After Democratic Rep. Luis Gutierrez exploded with rage at Jessica Vaughan of the Center for Immigration Studies for daring to quote him as saying Kathryn Steinle’s death was a “little thing,” three mothers whose children were murdered by illegal aliens walked out of the hearing in disgust.
Now, those mothers want their voices to be heard.
Brought to Washington by Maria Espinoza’s The Remembrance Project, 13 family members, including the Steinle family, watched as Gutierrez attacked an expert witness testifying to the dangers that hundreds of sanctuary cities pose to Americans.
In exclusive statements to Breitbart News, Laura Wilkerson, Sabine Durden, and Mary Ann Mendoza condemned — in the strongest of terms — Gutierrez’s brutish behavior towards Vaughan.
Wilkerson led the walkout as soon as Gutierrez began to rage at Vaughan for quoting him as saying a woman’s death at the hands an illegal alien was a “little thing.” Her son, Joshua, pictured with murderer — and “DREAMer” Hermilio Moralez below — died under torture on November 16, 2010, after giving Moralez a ride home. Moralez then tied him up and set him on fire, later bragging in court his “killing skills took over.”
Wilkerson testified before another Senate committee on July 21, reading aloud the horrific autopsy while the audience wept. “This was our family’s 9/11 terrorist attack by a foreign invader, whether you want to recognize it or whether you do not,” Wilkerson had said. “This government continues to fail or even recognize that we have an issue. Americans are dying daily at the hands of criminals that we don’t even know are here.”
“My name is Laura Wilkerson. I attended the Subcommittee on Immigration and Border Security hearing, on Thursday, July 23,” Wilkerson said. “I was appalled at the screaming of Mr. Gutierrez to Jessica Vaughn. I thought he was about as disrespectful of an invited guest, as I have ever seen. I decided at to leave the room until his remarks were over. I was embarrassed for Ms. Vaughn.”
“I could not believe that he wasn’t asked to lower his tone and his visible anger. I think an invited guest or an observer of these hearings would be escorted out by security,” she added.
Sabine Durden, a legal immigrant from Germany, lost her son Dominic, a 9-11 dispatcher, to an illegal alien from Guatemala on July 12, 2012 — an illegal convicted of a felony armed robbery and two DUIs, with no license, insurance, or registration. After an uphill battle, Durden managed to get the savage illegal deported back to Central America. She and her fiancé, Anthony Coulter, helped protest the feds’ attempts to dump more Central American illegals onto communities such as Murietta, California.
Durden defended Vaughan from Gutierrez’s bullying, saying he made her “physically sick,” and that he is a “disgrace”:
Jessica Vaughn has been a constant source of support since I testified at a judiciary hearing in Washington, D.C. 2013.
She works diligently, does her research and adds a human touch to such a emotional issue. When she testified about her findings and result of her research, Mr. Gutierrez did not only act hostile toward her, but belittled and scolder her in front of everyone in that room and the millions watching on C-Span.
It was enough for us three moms of murdered children to walk out of the hearing.
He is an embarrassment and disgrace to the position he holds and he should publicly apologize to Mrs. Vaughn and anyone who had to listen to his tirade.
Furthermore, he should apologize to Mr. Steinle and all of us who lost loved ones because of an illegal alien. A few days earlier he spoke about the killing of Kate Steinle and called it a ‘little thing.’ He then sat at he hearing and looked that grieving father in the face proclaiming his deepest condolences. It made me physically sick and Mr. Gutierrez’s ongoing and well-known outburst and unprofessional behavior is no longer tolerated.
Mary Ann Mendoza lost her son Sgt. Brandon Mendoza in May 2014 to an illegal alien from Mexico driving on the wrong side of the highway, blackout drunk with a blood-alcohol three times the legal limit. Raul Silva Corona, also killed in the crash, had lived in the country illegally for at least 20 years, racking up a criminal record. In 1994, he pled guilty in Colorado to criminal conspiracy charges, while prosecutors dismissed other charges such as leaving the scene of an accident, assault, and burglary.
In a letter to President Obama, Mendoza demanded to know why a violent illegal alien was allowed to stay in the country for decades.
“The Federal Government knew he, Raul Silva Corona , was an illegal immigrant when he was convicted on crimes in 1994 in Colorado. The prosecutors were ‘lenient’ on him and several charges were dismissed… Why wasn’t he deported?” Mendoza wrote. “I am furious that the Federal Government allowed this criminal to stay in this country and KILL my son!”
Gutierrez’s furious attacks on Vaughan made Mendoza’s “skin crawl,” she said. “To see this so called Representative of the people of Illinois speak with such hate and disregard for the victims families in the room was unacceptable.”
Mendoza told Breitbart News:
As I sat in the hearing room and heard testimony by Jim Steinle and listened to testimony from Jessica Vaughn, it not only broke my heart buy also brought back some very familiar, gut-wrenching reactions to additional preventable deaths in America at the hands of criminal illegals allowed to stay in this country as my son’s killer was.
As each of the panels members began speaking, they vocalized their sincere condolences to Jim Steinle and proceeded to go over their thoughts and their support of stopping the federal funding to Sanctuary Cities as one way to prevent some of the tragic deaths that happen as illegal criminals are released back onto our streets with the high percentage of committing another crime.
When Luis Gutierrez was given the floor to speak, it was apparent by his demeanor that he was not happy. Just the tone of his voice made my skin crawl. As he started ranting and raving about previous statements he had made and then took great effort to spit Jessica Vaughn’s name out of his mouth, all the while raising his voice to a hate-filled scream, I, along with Sabine Darden, Laura Wilkerson and Maria Espinoza, left the hearing room. Not only was I disgusted with his behavior and lack of empathy for the real reason this hearing was taking place, but I was shocked at his demeanor and screaming voice. Sabine, Laura and myself have all lost a child at the hands of an illegal criminal and to see this so called Representative of the people of Illinois speak with such hate and disregard for the victims families in the room was unacceptable. I can’t imagine what Jim Steinle was thinking. Video doesn’t lie Mr. Gutierrez. If he was embarrassed for being quoted while dismissing Kate Steinle’s death as a ‘little thing,’ then shame on him. This hearing was not the time or place to dig himself out of the hole his mouth put him in.
I am asking, as an American citizen who has lost my son Sgt. Brandon Mendoza at the hands of an illegal criminal, that Luis Gutierrez be stopped from being allowed to use precious hearing time as a way to air his displeasure and obvious hate for a witness at hearings he is unfortunately a part of. Especially when that witness is merely repeating words that have come out of his mouth.
This was my first trip to Washington, D.C. and the time spent in the hearing listening to Mr. Gutierrez has left me with a very bad taste in my mouth. I wonder if the people of Illinois who elected him to represent them really know what a rude, uncaring, egotistical jerk they have erroneously elected to be in Washington, D.C.
Email Katie at kmchugh@breitbart.com. Follow her on Twitter: @k_mcq.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.