Jailed Border Agents At Center Of Saturday's Minutemen Rally
Written by Jon Dell
Wednesday, 25 June 2008
Santa Clarita Independent Minutemen holding fundraising event.
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On Saturday at the Santa Clarita Civic Center, the stage will be set for what organizers are calling the “Honor America/Secure our Border Rally.”
The event is being put on by the Santa Clarita and Antelope Valley Independent Minutemen, and will also be serving as a fundraiser for imprisoned border agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean,
“We want to draw attention to the fact that our borders are porous, our borders are open,” said organizer Rodger Gitlin. “And we are concerned about this runaway population.”
Many speakers are lined up for the rally, including Monica Ramos, the wife of Ignacio Ramos, and Chris Simcox, founder of the Minutemen Civil Defense Corps.
Also speaking will be the parents of slain deputy and Santa Clarita resident David March, who was gunned down 6 years ago by Armando Garcia, who was in this country illegally. After 5 years hiding in Mexico, he was turned over to U.S. Agents and sentenced to life in prison.
While illegal immigration will be the recurring theme of the event, Gitlin says that its main purpose is to celebrate America and to raise money for Ramos and Compean.
The agents were jailed over an incident in which they stopped an illegal drug smuggler coming across the Mexican border. As the suspect ran from the scene the agents fired their weapons, striking the smuggler in the buttocks.
Claiming they didn’t realize they struck the fleeing suspect, the agents did not file a report. Ramos and Compean were brought up on charges and sentenced to 11 and 12 years in prison respectively. The smuggler, Aldrete Dávila was not charged with any crime stemming from the incident.
Dávila then filed a $5 million lawsuit against the United States claiming that his civil rights were violated. Shortly after his testimony against Ramos and Compean, Dávila was again caught smuggling drugs over the border and now faces charges.
There has been a move by some in Washington to have the agents pardoned, and our Congressman Howard “Buck” McKeon is involved.
Ramos and Compean’s case is in the appeal process.
Saturday’s rally will be held between 11:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. in the outdoor amphitheater next to the Valencia library.
