outside of those parameters, he or she in responsible for the outcome. If that policy causes me injury, he or she should pay for that outcome, criminally. Second, we have to stop giving these people a pass. Elected officials and bureaucrats are not innocent public servants. They want to rule us and live comfortably off our stolen money. They deserve neither our respect nor our obeisance. If they were actually held accountable for their actions, actions that negatively affect life and property, in a proportional way, there would be a lot fewer people who would attempt the job and government would be small and insignificant in our everyday lives.
The verdict acquitting Garcia Zarate of any charges directly related to Kate Steinle’s death was a shock, to say the least. At the very least, he should have been convicted of involuntary manslaughter; the gun was in his hand when it went off and killed Kate. No doubt, if you or I were in Zarate’s shoes, we’d be serving time. But Zarate is part of a politically correct protected class, the criminal alien. Oh, there will those who will call him an “undocumented immigrant” or even a “dreamer” but he came into this country illegally
six times, and that is a criminal act.
But this isn’t a piece on immigration policy, it is a piece about justice and responsibility. Every event has precedents that lead to it and Zarate’s presence on Pier 14 with a gun is no different. Zarate was a drug addict, dealer and manufacturer. Drugs were central to his “American dream.” He had been deported five times in the years leading up to his appearance on Pier 14. This was not a guy doing jobs Americans won’t
do, there are plenty of native born Americans in the drug trade.
The important events are those that happened in March and April of 2015. He had been in federal custody for several years after his 2009 capture. ICE had issued a detainer but there was a 20 year old warrant on a marijuana charge in San Francisco and he was transferred there. This was a mistake, a question of procedure. Perhaps we can let it slide although there was some idiotic federal bureaucrat who thought turning Zarate over to the sheriff in a known “sanctuary city” was a good idea. That bureaucrat shares some responsibility for Kate’s death.
The San Francisco prosecutor choose not to waste time on a twenty year old charge and dropped it. Now we get to the real culprits. In 2008 the Secure Communities program was implemented which requested police and sheriffs departments to hold criminal immigrant detainees for 48 hours after their release date so they could be put into federal custody. However, President Obama and his Homeland Security secretary Jeh Johnson ended the policy. This gave greater cover to cities like San Francisco which had
declared it’s “sanctuary city” status all the way back in 1989. So policymakers at the highest Federal level contributed to Zarate’s presence on Pier 14.
The sheriff, Ross Mirkamiri, following city policy, ignored federal immigration requests to turn Zarate over to ICE and cut him loose. Now we have direct responsibility. The city commissioners who developed the sanctuary city policy and the sheriff who implemented it are directly responsible for Zarate being on that pier on that night with a gun.
Justice demands that those responsible be held accountable. In no way did this happen. Zarate was acquitted on all but a weapons charge. Kate’s family’s attempt to sue the sheriff, the city and ICE was dismissed. Kate Steinle’s death was a preventable tragedy. Yet all those involved have gotten away with it. The gunman was acquitted and the policymakers have not been held accountable.
This is the real problem. Policymakers, elected and unelected, sit at all levels of government and make all kinds of decisions that affect our lives in profound ways. When those decisions cause real harm, which happens more often than you think, they are immune from responsibility, legally and culturally. We think that because we elect people we are irredeemably subject to their dictates regardless of what those dictates are. If the FDA decides an experimental drug should not be available to your spouse to treat a disease and your spouse dies, is not the FDA responsible for that death? Particularly when that decision is based not as much on science as it is political contributions. When Obamacare prices people out of the insurance market and they cannot afford to get health care and they suffer and die, are not the policymakers responsible? When the IRS makes a mistake and takes everything you own, what recourse do you have? When one of those
Syrian refugees blows up a building, are not the policymakers who let him in responsible for those deaths and injuries? The answer in everyone’s mind should be yes.
There are two problems. One, policymakers should not be making policy in all these areas that so intimately affect our lives. Government exists to protect our rights and that is all. So if an individual in government wants to make policy that affects our lives outside of those parameters, he or she in responsible for the outcome. If that policy causes me injury, he or she should pay for that outcome, criminally. Second, we have to stop giving these people a pass. Elected officials and bureaucrats are not innocent public servants. They want to rule us and live comfortably off our stolen money. They deserve neither our respect nor our obeisance. If they were actually held accountable for their actions, actions that negatively affect life and property, in a proportional way, there would be a lot fewer people who would attempt the job and government would be small and insignificant in our everyday lives.
Comments