Months Before Illegal MS-13 Gang Member Murdered Family, Kamala Harris Failed To Prosecute Him
Democratic vice presidential nominee Sen. Kamala Harris of California failed to prosecute a known gang member and illegal immigrant who went on to murder a man and two of his sons in 2008.
The gang member, Edwin Ramos, had been arrested three months before the killings.
Harris, who was the San Francisco district attorney at the time, had a chance to stop Ramos. According to SFGate, police had warned her that he was a known MS-13 gang member with multiple run-ins with the law.
MS-13, believed to have been founded as a neighborhood street gang in Los Angeles in the mid-1980s by immigrants fleeing a civil war in El Salvador, has been responsible for various gruesome “medieval-style” murders in the city and elsewhere.
Ramos was arrested in San Francisco on March 30, 2008, when police pulled him over and a passenger in his car, Erick Lopez, fled and attempted to discard a gun. Authorities concluded the gun had been used in a double killing, according to SFGate.
Police identified both men as active members of MS-13 and notified San Francisco prosecutors — who declined to file charges against Ramos.
While he was in custody, sheriff’s deputies discovered that Ramos was deportable, but they were forced to let him go.
“We cannot hold people in custody without a documented reason to hold them,” Eileen Hirst, chief of staff for Sheriff Michael Hennessey, said at the time, according to SFGate.
Harris had a chance to prosecute Ramos but declined, according to a 2008 report from the outlet.
“Police sent the case to prosecutors in District Attorney Kamala Harris’ office, who declined to file charges,” SFGate reported. “They told investigators that there was no evidence that Ramos had known that Lopez had a gun, according to Harris’ office.
“The gang charge had to have another crime associated with it for prosecutors to bring Ramos to trial, police and prosecutors said.”
Only a few months later, on June 22, 2008, Ramos shot and killed Tony Bologna, 48, and his sons Michael, 20, and Matthew, 16, according to SFGate.
The attack had one survivor, Tony Bologna’s 19-year-old son.
Ramos mistook the Bolognas for members of a rival gang and then preceded to gun them down in a drive-by shooting.
He was convicted in May 2012 and sentenced to three consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole.
Harris pushed for the prison term rather than seeking the death penalty.
Although President Donald Trump has stood strongly against MS-13, the American left has done anything but.
Back in May 2018, Trump referred to MS-13 members as “animals,” a comment that was then taken out of context by the left-wing media to make it seem as though he was referring to illegal immigrants rather than the notoriously violent gang.
Trump was responding to a specific question about MS-13, the most ruthless, violent gang in America. By cutting out the context this makes it look like he’s calling all illegal immigrants ‘animals’, which he wasn’t.
So it becomes deliberately misleading.. or ‘fake’.. news. ? https://t.co/eECpEr9BHO— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) May 17, 2018
Trump later doubled down on his comments.
“I’m referring to the MS-13 gangs that are coming in. I was talking about the MS-13,” the president replied. “I’m actually surprised you’re asking this question.”
“These are animals. They’re coming into our country and we’re getting them out.”
“I referred to them as animals. And guess what: I always will.”
If only Kamala Harris had been similarly tough on MS-13, Ramos might have been prevented from claiming three innocent lives.
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