WorldNetDaily.com - October 5, 2006

Minuteman Project founder Jim Gilchrist was attacked by angry, violent protesters last night who stormed the stage during his speech at Columbia University in New York City, forcing an abrupt end to the event.

An African-American member of the Minuteman board who spoke prior to Gilchrist was taunted with the "n-word," according to WND columnist Jerome Corsi.

Corsi had been scheduled to follow Gilchrist with a speech of his own, but after university security personnel whisked the Minuteman leader offstage, the New York Young Republican Club meeting was shut down.

A video of the chaos at Roone Arledge Auditorium, shot by Columbia University Television, can be seen here.

Gilchrist told WND the "violent outburst is yet another indication that those who support illegal immigration are happy to use communist tactics in their intolerant determination to prevent the Minutemen from exercising their First Amendment rights."

A protester who spoke anonymously to the independent student newspaper Columbia Spectator said the stage takeover was planned.

"I don't feel like we need to apologize or anything. It was fundamentally a part of free speech. ... The Minutemen are not a legitimate part of the debate on immigration."

Prior to the event, a group of protestors estimated by New York police to number around 200 assembled with placards and a loudspeaker to denounce Gilchrist and the Minutemen.

Slogans on the placards included, "Workers of the world unite! Same struggle, same fight!," and "Minutemen, Nazis, KKK! Racists, fascists, go away!"

About 20 protesters managed to momentarily take control of the stage during Gilchrist's speech, with loud shouts and fists thrust in anger. Security fought to restrain them and managed to rush Gilchrist backstage before he could be assaulted, according to Corsi

Corsi told WND the protestors were "angrier than I have seen before." The melee at Columbia suggests the "pro-illegal immigration forces are moving in a more violent direction," he said.

"The street protests last spring didn't convince Congress to pass an amnesty," Corsi commented, "so maybe the next wave of their protest activity will turn more violent, in their frustration that the U.S. public is not convinced they should be allowed to live and work in the U.S. in open defiance of our rule of law."

After taking over the stage, protesters unrolled a banner that read, in both Arabic and English, "No one is ever illegal."

According to the New York Sun, as security guards began escorting people from the auditorium, students jumped from the stage, pumping their fists, chanting victoriously, "Si se pudo, si se pudo," Spanish for "Yes we could!"

Marvin Stewart, an African-American minister and member of the Minuteman Project's board of directors, was the first speaker at the Columbia event.

Protesters in the crowd harassed Stewart with shouts, and toward the end of his speech, some in the audience stood silently and turned their backs to him.

Stewart expressed dismay at the audience's intolerance.

"If this is how low we have sunk in U.S. higher education, I am deeply concerned about our future," he said. "Don't any Columbia University professors teach these students the importance of free speech under the First Amendment?"

The Sun report said that when Stewart referred to the Declaration of Independence's self-evident truth that "All men are created equal," audience members called him a racist, a sellout and a black white supremacist.

One student's demand that Stewart speak in Spanish drew thundering applause and brought the protesters to their feet, the New York paper said. At that point, the protesters turned their backs to Stewart and drowned him out by chanting, "Wrap it up, wrap it up!"

Stewart appeared unfazed, however, and with a smile, said, "No wonder you don't know what you're talking about."

The Columbia Spectator said Gilchrist and the president of the College Republicans, Chris Kulawik, eventually called Stewart off the stage.

"I clearly had the false assumption that I was at an Ivy League school," Kulawik said as he introduced the main speaker.

"Who's a racist now?" said Gilchrist, putting an arm around Stewart. "I love the first amendment!" he shouted. "You're doing a great job, kids. I'm going to have more fun with this than with my prepared speech."

But before he could get much farther, the campus paper said, two students stepped on stage with a banner.

Corsi said that when university personnel screened audience members as they entered, a number of eggs were confiscated.

Stewart will appear tonight on the Fox News program "The O'Reilly Factor," and Gilchrist will appear on "Hannity and Colmes."

'They're the violent ones'

A purported joint statement by the protesters was posted on the website NYC Indymedia, insisting they were engaged in a peaceful demonstration and casting blame on the College Republicans.

We celebrate free speech: for that reason we allowed the Minutemen to speak, and for that same reason we peacefully occupied the stage and spoke ourselves. Our peaceful protest was violently attacked by members of the College Republicans and their supporters, who are the very same people who invited the Minutemen to our campus in the first place. The Minutemen are not a legitimate voice in the debate on immigration. They are a racist, armed militia who have declared open hunting season on immigrants, causing countless hate crimes and over 3000 deaths on the border. Why should exploitative corporations have free passes between nations, but individual people not? No human being is illegal.

A blog by the Columbia University student magazine "Blue and White" logged the event in real time, reporting students came onto the stage with a large yellow sign declaring, "There are no illegals."

Students rise en masse from the audience and rush the stage. The Minuteman and the students engaged in a tug of war with the banner. More people rush the stage, prompting a fist-fight. One female student is kicked in the head. A guy in a pony tail (definitely not a student) rushes the stage and fights with students (several witnesses saw him kick a student) and then banded together with the Minuteman to shout the pledge of allegiance as the rumble spun out of hand, "One nation! Under God! Indivisible!"

The blogger said there were at least "two minutes of chaos between students, other students and the Minutemen," during which the blogger "took cover."

Outside, the blogger said, protesters were shouting, "They say, 'get bent,' we say, 'let's fight!'"

One defender of the Minutemen outside became encircled by a group of protesters after engaging in a heated discussion with one of them.

The protesters then shouted, "Racist, go home!" promoting security personnel to break things up.

Later, the blogger reported, "A mosh pit of triumphal students and community members dance and chant, 'Asian, Black, Brown and White, we smashed the Minutemen tonight!'"

069778808



SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 5055



Offered September 15, 2006



Memorializing the Congress of the United States to take such constitutional

action as may be necessary to prevent the Executive Branch of the federal

government from unilaterally implementing the NAFTA Superhighway System.



----------



Patron-- Reynolds



----------



Referred to Committee on Rules



----------



WHEREAS, the safety of Virginia's highways is a prime responsibility of the

Virginia General Assembly that cannot be delegated to any other entity; and



WHEREAS, a NAFTA Superhighway System from the west coast of Mexico through

the United States and into Canada is now being implemented by the Bush

administration; and



WHEREAS, the system includes multiple connections with Virginia's already

heavily traveled roads, and is being implemented without any action by the United

States Congress; and



WHEREAS, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters has warned, in its August

2006 national magazine, that the NAFTA Superhighway will result in U.S.

trucks being replaced by Mexican, more unsafe rigs being operated on American

roads, and more drivers relying on drugs for making their long hauls; and



WHEREAS, maintenance of Mexican truck brakes and tires falls far below United

States standards; and



WHEREAS, Mexican drivers are compelled by companies that employ them to drive

an excessive 25 days a month and to drive 4,500 kilometers alone over the

course of five or six nights without sleep, requiring them to resort to cocaine

and crystal methamphetamine to stay awake; and



WHEREAS, the national Teamster magazine, in interviewing a sample of Mexican

drivers, found no one who had not killed persons in highway accidents; and



WHEREAS, the NAFTA Superhighway System will therefore bring onto U.S. soil a

new army of driver who is particularly likely to cause accidents on our roads;

and



WHEREAS, given the generally acknowledged corruption of business in Mexico,

it will be particularly difficult, if not impossible, for Virginians, as well

as other Americans, to collect insurance claims against Mexican companies that

employ Mexican drivers who cause accidents here, and insurance rates for

Virginians and others are therefore likely to undergo a sharp increase; and



WHEREAS, an initial portion of the NAFTA Superhighway System already under

way in Texas involves a pattern contract with the state by a Spanish-U.S.

Cinta-Zachry consortium that, in return for a single lump payment to the state by

Cinta, grants that foreign company the right to levy for years tolls that cannot

be regulated by the state and will greatly increase the cost of driving for

all motorists; and



WHEREAS, neither taxpayers nor U.S. banks are willing to provide the multiple

billions of dollars required to construct the extremely large NAFTA

Superhighway System, and the needed funds are expected to be provided only by foreign

consortiums; the result will be that the arterial U.S. highway system will be

under foreign management and financial control; now, therefore, be it



RESOLVED by the Senate, the House of Delegates concurring, That the Virginia

General Assembly hereby declare its formal opposition to allowing components

of the Interstate Highway System in Virginia to become part of the NAFTA

Superhighway System; and, be it



RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Congress of the United States be urged to prevent

the implementing of the NAFTA Superhighway System; and, be it



RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Congress of the United States be memorialized to

take such constitutional action as may be necessary to prevent the Executive

Branch of the federal government from unilaterally implementing the NAFTA

Superhighway System; and, be it



RESOLVED FINALLY, That the Clerk of the Senate transmit copies of this

resolution to the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the United

States House of Representatives, and the members of the Virginia Congressional

Delegation so that they may be apprised of the sense of the General Assembly

of Virginia in this matter.



-------



world without borders

http://www.rigint.blogspot.com/

It's such a blinding embarassment of weirdness out there, it's hard to know where to look these days. But we need to keep looking at Mexico. Its loose threads may help us tie up things elsewhere.

Of course there's the staggered rebellion of the disenfrachised, belittled or ignored by the same media that lionized and tub-thumped Ukraine's "Orange Revolution." But there are also some curious developments, seemingly out of the blue, in the case of the Ciudad Juárez ritual killings of hundreds of women that may lead us into the black.

Last Thursday in Mexico City, coincident with the delivery of John Karr into the embrace of Homeland Security, came the crowing announcement from the US Embassy that a Mexican citizen was being held in the United States on suspicion of the rape and killing of at least 10 of the women. By another coincidence, Edgar Alvarez Cruz was arrested in Denver, Colorado.

There have since been two more arrests on American soil, one in West Virginia and the other in Sierra Blanca, Texas. The three are being held in El Paso, and are expected to be handed into the care of Mexican authorities some time this week, at least several of whom would appear to be less than grateful:

Some Mexican authorities said privately that they were caught off guard by what they called U.S. Ambassador Tony Garza's "premature announcement" Thursday of the first arrest. Mr. Garza called the arrest of Mr. Álvarez a "major break" in the investigation. But a Mexican law-enforcement official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the announcement could "jeopardize the ongoing investigation."

Have we heard something like that recently? Though to be truthful, there doesn't appear to have been much of an investigation ongoing: just three weeks ago a headline in The Independent read "Human rights groups attack decision to close Juarez murders investigation."

These aren't the first arrests in the case, though the consensus of victims' families is that none of the men previously arrested had anything to do with the murders. Two died in custody, one had his conviction overturned, and two of their attorneys were shot to death.

"This case is the most symbolic of everything that has gone wrong in Juarez," Laurie Freeman, a Mexico specialist with the Washington Office on Latin America, told the Denver Post. "It's the one that makes me believe that there is some sort of official complicity in some of the killings."

When I saw that quote several days ago, I thought it might be a good idea to copy the body of the article and not just make note of the link. It was a good idea: the article has since been updated, and the only change I can see is that Freeman's reference to official complicity has been deleted.

Diana Washington Valdez, an investigative reporter for the El Paso Times and author of Harvest of Women, isn't so shy:

The best information we have is that these men are committing crimes simply for the sport of it.... We know of people who've told stories about escaping from certain parties, orgies, which some of these people were present -- they were recognizable people from Juarez society, from Mexican society.

The authorities know who the killers are, and nothing's being done about it. We have two issues here: people who are getting away with murder, and... authorities who have become accomplices, and so this has become crimes of the state.

But those are the Mexican elites and Mexican parties of Mexican high society, protected by Mexican authority. Such things, of course, are inconceivable across the Rio Grande.

-------------------------------------



DHS, DOJ seeking to deliver informant to House of Death's door

By Bill Conroy,

Posted on Mon Aug 14th, 2006 at 09:55:10 PM EST

The informant in the House of Death mass murder case is now facing the consequences of his Faustian bargain with the U.S. government.

In exchange for taking the government’s gold, some $200,000, and participating in torture and murder to help advance a big drug case for U.S. prosecutors, the informant now finds himself in the devil’s court, with his life hanging in the balance.

Narco News recently tracked down legal pleadings filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eight Circuit by the informant’s attorney. The litigation reveals that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which employed the informant to narc on high-level players in the drug-trafficking netherworld, is now seeking to send the informant back into that netherworld, with his identity exposed, to face the very people he ratted out.

The appeals court pleadings trace the path of the informant’s efforts to avoid deportation to Mexico, where his deeds as an informant were carried out against a ruthless narco-trafficking organization.

DHS, which is implicated in the cover-up of their agents’ complicity in the House of Death murders, initiated the deportation proceedings against the informant, the appeals court pleadings show. DHS is arguing that the informant faces no danger in Mexico despite the fact that he betrayed powerful members of the Vicente Carrillo Fuentes Juárez drug organization.

This is a curious position for DHS officials to take, given that the informant could expose the full extent of the role played by DHS agents in the House of Death murders — so it could be argued that DHS might have a motive to see the informant out of the picture, permanently.

However, according to the court records, the immigration judge in the informant’s case disagreed with DHS’ contention and granted him relief from deportation under Article III of the United Nations Convention Against Torture — after concluding that the informant would likely be tortured and murdered by the narco-traffickers he betrayed while working for DHS if he was returned to Mexico.

DHS was not happy with that outcome and appealed the judge’s decision to the Board of Immigration Appeals, which is part of the Department of Justice (DOJ). The DOJ, too, has been implicated in the House of Death cover-up. An Assistant U.S. Attorney in El Paso, Juanita Fielden, and the U.S. Attorney in San Antonio, Johnny Sutton, have been accused of turning a blind eye to the informant’s participation in the House of Death murders because they were more interested in making a drug case against the Carrillo Fuentes organization.

The Board of Immigration Appeals, perhaps predictably, overturned the immigration judge’s ruling, which forced the informant to take his case to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit in an effort to forestall his deportation.

This informant, Guillermo Eduardo Ramirez Peyro (also known as “Lalo” and by the alias Jesus Contreras) had infiltrated a narco-trafficking organization in Ciudád Juárez that was overseen by Heriberto Santillan-Tabares, whom U.S. prosecutors claim was a top lieutenant in Carrillo Fuentes organization. Between August 2003 and mid-January 2004, while under the watch of DHS agents, Ramirez helped to operated a House of Death in a residential neighborhood in Juárez where a dozen people were tortured and murdered by Mexican police who were working under the direction of Santillan.

Murder machine

The murder machine was exposed publicly in mid-January 2004 after a DEA agent and his family were nearly abducted by Santillan’s thugs. In the wake of that incident, DEA was forced to evacuate its personnel from Juarez.

Santillan was later indicted on murder and narco-trafficking charges. However, the fact that the U.S. government’s own informant, Ramirez, was complicit in those murders — with the knowledge of his DHS handlers — gave Santillan’s defense team the leverage it needed to negotiate a sweetheart plea deal with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in San Antonio — which included dropping the murder charges. (Ramirez’ handlers were federal agents with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which is part of DHS.)

The plea deal with Santillan was announced on April 19, 2005. Three days later, according to the appeals court pleadings obtained by Narco News, Ramirez emerged from U.S. government protective custody to turn himself in to U.S. immigration officials in order to seek protection — because he feared DHS was about to send him back to a certain death in Mexico at the hands of the narco-traffickers he double-crossed.

“… Heriberto Santillan pled guilty before trial. Mr. Ramirez, of no further use to United States law enforcement agencies in an informant’s role, was compelled to seek protection in the United States,” states Ramirez’ attorney, Jodi Goodwin, in the pleadings filed in the U.S. Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals.

A couple weeks later, DHS began deportation proceedings against Ramirez.

From the appeals court pleadings:

Removal Proceedings [against Ramirez] began with issuance of a Notice to Appear, (NTA), on May 9, 2005. The NTA alleges Mr. Ramirez is not a citizen of the United States but a citizen of Mexico who was not in possession of a valid entry document when he presented himself for admission to the United States on April 22, 2005 … At a hearing before the [the immigration judge] on June 9, 2005, Mr. Ramirez admitted the truth of the factual allegations, conceded inadmissibility as alleged, and requested relief in the forms of Asylum, withholding of removal, and relief under the CAT [United Nations Convention Against Torture]. Mr. Ramirez subsequently stipulated in his pre-hearing brief that his involvement in drug trafficking rendered him ineligible for asylum and withholding of removal.

Mr. Ramírez testified he entered the Mexican drug trafficking industry after he left the Mexican federal highway police. His first job was as a distribution manager in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. He became a United States government informant in 2000 and subsequently made contact with the Carrillo Fuentes Organization, (CFO), in Ciudád Juárez. His performance as an informant is extensively documented in the record. Mr. Ramirez explained he was tasked with infiltrating groups of organized criminals as a means to effectuate the arrest and prosecution of high-level participants.

Mr. Ramirez testified he was present when individuals who were involved with CFO in drug trafficking or whom CFO members believed were a threat were assassinated by two Mexican police officers in Ciudad Juarez. Mr. Ramirez submitted payment records

confirming he was paid over $200,000. The record details over fifty persons were successfully prosecuted and are serving prison sentences as a result of his cooperation. Mr. Ramirez was taken into custody as a material witness when Heriberto Santillan was arrested. Mr. Ramirez was placed into protective custody after death threats upon his life came to the attention of the United States Attorney.

Ramirez, though, was far more than “present” when “CFO members” tortured and killed people at the House of Death. According to records obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, he actually participated in the first murder at the House of Death in early August 2003.

Ramirez’ ICE handlers later debriefed him about the murder, which also was recorded on tape, according to law enforcement sources. Rather than shut down the drug sting at that point, Ramirez’ ICE handlers allowed him to return to the House of Death to pay a gravedigger for burying the body, FOIA records show.

In addition, Ramirez was allowed to continue his work in the House of Death murder machine — which was responsible for at least 11 more homicides over the ensuing four months.

A gravedigger who assisted Ramirez at the House of Death confirmed that Ramirez was physically present for at least five of the murders, according to timeline of events developed by the DEA in the days immediately following the evacuation of its personnel from Juárez.

After Sandalio Gonzalez, the DEA chief in El Paso at the time, objected to this outrage by writing a letter in February 2004 to U.S. Attorney Sutton, rather than investigate Gonzalez’ charges, Sutton used his pull within DOJ to retaliate against Gonzalez in order to silence him, according to FOIA documents obtained by Narco News. Sutton claimed, the FOIA records show, that Gonzalez’ letter contained “discovery material” that could threaten the drug case against Santillan.

Convention Against Torture

Based, in part, on a report prepared by a federal asylum officer as well as reports from other government agencies, the immigration judge in Ramirez’ deportation case granted him relief under the UN Convention Against Torture, the U.S. appeals court pleadings state. That ruling was based on evidence showing there was a high probability that Ramirez would be tortured and killed by narco-traffickers, or by Mexican law enforcers who worked with the narco-traffickers, should he be deported to Mexico.

From the appeals court pleadings:

Mr. Ramirez is a 35-year-old married male. He is a native and citizen of Mexico. Mr. Ramirez was a police officer in the Mexican state of Guerrero until 1995. He became involved in drug trafficking when he left the police force. Between 1995 and 1998, he coordinated transshipments of narcotics within Mexico and from the Mexican interior to the U.S. Mexico border.

As an informant for United States Customs, redesignated the Bureau of Customs and Immigration Enforcement, (ICE), pursuant to the Homeland Security Act of 2003, Mr. Ramirez provided information to the Drug Enforcement Administration, (DEA), the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, (ATF), the Federal Bureau of Investigation, (FBI), and the United States Secret Service. Mr. Ramirez successfully infiltrated the CFO in Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua. Ciudad Juarez is directly opposite El Paso, Texas, and CFO transports drugs through El Paso to distribution points throughout the United States.

... The Asylum Officer stated: "[Ramirez] infiltrated a drug smuggling Mexican cartel and became an informant for ICE, which resulted in multiple arrests. Since that time two separate attempts were made on [Ramirez’] life by the Cartel and [Ramirez] now believes that if he returns to Mexico he will be killed by the Cartel because of his actions as an informant."

… Asylum Officer Jack Berger interviewed Mr. Ramirez concerning his fear of returning to Mexico on May 1, 2005, approximately one week prior to the initiation of removal proceedings. Relying on a report by the United States Department of State issued in 2004, Officer Berger found Mr. Ramirez had a credible fear of the Mexican government. Supervisory Asylum Officer Helen Mireles reviewed the credible fear proceedings and concurred with Officer Berger.

The [immigration judge] found that the record presents various aspects of police involvement in Mexican drug trafficking, and in combination with [Ramirez’] credible testimony, he had established a probability of torture by drug traffickers and law enforcement in Mexico if he were forced to return. Mr. Ramirez substantiated his credible testimony by presenting documents prepared by agencies of the United States government, including the Office of the United States Attorney and the DEA.

The DHS appealed the immigration judge’s ruling to the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA), which is under the oversight of U.S. Attorney Alberto Gonzales — who, along with Sutton, has deep ties to the Bush Administration that date back to George W. Bush’s tenure as governor of Texas.

The BIA sided with DHS and overruled the immigration judge, setting Ramirez up for deportation to Mexico. (Again, it is important to note that the BIA is part of DOJ, which is overseen by Sutton’s boss, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, who has the power to appoint the board’s members and overrule or modify its decisions.)

From the appeals court pleadings:

The Department of Homeland Security, (DHS), disapproves of the findings of fact and the conclusion of the [immigration judge] and insists the record contains no evidence that Mr. Ramirez would be tortured by Mexican law enforcement while acting in their official capacity. The DHS also contends the record does not support a finding that Mr. Ramirez would be tortured by Mexican drug traffickers with the acquiescence of Mexican law enforcement.

The BIA concentrated on documentary evidence and concluded that the Mexican government is strengthening drug enforcement laws and is now more effective in eliminating organized drug traffickers such as those against whom Mr. Ramirez informed. The BIA paid special attention to testimony and record evidence concerning an offer of immunity from the Mexican government and stated it’s opinion that because most drug trafficking organizations operate in northern Mexico, the petitioner would remain safe if he relocated to a different part of the country.

Immunity?

The short mention of the Mexican government’s offer of immunity to Ramirez should not be overlooked. The Mexican government, under President Vicente Fox, has been conspicuously silent on the House of Death case, considering that most of the murder victims were Mexican citizens. The fact that a U.S. government informant was complicit in those homicides, with the knowledge of U.S. federal agents and prosecutors, should have prompted cries of protest from the Mexican government. Instead, according to the appeals court pleadings, the Mexican government is willing to provide the informant Ramirez with “immunity.”

You, the reader, will have to decide why that course was pursued — and whether some type of deal was struck between U.S. and Mexican government officials to export the House of Death cover-up to the Mexican side of the border as well.

In any event, Ramirez clearly doesn’t trust the word of either the U.S. or Mexican government, which is what prompted him to appeal the BIA decision to the U.S. Eighth Circuit in mid-June of this year. That appeal is still pending a decision.

Ramirez’ pleadings before the Eight Circuit state:

The [immigration judge’s] decision granting [Ramirez’] application for relief under Article III of the United Nations Convention Against Torture was improperly overturned by the BIA in the face of sufficiently corroborated evidence demonstrating that petitioner has a well-founded fear of torture at the hands of agents of the Mexican government in the event of his return to Mexico.

… The DHS asserts in it’s brief, ‘There is no objective proof that the Mexican government would do anything to [Ramirez] other than protect [Ramirez]. If Mr. Ramirez had any confidence in the promises of the Mexican government to protect him, he would have freely returned to Mexico.

DHS’ contention that Ramirez would have nothing to fear from the narco-traffickers he betrayed if returned to Mexico is a fantasy that might fly in a corrupted legal system, but for anyone with an understanding of how the narco-trafficking world really works, it is an argument that lacks any credibility — like the drug war itself.

The informant Ramirez certainly is not a poster child for the cause of justice, but his return to Mexico is certain to serve the interests of U.S. officials who have blood on their hands in the House of Death mass murder.

Because, as we all know, dead men can’t talk.

To view the informant’s legal pleadings before the Eight Circuit Court of Appeals, go to this link.

For more information on this story, go to the following link:

DHS informant implicated in House of Death mass murder is still in U.S., attorney confirms



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Latin Kings Leaders in Florida Arrested

Source: TBO / APNews

URL Source: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/G/GANG_ARRESTS? SITE=FLTAM&SECTION=US

Published: Aug 21, 2006

Author: MITCH STACY

Post Date: 2006-08-21 17:22:22 by r-u-n-n o-f-t

1 Comments



TAMPA, Fla. (AP) -- After a 14-month investigation, law enforcement officers raided a high-level meeting at a rented club and arrested every known leader of the violent Latin Kings gang in Florida, authorities said Monday.

The Sunday afternoon raid netted the arrests of 39 alleged gang leaders on charges of conspiracy to commit racketeering, Hillsborough County Sheriff David Gee said.

The gang has been involved in major crimes ranging from drug dealing to attempted murder, Gee said. Prosecutors say additional charges could be filed.

Gee said the "extremely violent" gang has been active in the area for at least 20 years and may have ties to gangs in New York and Chicago. The Chicago Crime Commission now estimates that there are more than 20,000 Latin Kings in the Chicago area alone.

Those arrested Saturday ranged in age from 16 to 39, according to the sheriff's office. They all appeared in court Monday morning, State Attorney Mark Ober said.

Among them was the alleged statewide leader of the Latin Kings, Samuel David Alvarado, 29, also known as "King Sam," who lives in Lake Worth, the sheriff's office said. He was ordered held without bail, according to jail records.

Around 100 local officers and federal agents participated in the raid, including the Tampa police; the FBI; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms; and Immigration and Customs Enforcement and local prosecutors.

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Activist Disappeared in Argentina

24 Sep 2006

 

our elderly companero Julio Lopez, key witness in the trial of the chief of police under the dictatorship (recently sentenced to life in prison) and survivor of a detention camp in the seventies, disappeared monday morning right before etchecolatz's sentence was read.

witnesses received many death threats during the trial, so we fear the worst. after four days, finally the government launched an investigation and offers the equivalent of 60,000 dollars for news on his whereabouts.

in the past, international pressure made a difference in the treatment of

detainees. we are certain that it will put pressure on the government to find our companero now. (for more info and a photo of Julio see below)

please send a message to aedd (at) exdesaparecidos.org.ar and cc

autonomista1 (at) aol.com, or cut and paste the following message:

I am extremely concerned with the disappearance of Julio Lopez. Witnesses such as Julio are key to bring the military and police officers who committed crimes against humanity to justice. It is the responsibility of the government to protect such witnesses. I urge the government to employ all its resources to find him, alive and intact. I stand in solidarity with the companeros and companeras who are searching for Julio and hope for his

immediate safe return.

Name, profession, organization, nationality here.

send messages to association of ex-detainess/disappeared

aedd (at) exdesaparecidos.org.ar and cc autonomista1 (at) aol.com.

in solidarity,

graciela





Boletín Electrónico de noticias y actividades de la AEDD nro 249

Asociación de ex Detenidos Desaparecidos

Buenos Aires, Argentina



URGENTE

COMUNICADO DE PRENSA

PASAN LAS HORAS Y JULIO NO APARECE

CONFERENCIA DE PRENSA

JUEVES 21 DE SEPTIEMBRE A LAS 12 HS

en la sede de la

ASOCIACIÓN DE EX DETENIDOS-DESAPARECIDOS

Carlos Calvo 1780 Primer piso Timbre 26

Nuestro compañero Julio López, ex detenido-desaparecido, testigo y

querellante en el juicio oral contra el genocida Miguel Osvaldo Etchecolatz, se

encuentra desaparecido desde el lunes por la mañana.

Julio tiene 76 años, testimonió sobre su secuestro, sucedido en octubre de

1976, llevado a cabo por una "patota" que integraban, entre otros, Etchecolatz.

Estuvo detenido-desaparecido en los centros clandestinos Destacamento

policial de Arana, "Pozo de Arana", y Comisaría Quinta de La Plata.

Debía presentarse el lunes 18/09 para presenciar los alegatos de las

querellas contra el represor en el edificio de la Municipalidad de La Plata, y al no

comparecer se descubrió su ausencia desde muy tempranas horas.

Ante esta situación, que se prolongó durante todo el día, se realizó el

mismo día lunes la presentación de un Habeas Corpus ante la Justicia, y se está

llevando a cabo una ardua búsqueda en la ciudad de La Plata desde ese día.

El día martes 19/09 se realizó la denuncia ante el Ministerio de Seguridad

bonaerense, la Secretaría de DDHH de la Nación, y en diferentes organismos

estatales y medios de comunicación.

Hoy, miércoles 20 de septiembre, tuvimos una entrevista con el Ministro de

Seguridad de la Provincia., León Arslanián, y a pesar de haber gestionado

durante todo el día una entrevista de forma URGENTE con el Ministro del Interior,

Aníbal Fernández, aún no nos recibió.

HOY MIÉRCOLES están reunidos Organismos de DDHH, sociales, gremiales,

estudiantiles, políticos de La Plata EN EL CENTRO ZARAGOZA 53 e/4 y 5, en la ciudad

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I think what the students did is reprehensible, but indicative of left thinking. keep in mind that when the left is in charge, rule of law goes out the window and the law is whatever they want it to be....

remember the 2nd amendment? remember how it was said that the right to keep and bear arms applied only to "militias...i.e. the national guard"?

remember how the INS allowed Elian Gonzoles to live with his aunt and uncle in miami..and how then atty general Janet Reno has federal agents storm the house with assault weapons?

remember ruby ridge? clintons' ATF went in and shot a 12 year old boy in the back, and later sniped and killed a mother by shooting her through the kitchen window, AS SHE HELD A BABY!

yes..ladies and gentlemen..this is what I expect from these sorts of people.

and to top it off...the college students dont get it....WE MAKE UP THE GOVERNMENT...i.e individuals that band together with a cause....kinda like the minutemen.

thats my 2cents.

Yah, in stark contrast to the way the Bush administration uses the Constitution as birdcage liner and as rolling papers for George's spliffs

Good point, moron