A California jury acquitted the illegal immigrant who killed Kate Steinle of murder Thursday but found him guilty of lesser gun charges in a case that helped ignite a new national debate over sanctuary cities and border policy.
Related Story: DOJ weighing federal charges in Kate Steinle murder case, after not guilty verdict
Jose Ines Garcia Zarate, 54, admitted to killing Steinle as she walked the San Francisco waterfront with her father in the summer of 2015 but called the shooting a shocking accident.
The case took on outsized significance, though, when it was revealed that Garcia Zarate was an illegal immigrant and repeat felon who had been deported five times and sneaked back into the U.S. each time. He was protected from another deportation by San Francisco’s sanctuary policy restricting cooperation with federal immigration authorities.
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
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
The jury was not told the killer of Kate was a 7 time felon. The Schumer/Pelosi Democrats are so weak on Crime that they will pay a big price in the 2018 and 2020 Elections.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 1, 2017
Donald Trump, new to the Republican presidential race at the time, quickly seized on the case and used it to build a winning campaign, complaining of rapists and other bad elements coming from Mexico and vowing to build a border wall to stop them.
On Thursday, Garcia Zarate’s attorneys said the verdict was a boost for immigrants and a slap at Mr. Trump.
“From Day One, this case was used as a means to foment hate, to foment division, to foment a program of mass deportation. It was used to catapult a presidency along that philosophy of hate for others,” said Francisco Ugarte. “Today is a vindication for the rights of immigrants.”
Mr. Trump, though, called the verdict “disgraceful.”
“No wonder the people of our Country are so angry with illegal immigration,” he said on Twitter.
Steinle’s father, Jim, who watched his daughter collapse in his arms after she was shot, said the decision was the latest failure in a long series that led to her death.
“We’re just shocked — saddened and shocked. … That’s about it,” the father told the San Francisco Chronicle after the verdict. “There’s no other way you can coin it. Justice was rendered, but it was not served.”
Garcia Zarate was found guilty of being a felon in possession of a firearm, but he was acquitted of murder and manslaughter charges in a case that delved deeply into the weapon he said he found, and whether he intended to aim it at the attractive 32-year-old woman walking with her father.
Prosecutors argued that Garcia Zarate should have been convicted because he created the conditions for Steinle’s death by having the gun and handling it cavalierly.
The Sig Sauer pistol had been stolen from a federal Bureau of Land Management ranger’s vehicle. Garcia Zarate, who went by the name Juan Francisco Lopez-Sanchez at the time, said he found it on the waterfront pier.
Experts on both sides debated whether the gun was prone to accidental fire or required intention.
While neither the prosecution nor defense delved into politics during the trial, commentators said the critical issue was Garcia Zarate’s status as an illegal immigrant. If he had been deported and kept out of the U.S., they said, then the shooting would never have happened.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions laid blame at the feet of San Francisco.
“San Francisco’s decision to protect criminal aliens led to the preventable and heartbreaking death of Kate Steinle,” Mr. Sessions said.
“I urge the leaders of the nation’s communities to reflect on the outcome of this case and consider carefully the harm they are doing to their citizens by refusing to cooperate with federal law enforcement officers,” he said.
In 2015, Garcia Zarate served time in a federal prison for his latest illegal entry into the U.S. Officials then sent him to San Francisco, where he was wanted on an old warrant for a drug charge.
But local prosecutors decided they didn’t want to pursue the case. Rather than send Garcia Zarate back to the federal government for deportation, however, he was released into the community under the local sanctuary policy.
Less than four months later, he and Steinle’s paths would collide on the waterfront.
Mr. Trump, who just days earlier announced his presidential bid vowing a tough-on-immigration approach, said Steinle’s killing was a “senseless and totally preventable act of violence.”
“The American people deserve a wall,” he said.
More than two years later, Mr. Trump is fighting Congress for money to begin construction of his wall, and San Francisco’s sanctuary policy remains largely intact.
Indeed, the city is in court battling the Trump administration’s efforts to crack down on sanctuaries, objecting to the president’s plans to try to withhold federal money from jurisdictions that won’t communicate with deportation officers.
While a few jurisdictions have revoked sanctuary policies in the wake of Mr. Trump’s election victory, more have declared themselves sanctuaries and vowed to resist the administration.
© Copyright (c) 2017 News World Communications, Inc.
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I knew this would happen with all of the burnouts in communist Kalifornia. This makes me sick to my stomach. Let Kalifornia secede, do not trade with them and let them have a giant welfare cesspool. What a disgrace the jury is! Low lifes!
I keep wondering when California will act on its “threat” to secede… Maybe Northern VA can
join. Both areas have lost their way, obviously. These “sanctuary cities” are an abomination.
We need to return to the days when “Crime doesn’t pay!”
Never. They enjoy getting too many govt bennies to stop them coming in by seceding from the union.
If they considered this ‘Accidental-By-Rickashay’ wouldn’t it deserve the same punishment as one who caused a fatal auto accident?!?
It should have gotten negligent homicide.. BUT i feel the DA was going for broke ONLY and didn’t have a damn clue about pursuing lesser charges..
I would also LOVE TO KNOW.. How many on the jury were VOTING for sanctuary city status, voted democrat, or voted FOR hillary/Sanders or any of the open borders RINOS out there???
They should have found this, exceptional life stealing scumbag not guilty of being even a human being. He is the very reason we need the wall, and the way Californication is going, maybe we should extend that wall to surround the illegal loving State as well.
I am ashamed to say that I once lived in that State, and cannot believe that any normal human being would want to live there either. Some, though, are stuck there with circumstances beyond their control. To them I say I am so very sorry you have to put up with the life Jerry Brown has forced upon all the residents of that State.
Hell is a never ending, terrible, permanently punishing place, and there is a special area set aside for those who walk in the shoes of Evil. Jerry and all his ilk, will find their place there, the moment their eyes close for the last time here. Eternity is a very long time, and I for one do not want to spend it in constant, permanent misery. Especially when I would be there, as are all, due to the bad choices I made in the life we currently occupy. Kate likely is in Heaven now, before her time, but those bleeding heart jurors, who willingly set a evil man free, will pay for their own misdeeds in the end.
[ I am ashamed to say that I once lived in that State, and cannot believe that any normal human being would want to live there either. Some, though, are stuck there with circumstances beyond their control. To them I say I am so very sorry you have to put up with the life Jerry Brown has forced upon all the residents of that State.]
I am also ashamed i once lived in that state, and even THOUGHT of one day potentially retiring there (though that was in the 90s before i even was anywhere close to retiring)..
More American Blood spilled by the hands of illegals.. This Blood in on the Democrats hands.
How much more American blood are they going to allow flow in the streets? Arm up America, were going to need it.
I fear they couldn’t care HOW MUCH American blood gets spilled, just as long as its not THEIRS…
At the very least, the guy should’ve gotten convicted of involuntary manslaughter. I hope someone recognizes him walking on the street, and gets some street justice for Kate’s family.
Not surprised by the verdict at all. Complete sham…
BTW, where and when is the riot, um I mean protest happening?
I needs me some 40’s, Newports, a new TV and some formula and diapers for my baby mommas and 7 kids.
Rioting not paid for is so old school. Georgie Boy’s 18 Billion is going to go a long way to destroying what’s left of the Republic.
I know several trick shot artists who can ricochet a bullet off things and hit any target they want. Does that give them a free ride to murder?
And there is no such thing as an accidental discharge. JUST a negligent one!!
I would rather pray that he does NOT take another’s life since he keeps doing criminal things and getting away with it, probably thinks he is now un-touchable. Sad for the family that must now live with the fact that their neighbors set this killer free.
And i wonder, if he DOES kill someone else after these numpties released him by finding him not guilty, WILL a single one feel even one minuscule portion of remorse??
Even if the defendant hadn’t been an illegal alien with prior convictions, he still engaged in extremely reckless behavior by displaying a gun in a crowded public area—and somebody died. He needed to be held accountable. I think the jury “went rogue” in this highly politicized case and decided to “send a message” to President Trump. Shameful.
I read an article that stated that the “Jury gave no comment and the judge has SEALED their names. Now tell me, what does that sound like?
A cover up!
Third world ? Communist Cuba? Russian Collusion? Typical Democrap tactics!
Give Mexifornia back to Mexico!!!
Travesty of justice. If he’d done the same thing outside of a bar in a ‘one punch homicide’ he’d have likely been convicted of involuntary manslaughter. This wasn’t a fair trial, it was a political statement by a jury and/or a prosecutor who had a agenda to promote. May this poor woman rest in peace.
And you can bet had he been a white guy who had “accidentally shot a black’, we would have seen riots all over TILL he was sentenced for MURDER and racism..
That jury verdict said that a verdict should serve a political purpose — the sanctuary city stuff — and not justice. Isn’t that how they did it in the Soviet Union?
Finding this killer of Kate Steinle “Not Guilty”, was a real TRAVESTY of JUSTICE in my opinion !
IMO poetic justice would be if EVERY idiot on that jury, had one of THEIR loved ones “Accidentally killed by an illegal invader, and that invader WALKED away with barely a slap on the wrist..
if you want to do a crime but not do the time go to san francisco californication.
i would get my payback if that was my daughter.
Did anyone really think they would convict this illegal? Come on, it’s california and san francisco, the hub of illegal protection. My heart goes out to the Steinle family, but in the end, karma will prevail on this murderer and perhaps his defense attorneys, who wasted no time slamming our President.
I hear by call for a nation wide boycott on ANY AND ALL tourism to CA from EVERY other state5. NO law abiding citizen should spend a DIME in that cesspool of a state, unless they wish to be victims of illegal invaders who seem to have MORE rights than we citizens do!
AND THIS boycott especially includes all the Disney facilities!
I can see the jury passing on a first degree murder conviction, but how could they not convict for manslaughter?
If this had happened ANYWHERE other then California, this man WOULD have been guilty of at LEAST Manslaughter ! This decision was a real disgrace to the criminal justice system, and the Jurors should really be ashamed of what they did !
More proof the entire state is rotten to the core..
Convicted of possessing a gun by a convicted felon? What a joke. Any tourist that visits that hell hole should have their heads examined.
as expected all communists are devoid of ethics
How is it possible to find a murderer who confessed “not guilty”? I can see maybe plea-bargaining to Man-1 — but that bypasses the jury for expedience.
Maybe the idiot of a DA or the judge OVERTURNED his confession??
More’s the pity. This animal should be locked up for life!
They have a deportation order on him — and I pray it’s implemented by returning him to MessSicko at room-temp!
What good is YET ANOTHER deportation order when he has come back in after 5 prior deportations. I SAY we deport him by plane and drop him out 10,000 feet up..
The City of San Francisco and the authorities who released him should have a civil suit filed against them just like any consumer protection lawsuit that is intended to send a message with punitive damages. If someone dies in a car accident then the manufacturer of the car (plane, public transportation, building, etc.) is questioned about what they know. If there are complaints (tobacco) that were not acted upon then they may be found liable. (Hence the large number of recalls against deep pocket manufacturers.) These sanctuary cities (some have deep pockets) are creating a defective product (the city as a safe place to live with responsible citizens) and they should be held accountable. I also demand it as I live in one of those cities and I want protection from a possible civil suit that will bankrupt my city. Do your job elected officials and civil servants and judges and protect me from accidents and crimes from people who should not be here!
Only in so much as the lawsuits they get, HITS them financially in a PERSONAL manner. Not as a govt entity. That way they have to pay it out of their OWN pockets, and not out of the tax victims coffers…
There is a recent case in the news where a hunter shot and killed a woman walking her dogs. He claimed that he thought that she was a dear. He was charged with manslaughter. There is no doubt at the very least of probable guilt in regard to manslaughter for “Kate’s killer”. This means that the jury has to be analyzed for ethnic distribution.
Hey ! Congress, wake the hell up and PASS Kate’s law now! Pass it before this happens to another American Citizen. If you can not be on broad with Kate’s Law , I sure hope the voters take action to have YOU removed from Congress. Shameful, a law as Kate’s law should have been already passed 30 years ago.
Thing is if we just ENFORCED The laws we already have existing, we wouldn’t NEED Kates law..
If I was that young ladies father I would do everything I could possibly do legally to ruin everyone of those jury members lives. Those jerks made a bad political statement with his daughters life and they deserve everything bad that could happen to them.
I am not at all surprised that illegal alien Garcia Zarate was found not guilty of Kate Steinle’s murder since San Francisco is a Sanctuary City and the authorities, including local law enforcement and the courts, are highly sympathetic to the plight of illegals. This desire to shield illegals from the consequences of their criminal actions bleeds into the local citizenry so the prosecution faced an uphill battle finding jurors who could remain completely objective throughout the trial and not feel some amount of sympathy for the sad-looking Zarate. The defense’s claim that the gun Zarate picked up had fired the fatal shot on its own no doubt resonated powerfully with this California jury since liberals blame guns for gun crime instead of people. Whenever Zarate is deported, it is a sure bet that he will illegally re-enter the U.S. to continue his life of crime where, unlike in Mexico, he will have an unlimited supply of wealthy victims. I just hope his future crimes in the U.S. are limited to petty crimes and do not involve bodily injury or murder. .
A travesty and a miscarriage of justice..!! This is just absolutely NO JUSTICE..!!!!
IMO the only way we will get justice here, is if they put a neck bomb on him so his head blows UP IF he ever tries to re=enter the USA.. AND A 9.999 earthquake hits and wipes SF OUT!!!
So my question is, since the State of California and specifically the city of San Fransisco are a sanctuary city and state, can the family of Kate Steinle sue both for wrongful death in this case? Both the State of California, Governor Jerry Brown and the city of San Fransisco are complacent in her death. Here we have a five time tried and convicted person who the Mayor and elected board of officials for the city of San Fransisco have refused to cooperate with the Federal Authorities. Specifically, both the city and state have allowed this convicted person to walk freely, know full well that he is guilty of several crimes. That is collusion and dereliction of their duties to uphold the laws of the city of San Fransisco and the state of California.
They damn well should be sued fOR BEING accessories to this crime..
This is a travesty beyond belief! The Illegal Alien, already a multiple law-breaker, was a criminal and did things with criminal intent. How he could not be held responsible for this murder is outrageous. That jury has blood on their hands now. And if this guy is not incarcerated for the rest of his life everyone in America will have lost!
WOW, I guess this means I can “accidentally” kill anyone I want. . . Oh, wait, I’m not an illegal alien. Guess I can’t after all.
This was Leftist politics not justice. Was reckless endangerment/manslaughter even a charge before the jury? Lord, knows if it had been caused by an old white rancher citizen they would have hung him out to dry or maybe even shot him dead before arresting him. It is shameful that this has come to be expected these days.
Here we go again. Watch Garcia Zarate be incarcerated until he reaches the age of 83 just like Charles Manson. Instead of having the state of CA pay the expenses of incarceration, lets have the City of San Francisco pay all of the incarceration expense.