DOJ exploring possible follow-up on Steinle case

The Department of Justice is exploring an option of bringing federal charges against Jose Garcia Zarate after the San Francisco court reached a not guilty verdict in the Kate Steinle murder trial, according to Fox News who spoke with department officials of the DOJ.

A brain-dead California jury acquitted Zarate of the more serious charges in the case, which includes murder, involuntary manslaughter and assault with a deadly weapon.

The 5-time felon was only convicted of possession of a firearm.

U.S. immigration officials said they'd deport Garcia Zarate (aka Juan Francisco Lopez Sanchez) who was wanted for deportation. 

Steinle family

Zarate was previously deported only 5 times and kept worming his way back into the country, specifically, San Francisco because it's a sanctuary city for felons and other illegal aliens and he knew they'd protect him from the law.

Kate Steinle, 32, was with her father on a San Francisco pier in 2015 when Zarate, about 90 feet away, found a Sig Sauer handgun, picked it up, and it allegedly went off all by itself as handguns are all known to do, and shot her in the back.

Zarate could be sentenced 3 years in prison for the firearm charge, but he's already been locked up for over 2 years awaiting trial. 

President Trump, who simply cannot not comment on legal matters called the verdict "disgraceful" and has used the case to rally support for a border wall.

"The Kate Steinle killer came back and back over the weakly protected Obama border, always committing crimes and being violent, and yet this info was not used in court. His exoneration is a complete travesty of justice. BUILD THE WALL!" he tweeted Friday.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions also disagreed with the verdict in a written statement using zero exclamation marks, unlike the president.

"When jurisdictions choose to return criminal aliens to the streets rather than turning them over to federal authorities, they put the public's safety at risk. San Francisco's decision to protect criminal aliens led to the preventable and heartbreaking death of Kate Steinle," Sessions said. "While the State of California sought a murder charge for the man who caused Ms. Steinle' death--a man who would not have been on the streets of San Francisco if the city simply honored an ICE detainer--the people ultimately convicted him of felon in possession of a firearm."

Sessions said the DOJ "will continue to ensure that all jurisdictions place safety and security of their communities above the convenience of criminal aliens." 

He did not mention any additional charges that may be brought forward if the DOJ pursues the case.

The jury was never told that Zarate was a 7-time convicted felon and had been deported 5 times. Had they known this, the verdict may have been different. But in San Francisco, you never know.

Zarate didn't deny shooting Steinle, but he said it was an accident. He had several different explanations as to how the "accident" occurred, but that didn't seem to matter to the jury.

Kate Steinle was a white privilege woman.


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