Trump blames Democrats for woman’s death, immigrant’s acquittal
Dec 1, 2017, 8:50 AM
(Michael Macor/San Francisco Chronicle via AP, Pool, File)
President Donald Trump blamed Democrats for the shooting death of a woman in San Francisco and the acquittal of an undocumented Mexican immigrant charged with her murder.
Trump tweeted Friday morning and Thursday night about the case of Jose Ines Garcia Zarate, who was acquitted of murder and manslaughter charges of Kathryn Steinle.
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!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 1, 2017
Zarate said the 2015 slaying of Steinle, 32, who was walking the pier with her father, was an accident.
Under a sanctuary city law, the San Francisco sheriff’s department had released Zarate from jail despite a federal immigration request to detain him for deportation.
He had already been deported five times under various names. Under one of his aliases — Juan Francisco Lopez-Sanchez — he was twice arrested in Arizona in the 1990s.
Trump called the verdict “disgraceful.”
A disgraceful verdict in the Kate Steinle case! No wonder the people of our Country are so angry with Illegal Immigration.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 1, 2017
U.S. Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) echoed Trump’s sentiments.
“I can’t even begin to imagine the heartbreak the Steinle family must feel tonight. This verdict was an absolute tragedy,” Biggs said in a statement.
The president also tweeted that the jury had not been told Zarate was a seven-time felon.
Steinle’s death was a talking point during Trump’s campaign.
The Justice Department was weighing options on bringing federal charges against Zarate and Immigration and Customs Enforcement said it would “work to … ultimately remove him from the country.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.