This whole story is strange. First of all, I'm not sure how much actual running a person can do with a bullet in the buttock. Does anyone have any information about when our poor "victim" was treated for his wound? Despite the shotgun approach of piling charges on these two, they're essentially going to prison for not reporting the discharge of a firearm. It's sick.

The border patrol is a fucking joke. Those two should have known to sit in their tower or station and eat donuts rather than try and stop the flow of illegals/drugs. The Border patrol's own policy clearly states that they are not allowed to pursue suspected illegals.

That makes me wonder, if agents can't chase or apprehend illegals what's the fucking point of paying their lousy salaries? Illegals here in Texas travel back and forth to Mexico for holidays and special occassions at will because they know the border is a joke. It's time the American taxpayer got in on it and either eliminated the foolish boondoggle and saved a buck or really enforced the border. I don't give a fuck which one, but please let's end this embarrassment of a system we have now. Either enforce the law or remove it from the books.

That being said 10-12 years without parole for injuring someone not bad enough to prevent them from running the rest of the way across the border seems a bit excessive. Full immunity for a guy smuggling hundreds of pounds of drugs and decades in jail for those who unsuccessfully apprehended him. America's justice system at it's finest!

When I first heard it I too thought it strange that they had not filed reports of firing their weapons too, but then considerations must be taken that these men are putting their lives on the line in certain situations in monitoring the border. Drug runners are notorious for being armed and determined to get the drugs across the border. Here is an excerpt from testimony:

Ramos' version of what happened that day:

On Feb. 17, 2005, Compean was monitoring the south side of a levee road near the Rio Grande on the U.S.-Mexico border in Fabens when he spotted a suspicious van driving down the north end of the road. He called for backup.

Ramos headed to Fabens, where he thought he could intercept the van at one of only two roads leading in and out of the small town.

Another agent was already following the van -- with Aldrete-Davila at the wheel -- when Ramos arrived.

Ramos and the other agent followed the van through the center of town until it turned back toward the Rio Grande, which marks the border between Mexico and the United States. Aldrete-Davila, unable to outrun the agents, stopped his van on a levee, got out and started running. Compean was waiting for him on the other side of the levee.

"We both yelled out for him to stop, but he wouldn't stop, and he just kept running," Ramos said.

Aldrete-Davila made his way through a canal, and Ramos could hear Compean yelling for Aldrete-Davila to stop, he said.

"At some point during the time where I'm crossing the canal, I hear shots being fired," Ramos said. "Later, I see Compean on the ground, but I keep running after the smuggler."

Through the thick dust, Ramos watched as Aldrete-Davila turned toward him, pointing what appeared to be a gun.

"I shot," he said. "But I didn't think he was hit, because he kept running into the brush and then disappeared into it. Later, we all watched as he jumped into a van waiting for him. He seemed fine. It didn't look like he had been hit at all."

You see, even though the man was shot in the buttock, it did not blow his ass off, only wounded him and he was able to keep going. Also eventhough Border Patrol Agents are there to keep the illegals (and drug traffickers) out of the U.S. here is what the Assistant U.S. Attorney Debra Kanof said, "It is a violation of Border Patrol regulations to go after someone who is fleeing," she said. "The Border Patrol pursuit policy prohibits the pursuit of someone."

It also appears to fly in the face of the Border Patrol's own edicts, which include "detouring illegal entries through improved enforcement" and "apprehending and detouring smugglers of humans, drugs and other contraband."

So, how are they to "apprehend and detour" if NO PURSUIT is allowed?

Kanof's testimony that swayed the jury also included, "Agents are not allowed to pursue. In order to exceed the speed limit, you have to get supervisor approval, and they did not," she said. She also established the men destroyed the crime scene when Compean picked up his shell casings, and that no report was made regarding firing their weapons.

But, Ramos also said that both supervisors who were at the scene knew shots had been fired but did not file reports. So my question, where did her testimony regarding reporting speeding in pursuit and firing of the weapons being not reported to supervisors hold merit when the supervisors were there, on hand, in the midst of the action?

Mary Stillinger, Ramos' attorney, and Maria Ramirez, Compean's attorney, said during the trial that every other Border Patrol agent at the scene also failed to report shots had been fired.

"Every single witness has a reason to lie," Ramirez said, referring to the immunity granted to Aldrete-Davila and the other agents in exchange for testifying against Ramos and Compean. So you see, this case smacks of someone trying to take down these two agents for perhaps their own agenda. There is this situation in which the action is real, chaotic, potentially life and death confrontations, shots fired, not just by these two men, and low and behold these guys are sent to prison while everyone else gets immunity including an illegal alien drug runner? Reads like a cover-up movie of the week and these Agents are the fall guys. Going along with this line of thought, an Border Patrol Agent in Arizona is the guy who went into Mexico, tracked down the drug runner and encouraged him to testify to take down Ramos and Compean. This agent as well as many that are on the Border Patrol have been from Mexico, but became citizens and are now on Border Patrol. Fox watching the hen house, no?

Check this fact, Ramos has been involved in the capture of nearly 100 drug smugglers and the seizure of untold thousands of pounds of narcotics. He also was nominated for Border Patrol Agent of the Year in March 2005, which of course, with this incident, that was withdrawn. Ramos also had drug interdiction training from the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA)and qualified as a Task Force Officer with the Border Patrol. During the trial, his training, his credentials were not admissible.

Also, consider that the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Table of Offenses and Penalties, have as the penalty to fail to report that a weapon has been fired in the line of duty is punishable by a five-day suspension. Five-day suspension does not equal 10 to 20 years in prison.

Thankfully in this morning edition in Fox News.com the President is now considering reviewing the case for pardon. Anyone who thinks that something is rotten in the state of Texas along our borders need to call the White House and leave Dubya a message. The movie "Serpico" comes to mind.

Also how is it the an illegal alien drug runner can sue for $5 million for his civil rights being violated. Civil rights in our country? He's a Mexican citizen.

The same guy who got shot is the ass also got caught with 1000lbs of drugs before the trial but the prosecutor extended the immunity to cover that up as well.

The prosecutors were going to get a conviction and sentence regardless of the circumstances or facts. This case and others, like the Duke lacrosse rape, should scare anyone without OJ Simpson levels of cash to spend on defense attorneys.

Question: If it took the rich Duke lacrosse players' highly paid, high profile attorneys months to drag some exculpatory evidence out of a crooked DA, what chance in hell does the average US citizen have? Just hope you don't become the next 'example'.

Considering the Border Patrollers are being steamrolled and drug runners enabled, it is a frightening situation for anyone in any type of law enforcement.

A lot of left wing reactionaries have been critisizing the Minutemen for patrolling the border and committing vigilante justice when all the evidence seems that they haven't as of yet taken the law into their own hands.

I say it's high time that they did. if our government continues to side with illegal aliens over it's own citizens then maybe it's time that the citizens of this nation take the law into their own hands. Maybe a couple of hundred dead bodies left to rot on the desert ground on our southern border will finally get it through the fucking wetbacks heads.

YOU'RE NOT WANTED HERE! TURN AROUND BEFORE IT's TOO LATE!

Were these agents judged by a jury of their peers or were they denied due process of law?

Whomever they were judged by they were at least judged. That's more than can be said for the drug running scumbag who got off scot free and got free medical care.

If i was a rancher/American citizen on the border I'd put land mines all over my property. My property.....my right as an American Citizen to protect it from ILLEGAL ALIENS.

Fuck them I have no sympathy for them or their enablers.

#2 -- RedTard

"It's time the American taxpayer got in on it and either eliminated the foolish boondoggle and saved a buck or really enforced the border. I don't give a fuck which one, but please let's end this embarrassment of a system we have now. Either enforce the law or remove it from the books."

Thank you RedTard, Amen brother!

#3 --Jewels

"Assistant U.S. Attorney Debra Kanof said, "It is a violation of Border Patrol regulations to go after someone who is fleeing," she said. "The Border Patrol pursuit policy prohibits the pursuit of someone."

It also appears to fly in the face of the Border Patrol's own edicts, which include "detouring illegal entries through improved enforcement" and "apprehending and detouring smugglers of humans, drugs and other contraband."

So, how are they to "apprehend and detour" if NO PURSUIT is allowed?"

Our government is steping all over itself in a much too big buracracy of people working is a system that in and of itself is out of control and common sences has been lost in the process. Why would anyone want goverment to grow bigger? Bigger is not better. Bigger is our problem.

#4 -- RedTard

"The same guy who got shot is the ass also got caught with 1000lbs of drugs before the trial but the prosecutor extended the immunity to cover that up as well."

And we are paying taxes for this kind of service from out appointed officels. Since they get their authority and money from us, dose that make us the problem. Are we the bottom line in fixing this, does the buck stop with us. The Constitution says if does, but hey, that just a pieces of paper right!

#5 -- Jewels

"Considering the Border Patrollers are being steamrolled and drug runners enabled, it is a frightening situation for anyone in any type of law enforcement."

Under statement of this thread.

"Were these agents judged by a jury of their peers or were they denied due process of law?"Mohjho

How do you decide if they were judged by a jury of their own peers when you have the evidence regarding the men's personal records inadmissable in a court of law to aide in their defense?

These guys are being hung up to dry to enable a potential scheme of activity that is being covered up. Do you not realize that our own government can lie? The truth is in the politics.

"Our government is stepping all over itself in a much too big beracracy of people working is a system that in and of itself is out of control and common sences has been lost in the process. Why would anyone want goverment to grow bigger? Bigger is not better. Bigger is our problem. in that remark Franco, I appreciate your sentiments and your agreements, but what is being missed is not the fact that the government is getting bigger, no, instead, the government is getting more stupid. Common sense is flying out of the windows of the Capitol buildings and in our policies. We are focusing in on what is the perceived 'wants' of the people to make them happy to gain votes. Influence and power and freaking common sense and the abilities to fathom right from wrong and what is truly intelligent and best for this country is going away.

The politics are what is screwing with the protection of our borders. Oh, and money. The all powerful money Gods.

How convenient that you don't include both sides of the story.

U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton says, "These agents shot someone who they knew to be unarmed and running away. They destroyed evidence, covered up a crime scene and then filed false reports about what happened. It is shocking that there are people who believe it is OK for agents to shoot an unarmed suspect who is running away."

"If Compean and Ramos truly believed Aldrete [Davila] was a threat, why did they abandon him after shooting him? And if they truly believed the shooting was justified, why did they not report it, leave the scene undisturbed, and let the investigation absolve them? The answer to these questions are simple. The agents knew that Aldrete did not pose a threat as he fled, they knew the shooting was unjustified and unlawful, and they knew an investigation would incriminate them. So they chose to cover up their crimes."

This author should stick to reality TV.

JJ Hunsecker, apparently you took the time to look up what stories I have submitted to blogcritics in the past, thank you for your interest. Reality TV is not my only interest.

Regarding your information to show the other side of this investigation, it is incorrect that they knew the suspect was unarmed. To top that, it has not been proven that Aldrete-Davila was indeed unarmed; what is reported is apparently since he fled it could not be proven that he was. I suppose this would be all OK if Ramos or Compean took a bullet in the exchange.

This suspect reacted initially to the officers as if he were armed when he turned to Ramos, to top that off he was operating in a manner known drug smugglers do - I'd imagine any law enforcement official might act in this same way. Present on the scene were also numerous other Border Patrolmen and Ramos and Compean's supervisors.

Granted Compean's actions in picking up the shells following the shoot were inappropriate in, by the rules, the scene should have been preserved and a report filed on the spot. Regardless none of the supervisors present made issue of this. Ramos is even quoted that this was handled the same as other situations in the past. Reason one, that a report was not made, following the firing of their guns, the suspect continued to flee. He did not drop from the shot and the Agents all doubted they had hit him.

Aldrete-Davila is the criminal in this situation, he made habit of crossing the border illegally, and was in the (probably still is) illegal drug trafficking profession.

Failure to file a report following discharge of the weapons according to the Border Patrol records is five day suspension not 20 years in the pen.

How do you feel about the subject now suing the Texas Border Patrol for $5 million? I'm guessing you might lean far enough left that you think it justified.

I do thank you again for your interest in my previous articles on blogcritics.org.

"If Compean and Ramos truly believed Aldrete [Davila] was a threat, why did they abandon him after shooting him?"

They didn't. Another lie by the prosecution. He escaped by running away to a waiting van in Mexico, that's not in the same ballpark as abandoning him. If you search the records you'll find numerous misleading statements by the prosecutors trying to convict the agents in the public eye. That's why I made the Duke lacrosse comparison. The big difference is that these agents don't have the resources/media attention to force the prosecutor to be fair.

This was a setup show to make an example of them from day one when they busted into their houses at 1AM with full SWAT gear instead of waiting till they came into the office and casually taking them in.

Regarding pardons, President Bush last month issued 16 year-end pardons, five cases involved drug crimes, others concerned bank fraud, mail fraud and the acceptance of a kickback.

In September 2005 the president pardoned 14 people, including a member of the mineworkers union who was convicted for his role in bombings at a West Virginia coal mine; a counterfeiter; several dealers of marijuana and LSD; and a bootlegger.

The president has pardoned 113 people since taking office in 2001.

I'm getting the picture either these folks had something major to parlay to receive the "get out of jail card", or you've got to be a really foul criminal to receive pardons from this President.

This interview provides Ramos' viewpoint on the events that day, one excerpt:

At that point, Ramos said, Aldrete-Davila turned toward him, pointing what looked like a gun.

"I shot," Ramos said. "But I didn't think he was hit, because he kept running into the brush and then disappeared into it. Later, we all watched as he jumped into a van waiting for him. He seemed fine. It didn't look like he had been hit at all."

There seems to be a growing body of socialistic attitude protecting our illegal aliens. In California, the politicians want to give them social security benefits. What are we doing!

"The firing of "15 rounds" testimony came from Mr. Drug Dealer. I do not know what the defense testimony is as the prosecution's talking points do not provide that.
I also have problems with the testimony by Mr. Drug Dealer that he was facing the BP agents, hands in the air indicating he was trying to surrender, when he was shot in the arse. Seems to me we have another "magic bullet" theory going on here. Also, the BP agents were said to have let Mr. Drug Runner go. That would indicate that if they did, they would have been aware of his at least holding his arse while he limped away to the safety of Mexico.
The smoking gun (no pun intended) here is that the Arizona BP agent, Sanchez, who is a life long friend of Mr. Drug Runner gave conflicting testimony to Mr. Drug Runner when he said that he had not been in contact with Mr. Drug Runner. Mr. Drug Runner testified that he had been in 'CONSTANT' contact with Sanchez, even staying at Sanchez's home.

This is taken from a discussion off of Patterico's Pontifications.

Jewel,

Just when I thought the Ramos/Compean case could not possibly get more bizarre...

Rep. Walter Jones (R-NC), in a letter to Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez, charges that the two agents were charged under a statue that did not apply to the facts of the case.

This article by Jerome Corsi of WorldNetDaily, is a MUST READ for everyone who has signed our petition supporting these men. Click
here to read the full article.

But that's not all. Grassfire has also learned that Ignacio Ramos is being held in solitary confinement in a 6 foot by 12 foot cell. For more, click here.

Sign the
"Pardon the Agents" petition.

Thousands more citizens are adding their names everyday, and we are just 25,000 shy of reaching 300,000 petitions!

Grassroots pressure is making an impact. We've been told that the President will be calling Monica Ramos in the very near future. Please help us keep the pressure on until Ramos and
Compean are pardoned, and their lives are restored!

Thank you for standing with us on behalf of agents
Ramos and Compean.

We've just been informed from Rep. Rohrabacher's office that Monica Ramos will be attending the President's State-of-the-Union Address tonight! Mrs. Ramos has personally invited by the Congressman, who said, "Monica Ramos' presence in the gallery during President Bush's address sends a powerful message."

"The Ramos and Compean families have been victimized by this administration's inexplicable policies concerning the security of our southern border. As these two fine men sit in federal prison cells unjustly, I am put in the position of consoling a devastated wife whose life has been destroyed, instead of having the opportunity to reward these men and their families for their brave service as law enforcement officers."

Mrs. Ramos will be seated in Gallery 5, Row B, Seat 9.

How did our government find this drug dealer so quickly? Something smells here.

World Net Daily's Jerome Corsi -- author of the best-seller "Unfit For Command" -- is reporting that the Mexican government was directly involved in the initation of the investigation against Border Patrol Agents Ramos and Compean which led to their arrest, conviction and imprisonment.

Corsi, quoting members of Congress and sourcing Hill staffers, reports that Department of Homeland Security investigators informed Congress that it was the Mexican Consulate that initiated the events by contacting the U.S. Consulate. Grassfire.org's Steve Elliot interviews Mr. Corsi.

We will be running ads on National television to aide the release of the wrongly imprisoned Border Patrol agents; preview them here.