By: Wayne D. Ayers II
A mexican man named, Jose Garcia Zarate was acquitted of murder and manslaughter charges Thursday in the fatal shooting of Kathryn Steinle, the Bay Area woman whose slaying in 2015 became a flashpoint in the national debate over people in the U.S. illegally and the role of local police in enforcing federal immigration laws.
Jurors deliberated for several days before returning the verdict in the trial of Jose Garcia Zarate, who had been deported five times and freed under sanctuary laws before the fatal shooting. They convicted him on a single count of being a felon in possession of a firearm. He has not been sentenced.
The verdict brought a disgusted response from President Trump, who had cited the slaying during his campaign to make his case for building a wall across the U.S.-Mexico border and to punish cities he accused of not cooperating with immigration enforcement.
“A disgraceful verdict in the Kate Steinle case!” he tweeted Thursday. “No wonder the people of our Country are so angry with Illegal Immigration.”
