Attorneys are pleading with President Joe Biden to free from federal prison the seven-time felon, five-time deported illegal alien acquitted of murdering 32-year-old Kate Steinle in 2015.
Following Steinle’s 2015 killing on a pier in San Francisco, illegal alien Jose Garcia Zarate was charged with her murder after being caught on surveillance footage running from the shooting.
After his arrest, Garcia Zarate admitted to shooting and killing Steinle, who was walking on the pier at the time with her father, saying he chose San Francisco because it was a sanctuary city that shields criminal illegal aliens from arrest and deportation by federal immigration officials.
On November 30, 2017, Garcia Zarate was found not guilty of murdering Steinle.
Following the verdict, Garcia Zarate was hit with federal gun charges by the Department of Justice (DOJ). In February 2020, as Breitbart News reported, he was deemed mentally unfit to stand trial for the charges.
Now, Garcia Zarate’s attorneys are asking Biden to free him:
Rather than evaluate the jury’s finding, Trump and Sessions rushed to keep Garcia Zarate in custody. Thus far, their efforts are working. What they could not change, however, is that Garcia Zarate is factually innocent of the charges, including the federal indictment alleging gun possession. [Emphasis added].
…
Now is the time for the Biden administration to let the world know federal prosecutions will not be premised on lies and misinformation. Let’s finally tell the truth: this accidental shooting tragedy happened because we’re a country with over 400 million guns in private hands. Should we be surprised that deaths result daily from this allegiance? [Emphasis added].
Justice for Mr. Garcia Zarate is overdue. It is time to drop politically motivated charges against him. Like President Biden did with Trump’s litigation positions on the Affordable Care Act, voting rights, and sentence reductions under the First Step Act, he must reverse Trump’s position here. Continuing to prosecute Garcia Zarate rewards an abuse of prosecutorial power and undermines the rule of law. [Emphasis added].
Last month, a federal judge in California appointed a psychiatrist to re-evaluate Garcia Zarate so that he can stand trial eventually for the federal gun charges.
The judge said the Bureau of Prisons had told him in June that they “had restored the defendant to competency” but that competency was questioned when Garcia Zarate refused to listen to his attorneys.
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at jbinder@breitbart.com. Follow him on Twitter here.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.