Minuteman founder outraged at Border Patrol agents' incarceration
by Chad Groening
February 15, 2007
(OneNewsNow.com) - - The founder of the Minuteman Project says he will establish a citizen's commission to investigate the El Paso, Texas, federal attorney who, he believes, falsely prosecuted two Border Patrol agents for doing their jobs. The agents were convicted of civil rights violations, and one of them was recently beaten severely by fellow inmates at a federal prison.Two former Border Patrol agents remain incarcerated after being convicted of firing on a fleeing drug dealer, who claims he was not armed, and for allegedly failing to report the incident to their supervisors. Minuteman Project founder Jim Gilchrist is angry that one of the agents, Ignacio Ramos, was put in a federal prison in Mississippi where he was severely beaten by several fellow inmates. Those assailants, predicts Gilchrist, will likely serve an extra 20 years in prison for what he contends was a plot to kill the former federal law enforcement officer.
"And it was attempted murder," claims the Minuteman spokesman. "They weren't there to just tickle this guy; they were there to kill him."
Gilchrist wants to establish a citizens commission to investigate El Paso Federal Attorney Johnny Sutton and others responsible for prosecuting the former agents. "We're going to demand that [Sutton's office] be investigated thoroughly," he says. "The same goes for the assistant DA and the judge involved in this case. These people are George Bush appointees, and I smell a rat here."
Gilchrist says he believes the agents should be pardoned and paid $5 million each by the government as restitution for an allegedly unjust conviction and confinement.
