UPROAR

Trump Slams ‘Disgraceful’ Verdict in Kate Steinle Case

Calls it evidence of why “the people of our country are so angry with illegal immigration.”

President Trump condemned the acquittal of an undocumented immigrant who’d faced homicide charges for the 2015 shooting death of Kate Steinle. Jose Ines Garcia Zarate, an undocumented immigrant from Mexico who fatally shot Steinle in San Francisco, was found not guilty late Thursday on homicide charges but guilty on a charge of illegal firearms possession. “A disgraceful verdict in the Kate Steinle case! No wonder the people of our Country are so angry with Illegal Immigration,” Trump posted on Twitter. Garcia Zarate had been deported five times and then released from a jail in the city three months before the shooting, despite federal officials’ desire to keep him in detention. Steinle’s death ignited a political storm over “sanctuary cities” that refuse federal orders. Immigration and Customs Enforcement released a statement blaming San Francisco authorities for Steinle’s death and promising to deport Garcia Zarate. The agency said it would “work to take custody of Mr. Garcia Zarate and ultimately remove him from the country.” Attorney General Jeff Sessions also slammed the verdict, saying in a statement he wants “the leaders of the nation’s communities” to “consider carefully the harm they are doing to their citizens by refusing to cooperate with federal law enforcement officers.”