Government Charged with Accessory to Murder—Federal, State & City Leaders Thrown Behind Bars

Hunt for Justice by Cynthia Hunt

My title is wishful. If there were to be real justice, we could hold elected leaders responsible in some way other than just voting them out of office.

A Mother Warns It Could Happen to Your Family

A San Francisco mother had to bury her husband and two sons because the City of San Francisco under its “sanctuary city” policy did not report a convicted violent offender and illegal immigrant to federal authorities. Twenty-one-year-old Edwin Ramos (pictured above), an illegal immigrant from El Salvador, is charged in the triple murder of a father and his two sons.

Prosecutors say Ramos gunned down Tony Bologna, 48, and his two sons Michael, 20, and Matthew, 16, in a fit of “road rage.” Tony apparently made the unforgivable mistake of briefly blocking Ramos’s car from making a left turn, and officers say Ramos gunned down the family right there in their vehicle. They were driving home from a family picnic.

“It was a senseless crime, and had [authorities] done something this animal would not have taken my family," mother and widow Danielle Bologna told FOX News on Monday. "I feel that the government should have stepped in. I feel that they allow these immigrants to come in and how dare they strip our families like this." (Watch the widow's tearful plea to the community.)

Rap Sheet Includes Membership is MS-13 Gang and Violent Offenses

Police say Ramos is a member of the Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) gang. The FBI considers Ms-13 the most violent and dangerous gang in the United States. Ramos had a rap sheet that I’m confident made his fellow thugs proud.

When Ramos was 17, he and two other men flashed gang signs, boarded a bus, and beat a man who was not in a gang. The attack was recorded by the bus video camera. He was convicted and released back to his mother a short six months later.

Days after his release, he tried to rob a pregnant woman in the middle of the day. This time Ramos was sent to a city-run camp and again released back to his family. NEVER did San Francisco report this upstanding illegal to the feds. In San Francisco, Ramos was treated and protected in the juvenile justice system because he was only 17 when he committed the crimes. San Francisco's 1989 "City of Refuge" ordinance prohibits city agencies from contacting the feds on immigration matters.

Three Months Before Killings Feds Failed to Protect Citizens

This year, three months before Ramos allegedly shot and killed the Bologna dad and sons, The San Francisco Chronicle reported that Ramos was pulled over for having illegally tinted windows and for failing to display a front license plate. Police say an alleged gang member in Ramos’s car discarded a gun that had been used in a double murder.

Prosecutors didn’t file charges against Ramos, saying they couldn’t prove he knew his companion had the gun. At this point, a member of the sheriff’s department (a county-run agency) DID REPORT his immigration status to the ICE (the U. S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement). But the sheriff’s department says ICE decided NOT to place a detainer on Ramos and the department released Ramos. What brainchild at ICE made that call?

San Francisco Spends Taxpayer Money to Brag about Its Sanctuary City Status

When Ramos allegedly killed three innocent Americans, the City of San Francisco was spending $83,000 in taxpayers’ money running ads that told illegal immigrants about all kinds of taxpayer-funded city services they could get without having to worry about their illegal status being reported to the feds. A TV ad ends with the city’s top leader bragging “I’m Mayor Gavin Newsom. San Francisco is a sanctuary city making public services safe and accessible for everywhere.”

On Monday in a segment about the triple murder, Fox News’s Bill O’Reilly said Newsom is “perhaps the most despicable public servant” in America.” San Francisco conservative columnist Debra Saunders declared that San Francisco is an example of “political correctness run amuck.”

Our Government Leaders Are Completely Incompetent on This Issue

Is it just me or does it feel like our government leaders have gone mad? Forget the conservative and liberal labels that may be coming to your minds. Both sides have had a chance to correct this, and both have failed to solve the illegal immigration crisis. Is it not insanely dangerous for cities to protect violent illegal immigrants?

As a reporter, I’ve talked to illegal immigrants about this issue and even they support the deportation of violent illegal immigrants. Ramos was 17 when he committed these vicious crimes. Why not certify him as an adult and deport this dangerous MS-13 gang member before he decimated the Bologna family?

The One Part of Sanctuary City Policy that Makes Sense

I understand where the concept of sanctuary city originated. As a journalist in another sanctuary city, Houston, Texas, I can tell you that it started with a legitimate police need. Investigators needed to have a working relationship with the illegal population to solve crimes.

The federal government wasn’t protecting our borders and keeping illegals out of the cities, but the locals have always been the ones who had to deal with the crime problems. Police desperately needed to get cooperation from illegal residents to solve crimes for the safety of all. Therefore, it became policy that people knew they could cooperate and call local police without having to worry about their immigration status being reported.

How did the need for police to communicate with all people morph into a system where our city leaders are breaking federal law, endangering the hardworking, taxpaying Americans, and then even running ads to brag about it?

Cities and Federal Government Clashing Over Illegal Immigration

In Houston, Texas a beloved veteran police officer and dad of five, Rodney Johnson, was shot and killed by an illegal immigrant during a traffic stop. In the two years since then, the case has become a battle cry against illegal immigration. The shooting happened as Houston police were facing pressure to become more involved in immigration enforcement.

Just four months ago. The U. S. Supreme Court decided President Bush had to no power to tell the State of Texas to reopen the case of an illegal immigrant who had been sentenced to death for the 1993 murder and rape of two teenage girls. Jose E. Medellin is scheduled for execution on August 5th, two weeks from today. The President had argued for the case to be reopened because officers failed to tell Medellin he had a right under the Vienna Convention to contact Mexican diplomats about his arrest.

The mayor of Los Angeles is criticizing ICE saying the agency is using scarce resources to round up illegal workers instead of focusing on the wanted violent illegal aliens.

Please, Senators McCain and Obama: Show Some Leadership and Provide a Plan

Is it too much to ask that the next President of the United States show some leadership and give us an immigration policy that works and protects Americans while maintaining our special place in the world as the land of dreams and opportunity for immigrants?

I am sure if a high-profile leader in this country lost what Danielle Bologna lost—three loved ones—suddenly they would find the time and the motivation to address this crisis. Bologna wants San Francisco to stop being a sanctuary city. What do you think should happen?

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Officer Rodney Johnson's Last Call

by Connie Park

When Houston police officer Rodney Johnson received the department's Badge Number 5913, he took the oath to protect and serve the citizens of Houston, Texas. Years later, on September 21, 2006, Officer Johnson was policing the city when he made what should have been a routine traffic stop. What happened in that brief moment changed the course of many lives--a tragic moment no one can reverse.

Officer Johnson stopped Juan Leonardo Quintero on traffic for speeding. Johnson handcuffed him and placed him in the back seat of his police cruiser. While Officer Johnson was sitting in the front driver’s seat of the vehicle filling out paperwork, he was shot not once, but four times in the back of the head by the suspect he had handcuffed. Quintero had managed to retrieve a pistol from his waistband. Though he had been shot, Officer Johnson somehow was able to press the emergency button in his patrol car. That was the last thing Johnson did before he died, the “last call” he made as a police officer.

Quintero (pictured right) was taken into custody to the HPD homicide office where he gave a videotaped confession to Sergeant David Ferguson. In his statement, Quintero said that he shot the officer because he thought that Johnson had disrespected him--that Officer Johnson should have just given him a ticket rather than taking him into custody. Quintero demonstrated in the video how he managed to retrieve the pistol and fire it while he was in handcuffs. It turned out that Quintero was illegally in the United States. He was charged with capital murder of a police officer and pled not guilty by reason of insanity. Quintero’s attorneys claimed that Quintero suffered from mental disease or defect and was unable to understand what he was doing. Quintero was facing the death penalty for the brutal murder of Officer Johnson.

On May 8, 2008, it took only six hours for Harris County jurors in Houston to come back with a guilty verdict for Quintero. Now it was up to the jurors to decide on sentencing, which, in a Texas capital murder case, consists of two options: life in prison without parole or the death penalty. During the State's compelling closing arguments in the punishment phase, prosecutors John Jordan and Denise Bradley asked the jurors to follow and interpret the law, which, they argued, would clearly show that Quintero deserved the death penalty and that he posed a future threat or danger to society.

“You look for some humanity in this defendant," Assistant District Attorney Jordan said, referring to the videotaped confession. "You look for some emotion, some heart, some soul in this defendant. You can watch it twenty times and you won’t find it.”

Prosecutor Bradley addressed Quintero directly: “You’re a threat in the back seat of a patrol car. You’re a threat anywhere. We can’t protect ourselves from Juan Quintero."

Quintero’s attorneys stated that brain damage caused their client to suffer from mental disease and that his actions that day were a result of "freak circumstances.” The attorneys asked the jurors to show some mercy on Quintero.

Naturally, prosecutor Bradley countered by asking whether Quintero showed any mercy when he shot Officer Johnson four times in the back of the head.

On May 20, 2008, the jurors decided to sentence Quintero to life in prison without parole. This stunned everyone in the courtroom, including Quintero and his attorneys. Prosecutors were shocked, as were Johnson’s wife, Joslyn Johnson, his family members, friends and brothers and sisters in blue. This was a senseless act where Officer Johnson was executed and murdered. This was a case where the death penalty was the right and just punishment.

Officer Johnson was not only a coworker of mine, but I was fortunate to have been friends with him and with his wife, Sergeant Joslyn Johnson (pictured left). I remember a couple of years ago I asked him what makes a good marriage and how he and Joslyn got along so well. He told me that he was just lucky to have Joslyn as his wife. As for everyone who knew him, Rodney was a big teddy bear and a jokester.

Officer Johnson will not only be remembered as a fallen hero who gave the ultimate sacrifice. He will also be remembered as a great and respected man. During a victim's impact statement to the court, Officer Johnson's sister, Susan Johnson, told everyone in the courtroom that “Rodney was bigger than life” and that he was a loving husband, father, brother, son, and brother in blue. He loved his family and his job as an officer. Rodney was proud to wear his badge and uniform and to protect and serve the City of Houston. She stated that what Quintero did on September 21, 2006, will affect their lives forever but that Quintero will never be able to take away the cherished memories they have of Rodney.

I can’t even fathom the pain Joslyn and Rodney’s children and other family members have gone through since they received the phone call and learned that Rodney had been killed. But what I can say is that we, Rodney’s brothers and sisters in blue, feel an emptiness and sadness only officers can describe. It’s what bonds officers together and what makes us a family. It’s the oath we all took to protect and to serve and Rodney was doing exactly that on the day he was shot and killed by Quintero. Rodney’s caring and selfless acts will have an unforgettable impact on our lives forever and we are all blessed to have known him.

We will continue to love and pray for Joslyn and the kids and Rodney’s family members. But, most importantly, we will never forget Rodney and he will be in our hearts forever.

We will also carry in our heavy hearts the thought of if and when our “last call” will be.

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