Richard Rojas, a U.S. Navy veteran, smoked pot, heard voices and with his car, mowed down 23 pedestrians on Times Square
BarkGrowlBite
May 20, 2017
At noontime Thursday, the usual number of New Yorkers and tourists were walking along the sidewalk on Seventh Avenue in the Times Square area when suddenly they were confronted by a speeding car driving down the sidewalk straight at them. An 18 year-old girl was killed and 22 others were injured. The carnage started at 42nd Street and did not end until Richard Rojas wrecked his car at Broadway and 45th Street.
Rojas,26, served in the U.S. Navy from 2011 until he was kicked out in 2014.
Rojas tested negative for alcohol but told the police he had been smoking marijuana. He also told the cops he was hearing voices.
At first the authorities feared this was an act of terrorism similar to motor vehicle attacks that took place recently in England, France and Germany. It has been determined this was not an act of terrorism, but that it was a nutcase driving under the influence of marijuana.
This incident comes on the heels of a terrible accident near Sacramento on May 10 when a driver high on pot drifted out of his highway lane and killed a father of four.
Then there is the report released last month by the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) and the Foundation for Advancing Alcohol Responsibility which shows that more drivers are being killed under the influence of drugs in highway crashes than under the influence of alcohol, with marijuana involved in more than 1/3rd of the drug-related fatal crashes.
There are some reports that Richard Rojas told the cops the marijuana he smoked was laced with PCP. But the bottom line is that he was high on pot when he mowed down those 23 pedestrians on Times Square.
The pot advocates keep inundating us with hogshit about the marvels of marijuana. When are people going to wake up and accept the fact that marijuana is a very dangerous drug and accordingly, pot should never be legalized!
Saturday, May 20, 2017
LA BESTIA: GO IN ALIVE, COME OUT A MUMMY
Every day unaccompanied children take a dangerous ride atop ‘La Bestia’, a freight train, from Mexico’s southern border to the U.S. border
My former police comrade, Jerry Doyle, sent me this excerpt from one of the many books he reads.
From “Tell Me How It Ends”
By Valeria Luiselli
Unaccompanied children from Central America are continually entering the U.S. to escape poverty and violence in their home countries. From April 2014 to August of 2015 it reached crisis proportions when over 100,000 unaccompanied children entered, most fleeing gang violence in Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador. The journey is fraught with danger -- 80 percent of females who make it are raped, and since 2006 over 120,000 of these migrants have disappeared. If they make it, these children know to immediately seek the U.S. Border Patrol, and soon after they do, a screening process begins:
"The process by which a child is asked questions during the intake interview is called screening. ... A few spaces down [on the intake form], right before the first formal interview question, a line floats across the page like an uncomfortable silence:
“Where is the child's mother? Father?”
"The interviewer has to write down whatever infor¬mation the child can or will give to fill in those blanks¬ -- those two empty spaces that look a bit like badly stitched wounds. Too often, the spaces remain blank: all the chil¬dren come without their fathers and mothers. And many of them do not even know where their parents are. ...
“Why did you come to the United States?” ...
"Their answers vary, but they often point to a single pull factor: reunification with a parent or another close relative who migrated to the U.S. years earlier. Other times, the answers point to push factors -- the unthink¬able circumstances the children are fleeing: extreme vio¬lence, persecution and coercion by gangs, mental and physical abuse, forced labor, neglect, abandonment. It is not even the American Dream that they pursue, but rather the more modest aspiration to wake up from the nightmare into which they were born.
"Then comes question number two in the intake ques¬tionnaire: 'When did you enter the United States?' Most children don't know the exact date. They smile and say 'last year' or 'a few months ago' or simply 'I don't know.' ...
"The third and fourth questions on the intake ques¬tionnaire are ... : 'With whom did you travel to this country?' and 'Did you travel with anyone you knew?' All children travel with a paid coyote. Some of them travel also with siblings, cousins, and friends.
"The fifth and sixth questions are: 'What countries did you pass through?' and 'How did you travel here?' To the first one, almost everyone immediately answers 'Mexico,' and some also list Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras. To the question about how they traveled here, with a blend of pride and horror, most say, 'I came on La Bestia,' which literally means 'the beast,' and refers to the freight trains that cross Mexico, on top of which as many as half a million Central American migrants ride annually. There are no passenger services along the routes, so migrants have to ride atop the rail¬cars or in the recesses between them.
"Thousands have died or been gravely injured aboard La Bestia, either because of the frequent derail-ments of the old freight trains or because people fall off during the night. The most minor oversight can be fatal. Some compare La Bestia to a demon, others to a kind of vacuum that sucks distracted riders down into its metal entrails. And when the train itself is not the threat, it's the smugglers, thieves, policemen, or soldiers who frequently threaten, blackmail, or attack the people on board. There is a saying about La Bestia: Go in alive, come out a mummy.
"But, despite the dangers, people continue to take the risk. Children certainly take the risk. Children do what their stomachs tell them to do. They don't think twice when they have to chase a moving train. They run along with it, reach for any metal bar at hand, and fling themselves toward whichever half-stable surface they may land on. Children chase after life, even if that chase might end up killing them. Children run and flee. They have an instinct for survival, perhaps, that allows them to endure almost anything just to make it to the other side of horror, whatever may be waiting there for them."
My former police comrade, Jerry Doyle, sent me this excerpt from one of the many books he reads.
From “Tell Me How It Ends”
By Valeria Luiselli
Unaccompanied children from Central America are continually entering the U.S. to escape poverty and violence in their home countries. From April 2014 to August of 2015 it reached crisis proportions when over 100,000 unaccompanied children entered, most fleeing gang violence in Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador. The journey is fraught with danger -- 80 percent of females who make it are raped, and since 2006 over 120,000 of these migrants have disappeared. If they make it, these children know to immediately seek the U.S. Border Patrol, and soon after they do, a screening process begins:
"The process by which a child is asked questions during the intake interview is called screening. ... A few spaces down [on the intake form], right before the first formal interview question, a line floats across the page like an uncomfortable silence:
“Where is the child's mother? Father?”
"The interviewer has to write down whatever infor¬mation the child can or will give to fill in those blanks¬ -- those two empty spaces that look a bit like badly stitched wounds. Too often, the spaces remain blank: all the chil¬dren come without their fathers and mothers. And many of them do not even know where their parents are. ...
“Why did you come to the United States?” ...
"Their answers vary, but they often point to a single pull factor: reunification with a parent or another close relative who migrated to the U.S. years earlier. Other times, the answers point to push factors -- the unthink¬able circumstances the children are fleeing: extreme vio¬lence, persecution and coercion by gangs, mental and physical abuse, forced labor, neglect, abandonment. It is not even the American Dream that they pursue, but rather the more modest aspiration to wake up from the nightmare into which they were born.
"Then comes question number two in the intake ques¬tionnaire: 'When did you enter the United States?' Most children don't know the exact date. They smile and say 'last year' or 'a few months ago' or simply 'I don't know.' ...
"The third and fourth questions on the intake ques¬tionnaire are ... : 'With whom did you travel to this country?' and 'Did you travel with anyone you knew?' All children travel with a paid coyote. Some of them travel also with siblings, cousins, and friends.
"The fifth and sixth questions are: 'What countries did you pass through?' and 'How did you travel here?' To the first one, almost everyone immediately answers 'Mexico,' and some also list Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras. To the question about how they traveled here, with a blend of pride and horror, most say, 'I came on La Bestia,' which literally means 'the beast,' and refers to the freight trains that cross Mexico, on top of which as many as half a million Central American migrants ride annually. There are no passenger services along the routes, so migrants have to ride atop the rail¬cars or in the recesses between them.
"Thousands have died or been gravely injured aboard La Bestia, either because of the frequent derail-ments of the old freight trains or because people fall off during the night. The most minor oversight can be fatal. Some compare La Bestia to a demon, others to a kind of vacuum that sucks distracted riders down into its metal entrails. And when the train itself is not the threat, it's the smugglers, thieves, policemen, or soldiers who frequently threaten, blackmail, or attack the people on board. There is a saying about La Bestia: Go in alive, come out a mummy.
"But, despite the dangers, people continue to take the risk. Children certainly take the risk. Children do what their stomachs tell them to do. They don't think twice when they have to chase a moving train. They run along with it, reach for any metal bar at hand, and fling themselves toward whichever half-stable surface they may land on. Children chase after life, even if that chase might end up killing them. Children run and flee. They have an instinct for survival, perhaps, that allows them to endure almost anything just to make it to the other side of horror, whatever may be waiting there for them."
THE ‘NARCOSTATE’
30 Mexican governors have been accused of working with and for the drug cartels
By José Gil Olmos
Proceso
May 12, 2017
CIUDAD DE MÉXICO -- It has been three decades, starting from Salinas to be more precise, in Mexico that the gestation occurred as what we know today as the Narcostate or the Statenarco. In this form of Government, organized crime and authorities have merged into one with the deadly consequences we now face; journalists executed, thousands of deaths and disappearances, rampant violence, delinquent Governors, covert parties, participant society, impunity, and a President of the complicit in acquiescence or direct participation.
I am starting from the fact that, from the Salinas Government, this form of co-government began to take shape due to the case of this brother Raul Salinas, who was accused of using the Conasupo networks for drug distribution, although he was jailed for other crimes.
But before this government had already presented some symptoms of overlap between authorities and drug trafficking, as was evident at the ranch "El Bufalo" in Chihuahua. Nevertheless, in Salinas term the signs of the Narcostate were seen.
In three decades, the breakdown of the political class and corruption have crept to the highest levels, leading 30 Governors from different parties to be accused of having links to organized crime, engaging in corruption, creating cover ups of criminal networks, carrying out illegal business, diverting resources and receiving dirty money for their campaigns from different criminal organizations.
Cases such as that of the PRI's Tomas Yarrington and Eugenio Hernandez in Tamaulipas, Mario Villanueva Madrid in Quintana Roo, Fausto Vallejo in Michoacan, Angel Aguirre Rivero in Guerrero and Sergio EStrada Cajgal in Morelos, are some clear examples of how the Narcostate is already a reality.
In that Narcostate, organized crime is the one that governs and controls the territory. Nothing that happens there escapes its power, including the exercise of freedom of expression. Eight journalists have been killed so far this year, including Javier Valdez. It is no coincidence that in states in Veracruz, Tamaulipas, Guerrero, Sinaloa, Michoacan and Chihuahua are where the most cases of murders, threats and persecution of reporters are recorded.
All authorities are involved with the criminal groups where they collude with organized crime. The armed forces do not escape the corrupting power that buys wills with enormous amounts of money to ensure impunity in the distribution and sale of drugs, as well as in the business of kidnapping , extortion, people and arms trafficking.
But in the Narcostate all participate directly or indirectly. Many times the broad sectors of society are accomplice and are part of the networks or grassroots support community that are generated by necessity, by force or by interest around the different criminal groups as has happened clearly in Michoacan, Guerrero, Tamaullipas, Veracruz and State of Mexico.
On other occasions, the society itself has normalized the presence and the violent action of these groups before the impossibility to protest or make a complaint. How can one turn to an authority that is corrupted or is part of the criminal group that governs the municipality or state?
This situation will be a priority for whomever wants to be President in 2018. The expansion of areas controlled by organized crime grows every day, the addict population in Mexico exceeds six million, according to the latest statistics of 2011; the number of journalists killed or disappeared increases day by day, the number of murders in this sexenio has shot up by 600% and there are more than 350,000 displaced from their homes by violence.
Despite the seriousness of the situation, the issue is not on the agenda of any of the presidential hopefuls. None of them speak about organized crime, less of the Narcostate and its consequences. It is a thorny subject that they evade, but whomever wins the election will have to face it.
By José Gil Olmos
Proceso
May 12, 2017
CIUDAD DE MÉXICO -- It has been three decades, starting from Salinas to be more precise, in Mexico that the gestation occurred as what we know today as the Narcostate or the Statenarco. In this form of Government, organized crime and authorities have merged into one with the deadly consequences we now face; journalists executed, thousands of deaths and disappearances, rampant violence, delinquent Governors, covert parties, participant society, impunity, and a President of the complicit in acquiescence or direct participation.
I am starting from the fact that, from the Salinas Government, this form of co-government began to take shape due to the case of this brother Raul Salinas, who was accused of using the Conasupo networks for drug distribution, although he was jailed for other crimes.
But before this government had already presented some symptoms of overlap between authorities and drug trafficking, as was evident at the ranch "El Bufalo" in Chihuahua. Nevertheless, in Salinas term the signs of the Narcostate were seen.
In three decades, the breakdown of the political class and corruption have crept to the highest levels, leading 30 Governors from different parties to be accused of having links to organized crime, engaging in corruption, creating cover ups of criminal networks, carrying out illegal business, diverting resources and receiving dirty money for their campaigns from different criminal organizations.
Cases such as that of the PRI's Tomas Yarrington and Eugenio Hernandez in Tamaulipas, Mario Villanueva Madrid in Quintana Roo, Fausto Vallejo in Michoacan, Angel Aguirre Rivero in Guerrero and Sergio EStrada Cajgal in Morelos, are some clear examples of how the Narcostate is already a reality.
In that Narcostate, organized crime is the one that governs and controls the territory. Nothing that happens there escapes its power, including the exercise of freedom of expression. Eight journalists have been killed so far this year, including Javier Valdez. It is no coincidence that in states in Veracruz, Tamaulipas, Guerrero, Sinaloa, Michoacan and Chihuahua are where the most cases of murders, threats and persecution of reporters are recorded.
All authorities are involved with the criminal groups where they collude with organized crime. The armed forces do not escape the corrupting power that buys wills with enormous amounts of money to ensure impunity in the distribution and sale of drugs, as well as in the business of kidnapping , extortion, people and arms trafficking.
But in the Narcostate all participate directly or indirectly. Many times the broad sectors of society are accomplice and are part of the networks or grassroots support community that are generated by necessity, by force or by interest around the different criminal groups as has happened clearly in Michoacan, Guerrero, Tamaullipas, Veracruz and State of Mexico.
On other occasions, the society itself has normalized the presence and the violent action of these groups before the impossibility to protest or make a complaint. How can one turn to an authority that is corrupted or is part of the criminal group that governs the municipality or state?
This situation will be a priority for whomever wants to be President in 2018. The expansion of areas controlled by organized crime grows every day, the addict population in Mexico exceeds six million, according to the latest statistics of 2011; the number of journalists killed or disappeared increases day by day, the number of murders in this sexenio has shot up by 600% and there are more than 350,000 displaced from their homes by violence.
Despite the seriousness of the situation, the issue is not on the agenda of any of the presidential hopefuls. None of them speak about organized crime, less of the Narcostate and its consequences. It is a thorny subject that they evade, but whomever wins the election will have to face it.
Friday, May 19, 2017
PRESIDENT OF HONDURAS SUPERVISES TRANSFER OF MS-13 GANG MEMBERS FROM LUXURY CELLS TO A MAX PRISON WITH NO AMENITIES
Inside the 'luxury' Honduras prison where notorious MS-13 gang members were allowed to play video games on 52-inch TVs inbetween visits to the 'Kamasutra' sex room
By Gareth Davies
Daily Mail
May 18, 2017
The luxury Honduras prison where notorious MS-13 gang members were allowed to play video games on 52-inch TVs and take advantage of a sex room have been unveiled.
A transfer of hundreds of members of organised crime gangs from an overcrowded jail to a new maximum security prison has unearthed details of the pampered lifestyles they have left behind.
A total of 773 gang members have been moved from a prison in Tamara, near the Honduran capital city of Tegucigalpa, to the new El Pozo 2 jail in La Tova in the western Honduran department of El Paraiso.
The designer flat-like cells were kitted out with air conditioning, colour-coordinated furniture, food blenders, coffee machines and well-stocked fridge-freezers.
Some of the inmates even had access to a special comfort room with mirrors and ambient lighting, dubbed the Kamasutra, for conjugal visits with their wives and girlfriends.
Entering the Kamasutra was reportedly a privilege for gang leaders and other senior gang members who earned the right through carrying out crimes for their bosses.
And, when they could not enjoy the pleasures of female company, the inmates organised computer game tournaments to keep themselves amused behind bars.
All the prisoners are believed to be members of the notorious Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) and Barrio 18 gangs in Honduras which is regarded as one the most dangerous countries in the world.
Hondurans were shocked when pictures of the conditions they had enjoyed at the severely overcrowded Marco Aurelio Soto prison were posted on social media.
They included photos of nicely-decorated cells with games consoles where prisoners were allowed to play top games including FIFA and Grand Theft Auto.
In one room, wall decorations included a mirror framed in the shape of a snake in the shape of the number 18 to denote the Barrio 18 gang.
Pictures on the walls included former, mostly dead, gang leaders.
The gang members were transferred to their new maximum security prison under a heavy security escort supervised by the President of Honduras, Juan Orlando Hernandez.
Prisons in Honduras are notorious hotbeds of gang activity, with fights, extortion, drug deals and killings common in the country’s overcrowded facilities.
Having swelled to 20,000 members in just two decades the MS-13 gang has gained notoriety for the brutal way members eliminate their enemies.
The group was started nearly 20 years ago in Los Angeles after millions of immigrants from El Salvador came to the United States after a violent civil war left over 100,000 dead.
The mob's habit butchering victims with machetes and shooting rival gang members in the head points to a chaotic and scatter-gun approach, but there is a level of sophistication behind their operations in the US.
It has been revealed MS-13 is organized around five separate ranks, with secret coded messages shared every day on social media in a complex chain of command ruled by chiefs in El Salvador.
Foot soldiers for the gang must seek permission, sometimes from head honchos inside prison, to carry out executions.
But despite the business-like organization of the group, there is not always big money at stake - members must pay as little as $10 to join in the first place.
The gang has since spread all over the country, and are known widely as the best killers - due to their exceedingly brutal weapon of choice, a machete.
They have clashed regularly with the Barrio 18 firm both inside and out of prison.
The MS-13's rivals also go by the name of the 18th Street Gang, because it started in the 1960s near 18th Street in LA's Rampart District.
EDITOR’S NOTE: MS-13, LA’s gift to Honduras.
By Gareth Davies
Daily Mail
May 18, 2017
The luxury Honduras prison where notorious MS-13 gang members were allowed to play video games on 52-inch TVs and take advantage of a sex room have been unveiled.
A transfer of hundreds of members of organised crime gangs from an overcrowded jail to a new maximum security prison has unearthed details of the pampered lifestyles they have left behind.
A total of 773 gang members have been moved from a prison in Tamara, near the Honduran capital city of Tegucigalpa, to the new El Pozo 2 jail in La Tova in the western Honduran department of El Paraiso.
The designer flat-like cells were kitted out with air conditioning, colour-coordinated furniture, food blenders, coffee machines and well-stocked fridge-freezers.
Some of the inmates even had access to a special comfort room with mirrors and ambient lighting, dubbed the Kamasutra, for conjugal visits with their wives and girlfriends.
Entering the Kamasutra was reportedly a privilege for gang leaders and other senior gang members who earned the right through carrying out crimes for their bosses.
And, when they could not enjoy the pleasures of female company, the inmates organised computer game tournaments to keep themselves amused behind bars.
All the prisoners are believed to be members of the notorious Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) and Barrio 18 gangs in Honduras which is regarded as one the most dangerous countries in the world.
Hondurans were shocked when pictures of the conditions they had enjoyed at the severely overcrowded Marco Aurelio Soto prison were posted on social media.
They included photos of nicely-decorated cells with games consoles where prisoners were allowed to play top games including FIFA and Grand Theft Auto.
In one room, wall decorations included a mirror framed in the shape of a snake in the shape of the number 18 to denote the Barrio 18 gang.
Pictures on the walls included former, mostly dead, gang leaders.
The gang members were transferred to their new maximum security prison under a heavy security escort supervised by the President of Honduras, Juan Orlando Hernandez.
Prisons in Honduras are notorious hotbeds of gang activity, with fights, extortion, drug deals and killings common in the country’s overcrowded facilities.
Having swelled to 20,000 members in just two decades the MS-13 gang has gained notoriety for the brutal way members eliminate their enemies.
The group was started nearly 20 years ago in Los Angeles after millions of immigrants from El Salvador came to the United States after a violent civil war left over 100,000 dead.
The mob's habit butchering victims with machetes and shooting rival gang members in the head points to a chaotic and scatter-gun approach, but there is a level of sophistication behind their operations in the US.
It has been revealed MS-13 is organized around five separate ranks, with secret coded messages shared every day on social media in a complex chain of command ruled by chiefs in El Salvador.
Foot soldiers for the gang must seek permission, sometimes from head honchos inside prison, to carry out executions.
But despite the business-like organization of the group, there is not always big money at stake - members must pay as little as $10 to join in the first place.
The gang has since spread all over the country, and are known widely as the best killers - due to their exceedingly brutal weapon of choice, a machete.
They have clashed regularly with the Barrio 18 firm both inside and out of prison.
The MS-13's rivals also go by the name of the 18th Street Gang, because it started in the 1960s near 18th Street in LA's Rampart District.
EDITOR’S NOTE: MS-13, LA’s gift to Honduras.
SICARIOS WOUND A LOS ZETAS LEADER KILLED BY THE MEXICAN ARMY IN 2010
El Sonrics of Los Zetas was killed in 2010, now turns up alive and shot
By Hector Castro
El Norte
May 18, 2017
Monterrey, México -- The shootout that occurred yesterday in the Cumbres Elite Colonia left an unusual casualty, it was reported that among the two injured was a man that in 2010 was reported killed by the army.
Miguel Abrego Nava, 42 years old, alias "El Sonrics", identified previously as a cell leader of Los Zetas in the south of the State.
Even though military sources signalled that on the 14th of August of 2010 that Abrego, who was one of the jefes that had the nickname "El Sonrics" had been killed with another three jefes in the Caracol Colonia, his name was included yesterday on the list of wounded in Cumbres.
He had been identified as the leader of Los Zetas in San Pedro since 2008. It is reported that the other person wounded yesterday was Eduardo Misael Martinez Rivera, 43 years old, an ex Judicial Police agent from Michoacan.
The attack was around 16:10 on the Cumbres Elite Avenue, between Cumbres de Himalaya and Cumbres de los Andes, in the first sector of Cumbres Elite Colonia, when a pick up that they were driving was shot at by sicarios that shot more than 60 rounds at the car.
Abrego was reported with bullet wounds in the Thorax, legs, and abdomen, meanwhile his accomplice had wounds to the Thorax. Abrego and his accomplice were ambushed by gunmen that were in a car and an Explorer.
Of the more than 60 shots that were fired, 29 hit the windshield of the Ranger and 10 hit the vehicle bodywork.
Despite the number of shots, which were fired in a busy Avenue of a residential sector, and one house had its windows shot out, there were no reports of any injuries outside of the criminals.
Abrego and his companion were aided by aided by Red Cross medics, who transferred them to the University Hospital, where they were last night reported as stable. At the scene of the attack were .223 calibre cartridge cases, used by AR-15 rifles as well as 9mm cartridge cases.
The public record of Abrego dates back to May 25th of 1998, when he was accused of carrying out an execution at a restaurant El Rey de Cabrito, as a debt for a cargo of cocaine.
By Hector Castro
El Norte
May 18, 2017
Monterrey, México -- The shootout that occurred yesterday in the Cumbres Elite Colonia left an unusual casualty, it was reported that among the two injured was a man that in 2010 was reported killed by the army.
Miguel Abrego Nava, 42 years old, alias "El Sonrics", identified previously as a cell leader of Los Zetas in the south of the State.
Even though military sources signalled that on the 14th of August of 2010 that Abrego, who was one of the jefes that had the nickname "El Sonrics" had been killed with another three jefes in the Caracol Colonia, his name was included yesterday on the list of wounded in Cumbres.
He had been identified as the leader of Los Zetas in San Pedro since 2008. It is reported that the other person wounded yesterday was Eduardo Misael Martinez Rivera, 43 years old, an ex Judicial Police agent from Michoacan.
The attack was around 16:10 on the Cumbres Elite Avenue, between Cumbres de Himalaya and Cumbres de los Andes, in the first sector of Cumbres Elite Colonia, when a pick up that they were driving was shot at by sicarios that shot more than 60 rounds at the car.
Abrego was reported with bullet wounds in the Thorax, legs, and abdomen, meanwhile his accomplice had wounds to the Thorax. Abrego and his accomplice were ambushed by gunmen that were in a car and an Explorer.
Of the more than 60 shots that were fired, 29 hit the windshield of the Ranger and 10 hit the vehicle bodywork.
Despite the number of shots, which were fired in a busy Avenue of a residential sector, and one house had its windows shot out, there were no reports of any injuries outside of the criminals.
Abrego and his companion were aided by aided by Red Cross medics, who transferred them to the University Hospital, where they were last night reported as stable. At the scene of the attack were .223 calibre cartridge cases, used by AR-15 rifles as well as 9mm cartridge cases.
The public record of Abrego dates back to May 25th of 1998, when he was accused of carrying out an execution at a restaurant El Rey de Cabrito, as a debt for a cargo of cocaine.
SHOULD A 14-YEAR-OLD BOY HAVE TO REGISTER AS A SEX OFFENDER FOR FUCKING HIS 12-YEAR-OLD GIRL FRIEND?
14-year-old could face life as sex offender for sex with 12-year-old girlfriend
By Brian Rogers
Houston Chronicle
May 18, 2017
A 14-year-old junior high student is facing the possibility of life as a registered sex offender after being arrested for having sex with his 12-year-old girlfriend, according to his attorney.
The teen, who was in seventh grade, is charged with aggravated sexual assault of a child. His girlfriend was a sixth-grader at the time.
"He had consensual sex with his little girlfriend and he loved her. They were boyfriend-girlfriend," the teen's mother told the Chronicle. "And because he turned 14, they want to make him a sex offender, put him on the registry with pedophiles and child molesters—really sick and dangerous people."
The law carves out a defense for juveniles having consensual sex with someone within three years of their age, sometimes called a "Romeo and Juliet" rule, which would allow a 17-year-old to legally have sex with a 14-year-old.
But in Texas that does not apply if one of the parties is under 14.
"The idea that a 14-year-old who has sex with a person just a little bit younger then him or her would be treated as the worst of the worst in our society and placed on the sex offender registry
is really sick," said the teen's attorney, Joseph Gutheinz. He spoke about the case on the condition that his client not be identified.
The Harris County District Attorney's Office did not return calls for comment.
The case illustrates the gray area of criminal responsibility for teens having sex before they are legally able to consent at the age of 17.
Gutheinz said the injustice is that the same 14-year-old who is now a defendant, would not have been charged if the teens were the same age. And he would be considered the victim if the other person was 18 or older, he said.
"If he has sex with someone who is younger by just days but is still 13 years old, he could be charged with one of the most serious offenses we have," he said. "It just blows my mind."
He said the discrepancy thwarts the intent of the law.
"It defeats the whole purpose of the Romeo and Juliet defense where you have two people relatively close in age and maturity," he said. "You would think the law would be more sympathetic as you go younger, because both parties are immature."
The teen's mother said her family "is going through hell."
"Because he was 14 by two months, they want to ruin his life," she said. "What kind of life is he going to have if he's a sex offender?"
Experts said charges being filed for a consensual sexual relationship between minors is not unusual in Harris County, even for teens and tweens.
"I had that exact fact pattern that I fought for a year," said Jackie Stewart Gravois, an attorney with the Harris County Public Defender's Office. "They ended up dismissing it because, ultimately, everyone agreed it was a consensual act."
In her case, the two students were also in junior high and he was 14 and she was 12. After prosecutors were assured that there was no violence or threat of force, it was dismissed.
She said similar cases seem to be on the rise over the past few years.
Gravois was not familiar with the teen's legal battle and spoke generally about those types of cases.
"Usually, if the prosecutors can prove that it was consensual and it was not forced in any way, they typically don't file these cases or they end up dismissing them," she said. "That's going to be up to the discretion of the prosecutor."
She noted that Harris County's juvenile judges have wide discretion over whether a teen will have to register as a sex offender.
"Very rarely do the juvenile judges in Harris County force anyone to register," she said. "They usually delay it and send them to sex offender treatment and then make a decision."
Jay Jenkins, an attorney for the Texas Criminal Justice Coalition, which is pushing to raise the age of criminal responsibility in Texas, has studied prosecution disparities because of age.
He said he is aware of several criminal cases filed against Houston teens accused of having sex with tweens.
"That's the arbitrary nature of our sexual offense laws," he said. "There's very little rationality to those laws."
EDITOR’S NOTE: These two are too immature to be in love like a couple of adults, but he was hot, got her hot, and they went on to trot. For that he should face charges and possibly have to register as a sex offender? Come on, give me a break!
By Brian Rogers
Houston Chronicle
May 18, 2017
A 14-year-old junior high student is facing the possibility of life as a registered sex offender after being arrested for having sex with his 12-year-old girlfriend, according to his attorney.
The teen, who was in seventh grade, is charged with aggravated sexual assault of a child. His girlfriend was a sixth-grader at the time.
"He had consensual sex with his little girlfriend and he loved her. They were boyfriend-girlfriend," the teen's mother told the Chronicle. "And because he turned 14, they want to make him a sex offender, put him on the registry with pedophiles and child molesters—really sick and dangerous people."
The law carves out a defense for juveniles having consensual sex with someone within three years of their age, sometimes called a "Romeo and Juliet" rule, which would allow a 17-year-old to legally have sex with a 14-year-old.
But in Texas that does not apply if one of the parties is under 14.
"The idea that a 14-year-old who has sex with a person just a little bit younger then him or her would be treated as the worst of the worst in our society and placed on the sex offender registry
is really sick," said the teen's attorney, Joseph Gutheinz. He spoke about the case on the condition that his client not be identified.
The Harris County District Attorney's Office did not return calls for comment.
The case illustrates the gray area of criminal responsibility for teens having sex before they are legally able to consent at the age of 17.
Gutheinz said the injustice is that the same 14-year-old who is now a defendant, would not have been charged if the teens were the same age. And he would be considered the victim if the other person was 18 or older, he said.
"If he has sex with someone who is younger by just days but is still 13 years old, he could be charged with one of the most serious offenses we have," he said. "It just blows my mind."
He said the discrepancy thwarts the intent of the law.
"It defeats the whole purpose of the Romeo and Juliet defense where you have two people relatively close in age and maturity," he said. "You would think the law would be more sympathetic as you go younger, because both parties are immature."
The teen's mother said her family "is going through hell."
"Because he was 14 by two months, they want to ruin his life," she said. "What kind of life is he going to have if he's a sex offender?"
Experts said charges being filed for a consensual sexual relationship between minors is not unusual in Harris County, even for teens and tweens.
"I had that exact fact pattern that I fought for a year," said Jackie Stewart Gravois, an attorney with the Harris County Public Defender's Office. "They ended up dismissing it because, ultimately, everyone agreed it was a consensual act."
In her case, the two students were also in junior high and he was 14 and she was 12. After prosecutors were assured that there was no violence or threat of force, it was dismissed.
She said similar cases seem to be on the rise over the past few years.
Gravois was not familiar with the teen's legal battle and spoke generally about those types of cases.
"Usually, if the prosecutors can prove that it was consensual and it was not forced in any way, they typically don't file these cases or they end up dismissing them," she said. "That's going to be up to the discretion of the prosecutor."
She noted that Harris County's juvenile judges have wide discretion over whether a teen will have to register as a sex offender.
"Very rarely do the juvenile judges in Harris County force anyone to register," she said. "They usually delay it and send them to sex offender treatment and then make a decision."
Jay Jenkins, an attorney for the Texas Criminal Justice Coalition, which is pushing to raise the age of criminal responsibility in Texas, has studied prosecution disparities because of age.
He said he is aware of several criminal cases filed against Houston teens accused of having sex with tweens.
"That's the arbitrary nature of our sexual offense laws," he said. "There's very little rationality to those laws."
EDITOR’S NOTE: These two are too immature to be in love like a couple of adults, but he was hot, got her hot, and they went on to trot. For that he should face charges and possibly have to register as a sex offender? Come on, give me a break!
WHAT HAPPENS TO KIDS ON THE SEX OFFENDERS’ REGISTRY?
The sex offenders’ registry results in harassment and death threats, and is a sure job killer
Daily Mail
May 18, 2017
Harris County, Texas prosecutors may choose not to pursue a case of 'sexual assault' between two juveniles if they feel violence or coercion were not involved, according to public attorney Jackie Stewart Gravois.
But others in the state of Texas are not so lucky. Josh Gravens is one of them.
In an interview with The Texas Observer in 2012, he told how he and his sister had touched one another intimately twice in 1999, when he was 12 and she was eight.
That came after his own sexual abuse at the hands of a female babysitter and her two male friends, he said.
'I was sexually confused, and it started to play out with my sister ... Like, where my body part touched her body part. It was never penetrative.
'Obviously, it couldn't have been what they call consensual, but it was playing.'
A Christian counselling center told his mom she had to contact the police. She didn't want to press charges, so the state took up prosecution.
Gravens, now aged 30, admitted all of the claims against him at the time. 'I thought it was so important that I never call my sister a liar,' he said.
In a lot of cases, he says, the victim is called a liar 'and has to deal with it later on. I never wanted that to happen to my sister.'
He was then put on the sex offenders' registry until 2021.
That notes down everything from the person's current appearance - if Josh grows a beard or gets a haircut he needs to file a new picture - to their shoe sizes.
Registered offenders can be subject to random police checks at their home. They cannot vote. Juveniles can be refused access to school education.
Gravens was aged 13 when he was told he would be placed in the Texas Youth Commission (TYC) for three years.
There, he said, he would be beaten up because of his age and the nature of his crime, while the guards turned a blind eye.
After being released aged 16, he joined high school. Everything went well - he was named 'friendliest boy' - until a local newspaper did a report on sex offenders.
He was shunned by his former friends and even teachers.
The same thing happened - but worse - when he went to college to study political science.
After a TV news report on local registered offenders, he began to receive death threats and was chased by a truck full of men throwing bottles at him.
He dropped out, aged 19, and worked on a construction crew until he was let go for his own safety.
'Multiple people had said they planned on throwing me out of the tower,' he explained.
He then got a job traveling around the country, working on wind farms, until he forgot to register while working in Washington state for a month.
As a registered offender, he needs to register in any county that he stays in for more than a week.
He spent 13 days in jail, was fined $2,000 and spent $6,000 on a lawyer to get him out.
Gravens also lost his job, because his parole officer told him he didn't have to tell his new employers about his status, because his case was adjudicated, so technically he was never convicted of a felony.
He got married and bought a pizza restaurant in Witchita Falls, but decided to commute from another county because he didn't want to have to register as a sex offender where his business was.
The police found out; he was fined again and lost his business.
The local prosecutor considered sending him to jail for eight years, while he was expecting his first child.
He was spared that when his sister wrote a letter to the judge asking for clemency.
As of 2012, he was working in Plano, Texas, and considering going back to college. He still lives in the state.
Josh told The Texas Observer that his faith and the 'strong support' of his family had kept him going through his trials. But he knows many don't have either.
'I've never had thoughts of suicide,' he said. 'But if any person were weaker than me, mentally or whatnot, it would crush them.'
Daily Mail
May 18, 2017
Harris County, Texas prosecutors may choose not to pursue a case of 'sexual assault' between two juveniles if they feel violence or coercion were not involved, according to public attorney Jackie Stewart Gravois.
But others in the state of Texas are not so lucky. Josh Gravens is one of them.
In an interview with The Texas Observer in 2012, he told how he and his sister had touched one another intimately twice in 1999, when he was 12 and she was eight.
That came after his own sexual abuse at the hands of a female babysitter and her two male friends, he said.
'I was sexually confused, and it started to play out with my sister ... Like, where my body part touched her body part. It was never penetrative.
'Obviously, it couldn't have been what they call consensual, but it was playing.'
A Christian counselling center told his mom she had to contact the police. She didn't want to press charges, so the state took up prosecution.
Gravens, now aged 30, admitted all of the claims against him at the time. 'I thought it was so important that I never call my sister a liar,' he said.
In a lot of cases, he says, the victim is called a liar 'and has to deal with it later on. I never wanted that to happen to my sister.'
He was then put on the sex offenders' registry until 2021.
That notes down everything from the person's current appearance - if Josh grows a beard or gets a haircut he needs to file a new picture - to their shoe sizes.
Registered offenders can be subject to random police checks at their home. They cannot vote. Juveniles can be refused access to school education.
Gravens was aged 13 when he was told he would be placed in the Texas Youth Commission (TYC) for three years.
There, he said, he would be beaten up because of his age and the nature of his crime, while the guards turned a blind eye.
After being released aged 16, he joined high school. Everything went well - he was named 'friendliest boy' - until a local newspaper did a report on sex offenders.
He was shunned by his former friends and even teachers.
The same thing happened - but worse - when he went to college to study political science.
After a TV news report on local registered offenders, he began to receive death threats and was chased by a truck full of men throwing bottles at him.
He dropped out, aged 19, and worked on a construction crew until he was let go for his own safety.
'Multiple people had said they planned on throwing me out of the tower,' he explained.
He then got a job traveling around the country, working on wind farms, until he forgot to register while working in Washington state for a month.
As a registered offender, he needs to register in any county that he stays in for more than a week.
He spent 13 days in jail, was fined $2,000 and spent $6,000 on a lawyer to get him out.
Gravens also lost his job, because his parole officer told him he didn't have to tell his new employers about his status, because his case was adjudicated, so technically he was never convicted of a felony.
He got married and bought a pizza restaurant in Witchita Falls, but decided to commute from another county because he didn't want to have to register as a sex offender where his business was.
The police found out; he was fined again and lost his business.
The local prosecutor considered sending him to jail for eight years, while he was expecting his first child.
He was spared that when his sister wrote a letter to the judge asking for clemency.
As of 2012, he was working in Plano, Texas, and considering going back to college. He still lives in the state.
Josh told The Texas Observer that his faith and the 'strong support' of his family had kept him going through his trials. But he knows many don't have either.
'I've never had thoughts of suicide,' he said. 'But if any person were weaker than me, mentally or whatnot, it would crush them.'
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