A Mexican man acquitted in the killing of Kate Steinle in July 2015 will be deported, CNN reported. The acquittal prompted several angry tweets from President Donald Trump on Thursday and again on Friday morning.
Jurors acquitted Jose Ines Garcia Zarate, 45, of murder and involuntary manslaughter, as well as assault with a deadly weapon. The jury did, however, convict him of being a felon in possession of a firearm.
The undocumented immigrant faces up to three years in prison, but already has spent more than two years in jail awaiting trial and may get credit for time served. He has not been sentenced.
Steinle was killed while walking out on a San Francisco pier. Her shooting death reignited a national debate over immigration policy, CNN reported.
On Thursday, Trump called the verdict “disgraceful.”
Friday morning, the President called Garcia Zarate’s acquittal “a complete travesty of justice,” and repeated his call to “build the 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,” Trump tweeted. “His exoneration is a complete travesty of justice.”
Before the shooting, Garcia Zarate had been deported five times, and was wanted for a sixth deportation on drug-related felonies.
Under a sanctuary city law, San Francisco authorities released Garcia Zarate three months before the shooting, CNN reported.
Steinle's brother said he was “not surprised” by the acquittal.
“The system failed Kate from the start of this chain of events. Why would the verdict be any different?” Brad Steinle said. “From the drug charge. To being released. To not being detained by ICE. The BLM agent leaving a loaded weapon in an unlocked car. It is failure after failure.”
“The Schumer/Pelosi Democrats are so weak on crime that they will pay a big price in the 2018 and 2020 election,” Trump tweeted.
Steinle said his sister is never coming back, and the verdict does not affect them in any way.
"Kate is gone. The strength we have is drawn from Kate. Her memory is with us," he said.
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