Officer
Zigan (pictured with his fiancée) was
hit by two bullets fired by Herschel Bullard.
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A popular young deputy
sheriff of Edwards County, Texas (population 1,250), who was
being groomed for sheriff, has been convicted on two counts
of violating the civil rights of illegal aliens. Deputy Sheriff
Guillermo “Gilmer” Hernandez was sentenced to 366
days in prison; fined $5,000; and ordered to pay restitution
to the injured aliens in the amount of $5,300.
The felony charges stem from an incident on the night of April
14, 2005, in Rocksprings, a small Texan town on the Mexican
border known for smuggling of illegal aliens and drugs. Shortly
before midnight, Deputy Sheriff Hernandez observed a Chevy
Suburban sports utility vehicle (SUV) failing to halt at a
four-way stop sign. He put on the emergency lights in his police
cruiser. When the SUV finally stopped, he saw that it was loaded
with people lying on top of each other, which is typically
how illegals are smuggled into the U.S.
As he approached the stopped vehicle on foot, the driver of
the SUV suddenly put the vehicle into gear in an aggressive
move to run over Hernandez. The deputy sheriff leaped to the
side and fired at the tires. In a few moments, the vehicle
crashed and the driver and eight illegals jumped out and ran.
Left behind was one of the illegals, Marciela Rodriguez Garcia,
whose head had been wedged above the tire chamber. Garcia sustained
two broken teeth and cut lips from the bullet fragments.
The Mexican Consulate in San Antonio demanded that Hernandez
be prosecuted. Thinking that he would be exonerated, the 25-year
old deputy sheriff testified in his own defense and his lawyer
presented no expert witnesses. However the U.S. District Attorney,
Johnny Sutton, well known for securing the conviction and 11-year
and 12-year sentences of two border patrol agents, Ignacio
Ramos and Jose Compean, respectively,was eager for another
conviction. Notably, Sutton did not prosecute the 10 illegal
aliens in the SUV for breaking U.S. immigration laws, despite
the fact that three of them admitted to paying $2,000 each
to be taken from Mexico to Texas. Instead, a nonprofit organization
in Texas is providing assistance to help them get their U.S.
citizenship.
District Attorney Sutton offered Deputy Sheriff Hernandez probation
in exchange for a guilty plea. The young officer refused since
he had acted in self defense and in compliance with police
regulations on the use of force. He had no way of knowing if
the driver or any of the occupants was armed. He was simply
doing his job.
Rocksprings has rallied behind its deputy sheriff. “Free
Gilmer” signs are seen throughout the area, and the local
churches are helping Mrs. Hernandez to meet the mortgage payments
and other expenses while her husband is in jail. The couple’s
first child was born last year.
“
Our deputy is in jail, basically for doing his job,” said
Albert Green, the local Baptist preacher. “These people
were in the country illegally. They were fleeing the law. What
is law enforcement supposed to do?” he asked.
A dispatcher for the sheriff’s office explained: “We’re
right on the border. When you stop a loaded vehicle, you don’t
know if it’s illegals, drug smugglers, or even terrorists.”
Congressman Ted Poe (R-TX) said that prosecution of Deputy
Sheriff Hernandez is “another example of how the federal
government is more concerned about people [who are] illegally
invading American than it is about the men who protect America.
Once again, our government is on the wrong side of the border
war.”
LELDF is assisting Deputy Sheriff Hernandez with an appeal
and a citizens campaign to petition President Bush to pardon
him.
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