On June 22, 2008, Edwin Ramos Umana, a known MS-13 gang member and illegal immigrant from El Salvador, randomly shot at 48-year-old Tony Bologna and his three sons while they were in their car heading home from a family barbecue. Tony and two of his sons, 20-year-old Michael and 16-year-old Matthew, died at the scene. Three months before this incident, Kamala Harris, then-district attorney of San Francisco, had a chance to put Ramos behind bars but refused to do so. San Francisco authorities also had an opportunity to deport him, but sanctuary city policies prevented them from acting.
In March of that year, Ramos and his friend, Erick Lopez, were pulled over and arrested after police found that Ramos' car had illegally tinted windows and no front license plate. Furthermore, Lopez tried to run away from the police after failing to conceal an illegal firearm that had been used in a double murder.
This case was forwarded to prosecutors in the district attorney's office. Police also forwarded reports showing “numerous documented contacts” that officers have had with Ramos. They even emphasized that he was a known member of the violent Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) gang.
Despite Ramos' previous record, Harris' office declined to press charges because, according to them, they could not prove that Lopez and Ramos were close friends, nor could they prove that Ramos knew that Lopez was carrying an illegal firearm.
Lopez would be charged, but Harris' prosecutors argued that, in order to put Ramos behind bars, the police needed to prove that he was guilty of another crime. Only then would the district attorney's office be able to tack on other charges against him. (Related: Democratic VP candidate Kamala Harris kept hundreds of men in prison for cheap labor – pictures make up her mosaic.)
The San Francisco Sheriff's Department (SFSD) was forced to release Ramos several days later because they could not keep people in custody without “a documented reason to hold him.” Ramos would go on to murder the three members of the Bologna family.
Ramos could have been deported, but he was saved by San Francisco' sanctuary city policy
Even if Ramos could not be charged back in March 2008, he could have been deported. While in custody, sheriff's deputies discovered that Ramos was an illegal immigrant and could be deported. However, due to an apparent “mix up” between the SFSD and the Immigration, Customs and Enforcement Agency, Ramos was also let off the hook.
In fact, Danielle Bologna, wife of Tony Bologna, tried to argue that San Francisco's sanctuary city policy played a “substantial role” in getting her husband and two of her sons killed.
Bologna filed charges after a local newspaper revealed that Ramos had committed felony assault and attempted robbery charges as a juvenile but was not immediately deported after his arrest.
San Francisco's sanctuary city ordinance prevented the city's Juvenile Probation Department from forwarding Ramos' immigration status to federal authorities.
Unfortunately, Danielle's case was thrown out after a judge in San Francisco's superior court argued that the city could not be held responsible because the sanctuary city policy was intended to “improve immigration controls” and not to prevent crime.
Today, as the running mate of former vice president Joe Biden, Harris continues to support policies that will provide protection for illegal immigrants, including a plan to grant amnesty for anywhere between 11 to 22 million illegal migrants currently living in the United States.
Learn more about Kamala Harris' background and experiences, as well as the policies she is proposing, to put forward if she were to become the vice president by reading the latest articles at KamalaHarris.news.
Sources include:
Please contact us for more information.