{"id":549,"date":"2007-02-11T13:57:55","date_gmt":"2007-02-11T17:57:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thedustininmansociety.com\/blog\/?p=549"},"modified":"2007-02-11T14:05:43","modified_gmt":"2007-02-11T18:05:43","slug":"congressman-rohrabachers-speech-to-the-house-of-representatives-february-07-free-border-patrol-agents-ignacio-ramos-and-jose-compean","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thedustininmansociety.org\/blog\/2007\/02\/11\/congressman-rohrabachers-speech-to-the-house-of-representatives-february-07-free-border-patrol-agents-ignacio-ramos-and-jose-compean\/","title":{"rendered":"YOUTUBE: America\u2019s Most Wanted Video here and Congressman Rohrabacher’s Speech to the House of Representatives, February 07, FREE BORDER PATROL AGENTS IGNACIO RAMOS AND JOSE COMPEAN"},"content":{"rendered":"

PLEASE WATCH YOUTUBE: America’s Most Wanted Video here….<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

FREE BORDER PATROL AGENTS IGNACIO RAMOS AND JOSE COMPEAN <\/strong><\/p>\n

Congressman Dana Rohrabacher’s Speech to the House of Representatives, February 07, 2007<\/p>\n

\n

Mr. ROHRABACHER. Mr. Speaker, today we discuss a black mark on this
\nadministration<\/a>, a vile crime against two law enforcement officers whose job has
\nbeen protecting our families and communities and keeping control of America’s
\nborders. This sad episode started back on February 17, 2005, just another
\nroutine day for Border Patrol agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean. Both were
\nBorder Patrol veterans with unblemished service records. Agent Ramos, in fact,
\nhad been nominated for Border Patrol Agent of the Year. <\/p>\n

As they did their rounds that day 2 years ago, a trip sensor at the border
\nwas discovered, and Agent Compean then discovered footprints and drag marks, a
\nusual indication of a drug load being smuggled across the river. He then spotted
\na vehicle and radioed the description and then followed the suspect. The suspect
\nrealized he had been made and turned around to rush back towards Mexico. <\/p>\n

Agent Ramos then spotted the van driving at a high rate of speed. After the
\ndriver ignored all commands to pull over, of course, Ramos gave chase. <\/p>\n

By the way, according to the prosecuting attorney, pursuing fleeing suspects
\nwithout a supervisor’s permission is against Border Patrol policy. <\/p>\n

This, in and of itself, is an insane policy. The drug smuggler <\/a>who they were
\npursuing abandoned his vehicle and fled toward Mexico on foot but was
\nintercepted by Agent Compean. Once again, ignoring several commands by Agent
\nCompean to stop, a physical altercation ensued with Compean ending up in a
\nditch. <\/p>\n

While seeing his opportunity, the smuggler then ran toward the border, which
\nwas nearby. According to Agent Compean’s sworn testimony, while running, the
\nsuspect turned and pointed with something shiny in his left hand. Believing his
\nlife was in danger, Agent Compean opened fire. Hearing gunshots, Agent Ramos
\ncame to his side, and he, too, shouted for the smuggler to stop. <\/p>\n

But instead of obeying his command, the illegal drug smuggler once again
\nturned as he ran and again pointed something shiny at the officers. Ramos,
\nbelieving it to be a weapon, fired one shot. After disappearing into the banks
\nof the Rio Grande, the smuggler reappeared on the Mexican side where he jumped
\ninto a waiting van. Unbeknownst to the officers, Ramos’s bullet may have hit the
\nillegal drug smuggler in the left buttocks. <\/p>\n

Minutes after the shooting, seven other agents were on the scene, including
\ntwo supervisors. When the abandoned van was examined, 743 pounds of marijuana
\nwere found. The payload was seized, and one would think congratulations would
\nhave been in order. Agent Ramos and Compean are heroes, right? They are
\nresponsible for taking off the streets $1 million worth of drugs bound for our
\ncommunities. Good job fellows, right? Wrong. <\/p>\n

At this moment Agents Ramos and Compean, not the illegal drug smuggler, are
\nlanguishing in a Federal prison serving 11- and 12-year sentences. This is the
\nworst miscarriage of justice that I have seen in my 25 years of public service.
\nIt is a nightmare for the two Border Patrol agents and their families, these
\nBorder Patrol agents who willingly risk their lives protecting us for 5 and 10
\nyears. <\/p>\n

The whole rotten episode turned justice on its head. The book was thrown at
\nour heroes who protect us, while the drug smugglers got immunity. According to
\nthe U.S. attorney, Johnny Sutton, a Bush appointee and a longtime friend of the
\nPresident, Ramos and Compean are not heroes. In fact, he considers those two
\nofficers to be criminals, charging them with assault with serious bodily injury,
\nassault with a deadly weapon, discharge of a firearm while committing a crime of
\nviolence, which carries, of course, a minimum mandatory sentence of 10 years,
\nand a civil rights violation. <\/p>\n

Sutton claims that he had no choice but to prosecute the two Border Patrol
\nagents because, according to Sutton, they broke the law when they violated these
\nprocedures concerning the discharge of their weapons at this fleeing suspect.
\n No. Even if procedures were not followed, Sutton could have granted immunity
\nto the law enforcement officers and thrown the book at the drug smuggler. That
\nwas his choice. He chose the side of the drug smuggler and threw the book at the
\nBorder Patrol agents. This was an indefensible decision, and now Sutton lies to
\nus and to the American people, suggesting that he did not have a choice, that he
\nhad to prosecute. <\/p>\n

Well, the facts don’t back him up. And what happened after this man got away?
\nAfter the incident the drug smuggler contacted Renee Sanchez, a childhood friend
\nfor advice. <\/p>\n

Now, why did she contact Renee Sanchez? Because Renee Sanchez happens to be a
\ncurrent Border Patrol agent in Arizona. And instead of turning in this drug
\nsmuggler, turning the drug smuggler over to the authorities for prosecution,
\nthis law enforcement officer, Agent Sanchez, he is sworn to uphold the laws of
\nthe United States, but he chose to personally intervene on behalf of his
\nchildhood friend who was a known mule for the drug cartels. <\/p>\n

He was also called as a character witness on the drug smuggler’s behalf
\nduring the trial. Mr. Sanchez contacted the Department of Homeland Security, who
\nin turn decided to open an investigation into the conduct of Ramos and Compean.
\nWhat? What? You have got a drug smuggler with 750 pounds of narcotics who is
\nbeing thwarted from making his delivery, and that he complains that he was shot
\nat, and our Government decides to investigate the law enforcement officers. <\/p>\n

Mr. Sutton had every chance to focus his enormous prosecutorial powers on the
\ndrug dealer, but he chose to target the law enforcement officers. He chose to
\nturn a procedural violation into a criminal act rather than prosecuting a career
\ndrug smuggler. <\/p>\n

As part of their investigation, the Department of Homeland Security Office of
\nInspector General sent a special agent to Mexico to offer the drug smuggler
\nimmunity in exchange for testimony against the Border Patrol officers. The
\nsmuggler was then brought back to the United States and given free medical care
\nat all taxpayers’ expense. <\/p>\n

Now, one has to wonder if Mr. Sutton, our U.S. attorney, would have even
\nspent one-tenth of that effort trying to find this criminal himself and track
\nhim down in Mexico so that he could be extradited and punished for smuggling
\nnarcotics into our country. No. No effort was made to do that. Instead, an
\nexpensive Herculean effort was made to try to get the Border Patrol agents. <\/p>\n

Now the drug smuggler is being portrayed as a victim because he swears he was
\nnot armed. Our government takes the word of this nefarious character over two
\nlaw enforcement officers. In short, the initial decision to prosecute the two
\nBorder Patrol agents instead of the drug smuggler was indefensible. Period. <\/p>\n

Sutton’s only defense, to cover up this horrendous decision, has been to lie
\nand to demonize the two Border Patrol agents. Well, it just does not jive. <\/p>\n

According to that investigative report, Agent Compean’s sworn statement, in
\nhis sworn statements he repeatedly stated he believed the drug smuggler had a
\nweapon and felt threatened. The Border Patrol training manuals allow for this
\ntype of deadly force to be used when an agent fears imminent bodily injury or
\ndeath. Both of the officers say they saw this drug smuggler turn and point what
\nthey believed to be a weapon in their direction while he was running away. The
\nwound created by the bullet corroborates their version of the events. <\/p>\n

So we have the prosecutor, even with the direction of the trajectory of the
\nbullet as indicated by the wound, but the prosecutor is ignoring the fact that
\nit backs up the Compean and Ramos position. <\/p>\n

During the trial an Army doctor, a prosecution witness I might add, testified
\nthat the drug smuggler’s body was bladed away from the bullet that struck him.
\nThat is consistent with the motion of a left-handed person running away while
\npointing backwards, causing his body to twist. <\/p>\n

Once again, this corroborated Ramos’s and Compean’s belief that the smuggler
\nhad a weapon. And that was a reasonable belief considering the smuggler was
\ntransporting over $1 million of drugs that day. And I am sure, of course, drug
\ndealers with $1 million worth of drugs are not armed. <\/p>\n

Now, it is important to understand that only three individuals were
\neyewitnesses to the crucial events of that day, the two accused Border Patrol
\nagents and a self-admitted drug smuggler. Those are the only two people who saw
\nwhat happened. The other Border Patrol agents who responded to the scene
\ntestified under immunity, and quite often contradicting themselves; however, the
\nmost important thing when thinking about their testimony is their view of the
\nevents was completely obscured by a levee at the road, which is about 12 feet
\nhigher than the road on which they stood, and about 8 feet higher from the spot
\non the other side of the levee where Ramos and Compean stood and where they
\nfired their pistols. <\/p>\n

So let me make it very clear what I just said. None of the other agents could
\npossibly have seen what transpired between Ramos and Compean and this drug
\nsmuggler, even if they climbed on top of their vehicles. It was physically
\nimpossible for them to see. Yet these agents were threatened with prosecution if
\nthey did not testify against Ramos and Compean. They agreed to testify. If they
\nagreed, they would be granted immunity. It begs the question why these agents
\nneed to be granted immunity if they were not involved in the incident, and this
\nwhole thing calls into question what effect that this threat that was held over
\ntheir head had on the truthfulness of their testimony. <\/p>\n

The U.S. attorney’s version of what happened that day relies almost
\nexclusively on the testimony of the drug smuggler. Despite the fact that there
\nwere seven other agents, including two supervisors on scene within minutes, no
\nreport of the shooting was ever filed, even though the Border Patrol regulations
\nrequire the supervisors to file the report. <\/p>\n

Agents are only required to orally notify their supervisors, and Ramos and
\nCompean justifiably believed that their supervisors were totally aware that
\nthere was a shooting. They were within about 50 feet or 100 feet of what was
\ngoing on. So, as a matter of fact, the agents, those agents are prohibited from
\nactually filing a written report, as in INS firearms policy, section 12B, 1G
\nstates: Ensure that supervisory personnel or investigative officers are aware
\nthat employees involved in a shooting incident shall not be required or allowed
\nto submit a written statement of the circumstances surrounding the incident. All
\nwritten statements regarding the incident shall be prepared by the local
\ninvestigative officers and shall be based on an interview of the employee. That
\nis what their regulations state. <\/p>\n

Yet U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton continues to claim that the officers filed a
\nfalse report to cover up their crime. They are not even permitted to file a
\nreport, much less a false report. And they were not asked by their supervisors
\nwho heard the shots. <\/p>\n

So the supervisors decided not to ask questions about it, probably because
\nhad they then officially known about the incident, they would have had to fill
\nout about 5 hours’ worth of paperwork. This is about bureaucratic requirements
\nof the people at the border. If one shot is fired, on their own time they end up
\nhaving to work about 5 hours. <\/p>\n

Because it looked like the incident was over, all of them, including the
\nsupervisors, decided to just close the book. Was that a good decision? Well,
\nprobably not, considering that you have an out-of-control prosecutor trying to
\nfind something to prosecute our defenders about. <\/p>\n

By no means did their actions rise to the level of criminality, what might be
\nconsidered an unauthorized discharge of their weapons, because, of course, they
\ncould not absolutely prove they knew that the drug dealer had a weapon. Well, if
\nthey could not absolutely prove it, then according to the U.S. Attorney, they
\nare guilty of attempted murder. <\/p>\n

Again, let me note, the agents thought the drug dealer was aiming something
\nat them. He had just been in a physical altercation with one of the officers. Of
\ncourse, when it came to the details about that, our U.S. attorney believed the
\ndrug dealer, who swears that Compean, for example, in the altercation just fell
\ndown. <\/p>\n

You know, you would be surprised how many police officers just fall down in
\nthe middle of trying to enforce the law when dealing with professional criminals
\nlike the ones that Compean and Ramos were dealing with. Just fell down. Yeah. <\/p>\n

You believe that, but you do not believe these guys with an unblemished
\nrecord of 5 and 10 years of protecting the American people. So even though this
\ninvestigation determined that all seven officers on the scene knew about or
\nheard the shooting, the U.S. attorney granted those officers immunity even
\nthough it was their job to report the incident. <\/p>\n

But of course they did not think it was an incident, they thought it was
\nclosed, the guns went off. They did not want to spend 5 hours filling out
\npaperwork. Well, guess what? It was their job to do it. Actually one of them was
\nactually promoted after all of this. <\/p>\n

But the U.S. attorney decided to prosecute the Border Patrol agents, and in
\ndoing so, he had to intimidate these supervisors by saying that he was going to
\ncharge them and giving them immunity unless they went along with this legal
\nlynching of Ramos and Compean. <\/p>\n

If this incident would have been kept in perspective, all seven supervisors
\nand agents who were failing to report a shooting that may or may not have been
\nconsistent with regulations governing the discharge of weapons, but just keep
\nthis all in perspective, they might have deserved a disciplinary action, maybe a
\nweek without pay or some mark on their record; that would have been the end of
\nit. But the penalty for not reporting a shooting is a 5-day suspension. That is
\nthe maximum penalty. This was an issue of a procedural violation, not
\ncriminality, and there is a serious question about the viability of those
\nprocedures which are mandated by the policy. This, of course, flows directly
\nfrom the insane border policy, and it led directly to this unconscionable
\nsituation. <\/p>\n

Over 78 Members of Congress have expressed concern, if not outrage, at the
\ntroubling aspects of this case. Our repeated attempts for Presidential
\nintervention or even to communicate with the President have been ignored. Our
\npleas to keep the officers out of jail on bond pending their appeal have been
\ndenied. The President could have just had the prosecutor go to the judge and
\nsay, please, let these guys stay out at least until their appeal. No, no. It was
\nthe opposite. They insisted on the maximum. They wanted their pound of flesh.
\nThe maximum penalty, the maximum message to other Border Patrol agents: Don’t
\nyou dare ever to even think about firing your weapon at the border. <\/p>\n

Instead, the President, after we appealed to try to get him to look at this,
\nthe President dug in his heels, sent Tony Snow out to chastise us, you know. We
\nwere trying to save Ramos and Compean, and then we were told by Tony Snow to
\ntake a closer look at the facts. <\/p>\n

Well, we have taken a closer look at the facts. We also know what happened.
\nThere has been a publicity campaign that has been put out to destroy and
\ndemonize Ramos and Compean even as they languish in prison, because the Federal
\nprosecutor knows he is the one who made the mistake. He made the initial
\ndecision to grant immunity to the drug dealer, rather than for a procedural
\nmistake by the Border Patrol agents. He made that decision. It is a horrendous
\ndecision, and he is trying to cover it up and destroying the lives of these two
\nBorder Patrol agents in the process. That is what he has to do. So he has gone
\non the air waves and lied to the public to discredit these agents. <\/p>\n

We found out today, for example, that the Department of Homeland Security
\nlied to Congress trying to cover up for their lies to Congress. What happened is
\nfive Members of Congress were briefed. We will hear about this later on tonight
\nfrom another Member of Congress. They were told that Compean had claimed he was
\ngoing to go out and shoot a Mexican. Now, here is Compean, Jose Compean, right?
\nThese are two Mexican American, proud Hispanics, and they were going to go out
\nand shoot a Mexican. And this is from five or six areas that were just total
\nlies given to Members of Congress looking into this. And then they were
\nquestioned, when the Department of Homeland Security investigators were
\nquestioned, they said, oh, yes, we have all of this proved in various reports.
\nAnd so they asked for them, those reports. And today it was just determined that
\nfor 4 months the Department of Homeland Security has been lying to Members of
\nCongress because those reports never existed. There was nothing to substantiate
\nthe charges, the horrendous charges that were made against Compean and Ramos. <\/p>\n

Well, what we hear now is, well, you have got to just forget it because the
\njury has spoken. That is what Mr. Sutton and the prosecutor want to say. That is
\nthe end of it. That is the last word. <\/p>\n

Well, let’s look at what the jury knew about and whether or not this was a
\nfair trial. The drug dealer we are talking about, in between the time he was
\nshot and all of this was going on, and Ramos and Compean are waiting to be
\ntried, he was caught again, this time with 1,000 pounds of marijuana that he was
\ntrying to smuggle into our country. But that information was kept from the jury.
\nThat information never made it to the jury. <\/p>\n

Now, was that important for the jury to know? The prosecution told the judge
\nthat this would in some way jeopardize other prosecutions or investigations, so
\nthe jury was kept from that information. And, in fact, that information has been
\nexpunged from the record, so we can’t get that information. But we know it
\nhappened. And they play word games with us to say, well, he really wasn’t
\narrested. He was apprehended. No, this man was caught again with 1,000 pounds of
\ndrugs. Do you think the jury should have known that? Would that have been
\nsomething important for the jury to know when they are deciding on the lives of
\nthese two brave Americans? Well, it is something that the jury never knew. <\/p>\n

The jury also never knew that the drug dealer, after the bullet fragment was
\nremoved from his body, he was taken by an investigator, and the bullet was taken
\nby the investigator and spent the night at the home of this agent. <\/p>\n

Well, let me tell you something. You don’t take evidence and break the chain
\nof custody of evidence. He took the bullet into his home, and he took this
\nwitness into his home. Any lawyer will tell you that this is the type of
\nsloppiness that taints the evidence and disqualifies a prosecution. <\/p>\n

It is also significant to mention that of those 12 jurors, three of them
\nlater submitted sworn affidavits alleging that they had been misled by the jury
\nforeman into believing that, if the majority of people wanted to vote guilty,
\nthey had to also vote guilty, that a hung jury was not going to be allowed by
\nthe judge. They felt pressured to vote guilty, and they have since signed
\naffidavits and made statements that they would have changed their vote. They
\nbelieved these men to be innocent, and some of them actually broke down in tears
\nwhen they heard that they could have actually saved these men had they stuck to
\ntheir guns. But they were told that the judge, these are not lawyers, these are
\nsimple people; they were told they had to go along with the majority. <\/p>\n

And when the judge heard this, and the judge heard that there was evidence,
\nhe knew that this evidence had been kept from the jury, he, even after knowing
\nthis, denied the request that the two agents be permitted to stay out on bond
\nuntil their appeal was made. <\/p>\n

Well, let’s look at this. There is no doubt that Johnny Sutton had a choice.
\nThis U.S. attorney decided to prosecute the good guys and gave immunity to the
\nbad guys when he could have done it the other way around. But he chose not to.
\nAnd now he is engaged in this propaganda campaign against these two men. <\/p>\n

Well, the prosecution’s only witness of course, the major witness testified
\nthat, of course, this drug smuggler was hit in the buttocks, not from the back.
\nAnd even with that, we hear the U.S. attorney claiming that the essence of this
\ncase is these corrupt agents shot an unarmed man in the back. That is what he
\nsays. <\/p>\n

Well, of course, this was not an unarmed man. You know, we are not talking
\nabout a nun or some tourist who happened to stray across the border. This was a
\nprofessional drug smuggler who works for a drug cartel, a delivery man to
\ndeliver vile drugs into our communities to corrupt our children and destroy the
\nlives of our families. These Border Patrol agents were up against this man, not
\njust a man, a criminal of this level. And of course, they didn’t, as I just
\nsaid, they didn’t shoot him in the back. One bullet, we think, maybe from the
\ngun of one of these officers, actually shot him in the buttocks, but the medical
\nofficer said that he was turned around. So it was like he had something that he
\nwas pointing with his hand, which could well have been a gun. So it wasn’t in
\nthe back. It was in the buttocks, and it confirms what the law enforcement
\nofficers were saying. <\/p>\n

Now, let me say, remember this, this is really important. There is no way to
\nknow that this drug dealer, whether he was armed or not. Mr. Sutton chose to
\nbelieve the drug dealer, but how do we know he wasn’t armed that day? The two
\nagents claimed they said they saw something in his hand. They have to take the
\nword of the drug smuggler. Now, he has been smuggling drugs since he was 14, and
\nhis family in an interview said he always was armed. There is no question. He
\nwas a member of the drug cartel. <\/p>\n

But Mr. Sutton, our U.S. attorney, takes his word over the word of our
\ndefenders. He has turned reality on its head. He has sided with a drug smuggler
\nover two men who risk their lives every day to protect us, and now he must
\ndestroy them and vilify them in order to protect this horrendous decision that
\nhe made to go with the bad guys rather than the good guys. <\/p>\n

There is no evidence, for example, that Mr. Sutton claims they were corrupt.
\nThe Wall Street Journal printed an editorial saying these are corrupt law
\nenforcement officers. Corrupt. The Wall Street Journal vilified these two men.
\nOf course the Wall Street Journal, of course, has a policy, an editorial policy
\nof an open border policy. But now, to back up their guy, their open borders guy,
\nthey vilify these officers with a total falsehood. There has never been a charge
\nof corruption against either one of these two agents. They have never been
\ncharged with corruption. They have, in fact, a totally clean work record. <\/p>\n

And, yes, Ramos had some family problems a few years ago. And let’s make it
\nclear what has happened. Another part of this vilification campaign is that Mr.
\nSutton, even though he was not permitted to bring this up in the
\nDuring the trial an Army doctor, a prosecution witness I might add, testified
\nthat the drug smuggler’s body was bladed away from the bullet that struck him.
\nThat is consistent with the motion of a left-handed person running away while
\npointing backwards, causing his body to twist. <\/p>\n

Once again, this corroborated Ramos’s and Compean’s belief that the smuggler
\nhad a weapon. And that was a reasonable belief considering the smuggler was
\ntransporting over $1 million of drugs that day. And I am sure, of course, drug
\ndealers with $1 million worth of drugs are not armed. <\/p>\n

Now, it is important to understand that only three individuals were
\neyewitnesses to the crucial events of that day, the two accused Border Patrol
\nagents and a self-admitted drug smuggler. Those are the only two people who saw
\nwhat happened. The other Border Patrol agents who responded to the scene
\ntestified under immunity, and quite often contradicting themselves; however, the
\nmost important thing when thinking about their testimony is their view of the
\nevents was completely obscured by a levee at the road, which is about 12 feet
\nhigher than the road on which they stood, and about 8 feet higher from the spot
\non the other side of the levee where Ramos and Compean stood and where they
\nfired their pistols. <\/p>\n

So let me make it very clear what I just said. None of the other agents could
\npossibly have seen what transpired between Ramos and Compean and this drug
\nsmuggler, even if they climbed on top of their vehicles. It was physically
\nimpossible for them to see. Yet these agents were threatened with prosecution if
\nthey did not testify against Ramos and Compean. They agreed to testify. If they
\nagreed, they would be granted immunity. It begs the question why these agents
\nneed to be granted immunity if they were not involved in the incident, and this
\nwhole thing calls into question what effect that this threat that was held over
\ntheir head had on the truthfulness of their testimony. <\/p>\n

The U.S. attorney’s version of what happened that day relies almost
\nexclusively on the testimony of the drug smuggler. Despite the fact that there
\nwere seven other agents, including two supervisors on scene within minutes, no
\nreport of the shooting was ever filed, even though the Border Patrol regulations
\nrequire the supervisors to file the report. <\/p>\n

Agents are only required to orally notify their supervisors, and Ramos and
\nCompean justifiably believed that their supervisors were totally aware that
\nthere was a shooting. They were within about 50 feet or 100 feet of what was
\ngoing on. So, as a matter of fact, the agents, those agents are prohibited from
\nactually filing a written report, as in INS firearms policy, section 12B, 1G
\nstates: Ensure that supervisory personnel or investigative officers are aware
\nthat employees involved in a shooting incident shall not be required or allowed
\nto submit a written statement of the circumstances surrounding the incident. All
\nwritten statements regarding the incident shall be prepared by the local
\ninvestigative officers and shall be based on an interview of the employee. That
\nis what their regulations state. <\/p>\n

Yet U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton continues to claim that the officers filed a
\nfalse report to cover up their crime. They are not even permitted to file a
\nreport, much less a false report. And they were not asked by their supervisors
\nwho heard the shots. <\/p>\n

So the supervisors decided not to ask questions about it, probably because
\nhad they then officially known about the incident, they would have had to fill
\nout about 5 hours’ worth of paperwork. This is about bureaucratic requirements
\nof the people at the border. If one shot is fired, on their own time they end up
\nhaving to work about 5 hours. <\/p>\n

Because it looked like the incident was over, all of them, including the
\nsupervisors, decided to just close the book. Was that a good decision? Well,
\nprobably not, considering that you have an out-of-control prosecutor trying to
\nfind something to prosecute our defenders about. <\/p>\n

By no means did their actions rise to the level of criminality, what might be
\nconsidered an unauthorized discharge of their weapons, because, of course, they
\ncould not absolutely prove they knew that the drug dealer had a weapon. Well, if
\nthey could not absolutely prove it, then according to the U.S. Attorney, they
\nare guilty of attempted murder. <\/p>\n

Again, let me note, the agents thought the drug dealer was aiming something
\nat them. He had just been in a physical altercation with one of the officers. Of
\ncourse, when it came to the details about that, our U.S. attorney believed the
\ndrug dealer, who swears that Compean, for example, in the altercation just fell
\ndown.
\n You know, you would be surprised how many police officers just fall down in
\nthe middle of trying to enforce the law when dealing with professional criminals
\nlike the ones that Compean and Ramos were dealing with. Just fell down. Yeah. <\/p>\n

You believe that, but you do not believe these guys with an unblemished
\nrecord of 5 and 10 years of protecting the American people. So even though this
\ninvestigation determined that all seven officers on the scene knew about or
\nheard the shooting, the U.S. attorney granted those officers immunity even
\nthough it was their job to report the incident. <\/p>\n

But of course they did not think it was an incident, they thought it was
\nclosed, the guns went off. They did not want to spend 5 hours filling out
\npaperwork. Well, guess what? It was their job to do it. Actually one of them was
\nactually promoted after all of this. <\/p>\n

But the U.S. attorney decided to prosecute the Border Patrol agents, and in
\ndoing so, he had to intimidate these supervisors by saying that he was going to
\ncharge them and giving them immunity unless they went along with this legal
\nlynching of Ramos and Compean. <\/p>\n

If this incident would have been kept in perspective, all seven supervisors
\nand agents who were failing to report a shooting that may or may not have been
\nconsistent with regulations governing the discharge of weapons, but just keep
\nthis all in perspective, they might have deserved a disciplinary action, maybe a
\nweek without pay or some mark on their record; that would have been the end of
\nit. But the penalty for not reporting a shooting is a 5-day suspension. That is
\nthe maximum penalty. This was an issue of a procedural violation, not
\ncriminality, and there is a serious question about the viability of those
\nprocedures which are mandated by the policy. This, of course, flows directly
\nfrom the insane border policy, and it led directly to this unconscionable
\nsituation. <\/p>\n

Over 78 Members of Congress have expressed concern, if not outrage, at the
\ntroubling aspects of this case. Our repeated attempts for Presidential
\nintervention or even to communicate with the President have been ignored. Our
\npleas to keep the officers out of jail on bond pending their appeal have been
\ndenied. The President could have just had the prosecutor go to the judge and
\nsay, please, let these guys stay out at least until their appeal. No, no. It was
\nthe opposite. They insisted on the maximum. They wanted their pound of flesh.
\nThe maximum penalty, the maximum message to other Border Patrol agents: Don’t
\nyou dare ever to even think about firing your weapon at the border. <\/p>\n

Instead, the President, after we appealed to try to get him to look at this,
\nthe President dug in his heels, sent Tony Snow out to chastise us, you know. We
\nwere trying to save Ramos and Compean, and then we were told by Tony Snow to
\ntake a closer look at the facts. <\/p>\n

Well, we have taken a closer look at the facts. We also know what happened.
\nThere has been a publicity campaign that has been put out to destroy and
\ndemonize Ramos and Compean even as they languish in prison, because the Federal
\nprosecutor knows he is the one who made the mistake. He made the initial
\ndecision to grant immunity to the drug dealer, rather than for a procedural
\nmistake by the Border Patrol agents. He made that decision. It is a horrendous
\ndecision, and he is trying to cover it up and destroying the lives of these two
\nBorder Patrol agents in the process. That is what he has to do. So he has gone
\non the air waves and lied to the public to discredit these agents. <\/p>\n

We found out today, for example, that the Department of Homeland Security
\nlied to Congress trying to cover up for their lies to Congress. What happened is
\nfive Members of Congress were briefed. We will hear about this later on tonight
\nfrom another Member of Congress. They were told that Compean had claimed he was
\ngoing to go out and shoot a Mexican. Now, here is Compean, Jose Compean, right?
\nThese are two Mexican American, proud Hispanics, and they were going to go out
\nand shoot a Mexican. And this is from five or six areas that were just total
\nlies given to Members of Congress looking into this. And then they were
\nquestioned, when the Department of Homeland Security investigators were
\nquestioned, they said, oh, yes, we have all of this proved in various reports.
\nAnd so they asked for them, those reports. And today it was just determined that
\nfor 4 months the Department of Homeland Security has been lying to Members of
\nCongress because those reports never existed. There was nothing to substantiate
\nthe charges, the horrendous charges that were made against Compean and Ramos. <\/p>\n

Well, what we hear now is, well, you have got to just forget it because the
\njury has spoken. That is what Mr. Sutton and the prosecutor want to say. That is
\nthe end of it. That is the last word. <\/p>\n

Well, let’s look at what the jury knew about and whether or not this was a
\nfair trial. The drug dealer we are talking about, in between the time he was
\nshot and all of this was going on, and Ramos and Compean are waiting to be
\ntried, he was caught again, this time with 1,000 pounds of marijuana that he was
\ntrying to smuggle into our country. But that information was kept from the jury.
\nThat information never made it to the jury. <\/p>\n

Now, was that important for the jury to know? The prosecution told the judge
\nthat this would in some way jeopardize other prosecutions or investigations, so
\nthe jury was kept from that information. And, in fact, that information has been
\nexpunged from the record, so we can’t get that information. But we know it
\nhappened. And they play word games with us to say, well, he really wasn’t
\narrested. He was apprehended. No, this man was caught again with 1,000 pounds of
\ndrugs. Do you think the jury should have known that? Would that have been
\nsomething important for the jury to know when they are deciding on the lives of
\nthese two brave Americans? Well, it is something that the jury never knew. <\/p>\n

The jury also never knew that the drug dealer, after the bullet fragment was
\nremoved from his body, he was taken by an investigator, and the bullet was taken
\nby the investigator and spent the night at the home of this agent. <\/p>\n

Well, let me tell you something. You don’t take evidence and break the chain
\nof custody of evidence. He took the bullet into his home, and he took this
\nwitness into his home. Any lawyer will tell you that this is the type of
\nsloppiness that taints the evidence and disqualifies a prosecution. <\/p>\n

It is also significant to mention that of those 12 jurors, three of them
\nlater submitted sworn affidavits alleging that they had been misled by the jury
\nforeman into believing that, if the majority of people wanted to vote guilty,
\nthey had to also vote guilty, that a hung jury was not going to be allowed by
\nthe judge. They felt pressured to vote guilty, and they have since signed
\naffidavits and made statements that they would have changed their vote. They
\nbelieved these men to be innocent, and some of them actually broke down in tears
\nwhen they heard that they could have actually saved these men had they stuck to
\ntheir guns. But they were told that the judge, these are not lawyers, these are
\nsimple people; they were told they had to go along with the majority. <\/p>\n

And when the judge heard this, and the judge heard that there was evidence,
\nhe knew that this evidence had been kept from the jury, he, even after knowing
\nthis, denied the request that the two agents be permitted to stay out on bond
\nuntil their appeal was made. <\/p>\n

Well, let’s look at this. There is no doubt that Johnny Sutton had a choice.
\nThis U.S. attorney decided to prosecute the good guys and gave immunity to the
\nbad guys when he could have done it the other way around. But he chose not to.
\nAnd now he is engaged in this propaganda campaign against these two men. <\/p>\n

Well, the prosecution’s only witness of course, the major witness testified
\nthat, of course, this drug smuggler was hit in the buttocks, not from the back.
\nAnd even with that, we hear the U.S. attorney claiming that the essence of this
\ncase is these corrupt agents shot an unarmed man in the back. That is what he
\nsays. <\/p>\n

Well, of course, this was not an unarmed man. You know, we are not talking
\nabout a nun or some tourist who happened to stray across the border. This was a
\nprofessional drug smuggler who works for a drug cartel, a delivery man to
\ndeliver vile drugs into our communities to corrupt our children and destroy the
\nlives of our families. These Border Patrol agents were up against this man, not
\njust a man, a criminal of this level. And of course, they didn’t, as I just
\nsaid, they didn’t shoot him in the back. One bullet, we think, maybe from the
\ngun of one of these officers, actually shot him in the buttocks, but the medical
\nofficer said that he was turned around. So it was like he had something that he
\nwas pointing with his hand, which could well have been a gun. So it wasn’t in
\nthe back. It was in the buttocks, and it confirms what the law enforcement
\nofficers were saying. <\/p>\n

Now, let me say, remember this, this is really important. There is no way to
\nknow that this drug dealer, whether he was armed or not. Mr. Sutton chose to
\nbelieve the drug dealer, but how do we know he wasn’t armed that day? The two
\nagents claimed they said they saw something in his hand. They have to take the
\nword of the drug smuggler. Now, he has been smuggling drugs since he was 14, and
\nhis family in an interview said he always was armed. There is no question. He
\nwas a member of the drug cartel. <\/p>\n

But Mr. Sutton, our U.S. attorney, takes his word over the word of our
\ndefenders. He has turned reality on its head. He has sided with a drug smuggler
\nover two men who risk their lives every day to protect us, and now he must
\ndestroy them and vilify them in order to protect this horrendous decision that
\nhe made to go with the bad guys rather than the good guys. <\/p>\n

There is no evidence, for example, that Mr. Sutton claims they were corrupt.
\nThe Wall Street Journal printed an editorial saying these are corrupt law
\nenforcement officers. Corrupt. The Wall Street Journal vilified these two men.
\nOf course the Wall Street Journal, of course, has a policy, an editorial policy
\nof an open border policy. But now, to back up their guy, their open borders guy,
\nthey vilify these officers with a total falsehood. There has never been a charge
\nof corruption against either one of these two agents. They have never been
\ncharged with corruption. They have, in fact, a totally clean work record. <\/p>\n

And, yes, Ramos had some family problems a few years ago. And let’s make it
\nclear what has happened. Another part of this vilification campaign is that Mr.
\nSutton, even though he was not permitted to bring this up in the
\ncourt because it is totally irrelevant, brought up a family problem that Officer
\nRamos had many years ago. This is a despicable tactic on the part of the U.S.
\nattorney. Indefensible. Except it does illuminate what this U.S. attorney is all
\nabout. <\/p>\n

The family situation for Mr. Ramos was recognized as an aberration. The fact
\nis, Ramos has been recognized as a solid and respected officer, and this is why
\nhe was nominated for Border Patrol agent of the year. <\/p>\n

And of course the U.S. attorney says, oh, well, that is not true. He never
\nbecame Border Patrol agent of the year. That is the type of dishonest
\ncommunication that calls into question his entire decision-making process. No
\none has ever claimed he was Border Patrol agent of the year. But he was
\nnominated for that, and that means something. <\/p>\n

So our U.S. attorney has found that he is just compelled to vilify these
\npeople. So what is the real significance of this case? The U.S. attorney’s
\ndespicable prosecution of these border agents has put all of our border agents
\non notice: Any use of force to protect America, to secure our borders, if you do
\nthat, use any force, you will go to prison and your life will be destroyed and
\nyou will be shown no mercy. <\/p>\n

The consequences of the Ramos and Compean case extend far beyond the
\ndestruction of these two men and their families. And yes, it is horrible that
\nthese families are being driven into destitution. The Compeans have lost their
\nhome. Their kids and the family, all their family is shattered. They have no
\nhealth insurance. <\/p>\n

But what are the consequences for us? What does it mean for our families? I
\nwill tell you what it means: It means that our southern border is now open, not
\njust to an invading army of illegal immigrants but to drug dealers and to
\nterrorists. <\/p>\n

Let’s ask ourselves this question: What if that van that they found all the
\ndrugs in, what if it turned out to be a dirty bomb that they discovered, a dirty
\nbomb headed towards a major city that would have destroyed the lives of hundreds
\nof thousands if not millions of Americans? Instead of 750 pounds of drugs, which
\nis bad enough, what if it was a dirty bomb? And what if the drug dealer turned
\nout to be a terrorist instead of a Mexican national? <\/p>\n

Well, those two men would have been invited to the White House to be
\ncongratulated. It is clear there is a larger and a hidden agenda at play here.
\nAnd Ramos and Compean simply are pawns who got in the way. <\/p>\n

Johnny Sutton is a dishonest and overzealous prosecutor who has lied to us
\nabout this case. And he is on the wrong side of the law by siding with drug
\nsmugglers, letting them go free while he is prosecuting two men for criminal
\nactivity when it may just well have been a procedural matter.<\/p>\n

His claim of not being able to prosecute the drug smuggler is ludicrous. Both
\nhis office and the investigation have no trouble in tracking down the drug
\nsmuggler, yet he chose to turn a blind eye to the drug smuggler’s offenses. And
\naccording to the investigation, there were lots of prints, sets of prints that
\nhe could have used on that van. Plus we had agents Ramos and Compean who
\nidentified him as the guy who jumped out of that van. They could have prosecuted
\nthe drug smuggler. But they chose to prosecute our heroes, our defenders. <\/p>\n

Well, did Ramos and Compean make mistakes? Well, maybe they did. Should they
\nhave been punished and reprimanded for them? Maybe. Should they have been
\ncharged with a crime? Absolutely not. And by doing so, the Justice Department
\nhas demoralized our Nation’s defenders. And what does that mean to us? That
\nmeans that our defenders cannot now count on their government to support them
\neven when they are up against a drug smuggler who may very well be armed. <\/p>\n

What does that mean for the rest of us? That means we have absolutely lost
\ncontrol of our border. Border agents are put in a situation on a daily basis
\nthat they must make a split-second decision. <\/p>\n

By the way, this is the first time Compean has ever used his weapon in the 5
\nyears of service. He is being portrayed as some trigger-happy Border Patrol
\nagent? Well, these agents don’t have a second chance when someone aims something
\nat them. So this policy that you can’t fire until you are in the sights of a
\ndrug smuggler’s gun is a death warrant to our defenders. Ironically, Ramos and
\nCompean thought that the drug smuggler was aiming at them. Interestingly, as I
\nsay, Compean had never fired his weapon before. <\/p>\n

These are the facts. These are the facts that have enraged the public,
\ncausing Americans to wonder what in God’s name is their government doing? What
\nis their President thinking? How can our President be so mean-spirited and
\narrogant not to hear the pleas from so many of our citizens, even from Members
\nof Congress, for some type of mercy for Ramos and Compean, who had risked their
\nlives to defend us for so long? <\/p>\n

Well, there is a hidden agenda here. That is what this is all about. Very
\npowerful economic interests in this country want cheap labor. They want open
\nborders. They want cheap labor from illegals to come here so they can depress
\nthe wages of working Americans. <\/p>\n

Well, the out-of-control flow of illegal immigrants is a nightmare to regular
\nAmericans, not this one group of elitists. But the policymakers here in
\nWashington and their elite corporate interests are so arrogant and so smug that
\nthey do not care about the suffering of the American people. They don’t care.
\nThese elites don’t care that illegal immigrants are shutting down the emergency
\nrooms so if your children in California have a car accident, they will die. They
\nare overcrowding our classrooms so our kids aren’t getting the education they
\ndeserve. They are driving down wages. And our criminal justice system is
\nbreaking down in California. We have American citizens who are being victimized.
\nThey are being murdered and raped and robbed by criminal illegal immigrants
\nevery day. But these elitists don’t care, and our President doesn’t seem to
\ncare. <\/p>\n

The only heroes in this entire immigration mess, the only heroes are the thin
\ngreen line of the Border Patrol. And the elites now have decided they have to
\nbrutally smash two of them in order to warn the others not to get in the way of
\ntheir open border policy. <\/p>\n

The public has every right to be angry about this case, and I join them in
\nthis outrage. Let me note that today I received 304,000 petitions that were
\nsigned by citizens of this country for the President of the United States asking
\nfor pardon. As we know, Officer Ramos was attacked last night or the night
\nbefore. He was brutally attacked in prison. And this should do nothing but ask
\nfor another plea. This man’s life is in danger. Compean’s life was in danger. We
\nknew that. That is why they should have been out until their appeal is heard. <\/p>\n

We are pleading with the President. The American people are asking the
\nPresident to pay attention. Please pardon these men. Give them a chance. If they
\nare murdered in prison, the President will be held accountable. The President is
\naccountable of the fact that Ramos was beaten up. <\/p>\n

This case shows the insanity of this administration’s border policy and
\nperhaps the hidden agenda of this border policy. No guest worker program, no
\namnesty program is going to be feasible if we cannot control our borders. If
\nthis country cannot stop an illegal alien drug smuggler, this country has no
\nborder controls whatsoever. <\/p>\n

And let me end my comments by this following statement: Our job is to watch
\nout for the interests of the people of the United States. The people of the
\nUnited States and many of these illegals who stream across our border are
\nwonderful people. The vast majority are wonderful people. But we have to be
\nconcerned about the interests of our people who are suffering because of this
\nout-of-control illegal immigration flow. <\/p>\n

United States, who is it? It is us, U.S. Who are we? We are Mexican American
\npeople just like Ramos and Compean. We are Irish Americans. We are black
\nAmericans. We are people who came here from every corner of the world. And if we
\ndon’t have a consideration for Americans over and above what we care about
\npeople in other countries, then we will not have an America that our Founding
\nFathers dreamed about. We are losing our country. And if we lose control of the
\nsouthern border, the terrorists and the drug dealers and the
\ninvading armies of illegals will make it so that within a short period of time,
\nmaybe 10 years from now, maybe 20, we will have lost America. <\/p>\n

The American people are crying out in a rage. The President should listen.
\nThe President has to listen.\n <\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

PLEASE WATCH YOUTUBE: America’s Most Wanted Video here…. FREE BORDER PATROL AGENTS IGNACIO RAMOS AND JOSE COMPEAN Congressman Dana Rohrabacher’s Speech to the House of Representatives, February 07, 2007 Mr. ROHRABACHER. Mr. Speaker, today we discuss a black mark on this administration, a vile crime against two law enforcement officers whose job has been protecting […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thedustininmansociety.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/549"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thedustininmansociety.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thedustininmansociety.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thedustininmansociety.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thedustininmansociety.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=549"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.thedustininmansociety.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/549\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thedustininmansociety.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=549"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thedustininmansociety.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=549"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thedustininmansociety.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=549"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}