Anti-Immigration Vigilante Convicted Of Killing 9-Year-Old Girl, Her Father

[TampaYankee]

Shawna Forde, Anti-Immigration Vigilante, Convicted Of Killing Nine-Year-Old Girl And Her Father In Arizona

Elise Foley HuffPost Reporting elise@huffingtonpost.com

WASHINGTON -- An Arizona anti-illegal immigration activist was convicted on Monday of killing two Latinos during a 2009 raid: nine-year-old Brisenia Flores and her father, Raul Flores. The killer, Shawna Forde, is a member of the Minutemen, which patrols the southern border vigilante-style to detect illegal entry into the country.

Although the shootings were never classified as a hate crime, Latino groups argue the murders reflect growing anti-immigrant sentiment within the United States. The details are chilling: Forde and two others entered the Flores home, allegedly looking for a million-dollar drug stash that never materialized, and shot both of Brisenia Flores' parents before turning the gun on the child.

As her mother played dead, Brisenia Flores said, "Please don't shoot me," before being shot twice in the head.

A jury convicted Forde of planning and executing the raid that led to the deaths of Raul and Brisenia Flores, and of the attempted murder of Gina Gonzales, the child's mother (she survived the attack). Forde was also convicted on two counts of aggravated assault and counts of burglary, armed robbery and aggravated robbery.

The jury will announce Forde's sentence on Thursday; her alleged accomplices, Albert Robert Gaxiola and Jason Eugene Bush, still await trial.

Joaquin Guerra, campaign director for Latino activism group Presente.org, told HuffPost the conviction is "justice for a little girl whose death was ignored by the mainstream media." The case largely escaped the notice of major news outlets until a few weeks ago, when a number of national news sources covered Forde's trial.

Few politicians spoke out against the murders, which occurred in a state that later passed the hotly-contested SB1070 immigration law and is now considering a bill that would deny citizenship to children born to undocumented immigrants.

Latinos organized to bring attention to the Flores killings, including a campaign by Presente.org to shed light on the case.

"What we have shown is that Latinos are watching, and if people and parties want the Latino vote, they will have to speak out against things like this," Guerra said. "We hope her death wasn't in vain and that it serves as an example of what can happen when the types of conditions that are in Arizona are allowed to go unchecked and are legitimated as serious policy issues."

See original story at:http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/14/shawna-forde-convicted_n_823206.html

[Guest zipperzone]

Few politicians spoke out against the murders, which occurred in a state that later passed the hotly-contested SB1070 immigration law and is now considering a bill that would deny citizenship to children born to undocumented immigrants.

Is this even possible? I assumed citizenship regulations would be a Federal jurisdiction.

They say that had the mother not survived it is likely the killers would have never been caught.

[TampaYankee]

Is this even possible? I assumed citizenship regulations would be a Federal jurisdiction.

They say that had the mother not survived it is likely the killers would have never been caught.

Should this pass expect a stay to be issued by a Federal Court which will be followed by the law being stricken down on Consitututional grounds.

All this speaks to the crazies out there from the murders to the crazy legislatures and the Birch-izing of the GOP. South Dakota is now trying to legalize the killing of abortion doctors and support personnel. The scary thing is that they can do it. Sure the Feds can prosecute murders as Civil Rights violations but how many crazies will be fanned to acting based on the State sanctioning the action.

I never thought I'd live to see such crazy times and crazy actions by people that I thought were reasonable and rational at earlier points in time.

[Guest zipperzone]

I never thought I'd live to see such crazy times and crazy actions by people that I thought were reasonable and rational at earlier points in time.

The middle of the country sounds like it's goin' to hell in a hand basket.

I think the only place in the U.S. I'd choose to live in is on the west coast or the New England states. Everything else sounds too much like Iran. (And I'm not totally sure about Arnie Land)

[TampaYankee]

I don't know how this thread got locked inadvertently. I can see no reason that it would have been done on purpose. <scratching my head> I apologize for the screw up.

[TampaYankee]

Shawna Forde Sentenced To Death For Double Murder In Arizona

Elise Foley HuffPost Reporting elise@huffingtonpost.com

WASHINGTON -- Shawna Forde, whom a jury convicted last week of murdering nine-year-old Brisenia Flores and her father, Raul Flores, was sentenced to death by an Arizona jury on Tuesday. The unanimous jury ruling is binding.

The court found that Forde led a group of anti-immigrant vigilantes in a March 2009 raid on the Flores home, where they posed as immigration agents and pushed their way through the door.

She and her accomplices, Albert Robert Gaxiola and Jason Eugene Bush, allegedly shot Raul Flores before turning their guns on Brisenia, who begged not to be shot. Gina Gonzalez, Brisenia's mother, played dead and survived the attack.

The case was not designated as a hate crime, despite Forde's long history with anti-immigrant organizations. She once maintained a Tea Party blog, was a member of Minuteman Civil Defense Corps and has presented herself as a representative of Federation for American Immigration Reform. (All three have since distanced themselves from her.) After being cast out from the Minuteman group due to erratic behavior, she formed her own vigilante group, called Minutemen American Defense, which also patrolled the United States-Mexico border trying to detect illegal immigration.

Latino advocacy groups have rallied to draw attention to the case, which drew little media attention until Forde's murder trial this year.

"What we have shown is that Latinos are watching, and if people and parties want the Latino vote, they will have to speak out against things like this," Joaquin Guerra, campaign director for Latino activism group Presente.org, told HuffPost last week. "We hope her death wasn't in vain and that it serves as an example of what can happen when the types of conditions that are in Arizona are allowed to go unchecked and are legitimated as serious policy issues."

See original article at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/22/shawna-forde-sentenced-to-death-double-murder_n_826861.html

[TampaYankee]

Personally, I'm conflicted about the death penalty.

On one level I feel a repulsive lack of humanity in the state coldly, dispassionately, taking a person's life. On the other hand in some cases that is the reason why people are being executed. Their actions rose to that level of abhorrent human transgression.

I'm also aware of valid arguments on each side that support their respective views. I can see the strengths and weaknesses of each side. I won't recount them here.

My view against captiol punishment is most strongly informed by the prospect of a mistaken conviction. I know these have happened and probably will happen in the future. I know that the system is NOT set up to guarantee or even to go an extra distance to see that guilt is not wrongly determined. I know there is extensive appeals process but this is focused on sufficiency of process and not on review of basic innocence and guilt. The weakness of the system is fanned by the attitudes that it is a win/lose contest that reflects on the offices and attorneys involved. That should not be a driver in trials but it is.

My view for capitol punishment is most strongly informed by this case and others like it where the transgression is so abhorrent that Society needs to send the message that some crimes are so horrendous that the perpetrators have forfeited any right to share an existence with the rest of humanity.

These conflicts leave me not so much indecisive as vascillating from case to case with the ultimate punishment restricted to the most abhorrent with a strong forensics foundation for determination of guilt. In this case I have no qualms about this outcome.

[lookin]

TY, I don't say often enough how much I appreciate the thoughtfulness you put into your positions, as well as the issues you choose to explore. I'll try to say so more often.

I've thought a lot about the death penalty issue too and every time one like this comes along I think about it again. I don't recall ever ending up on the 'pro' side. The decision not to take another person's life is one I made early on, along with a desire to see it off the table for my country.

It's not that this woman hasn't committed an abhorrent act and shouldn't be singled out for the worst punishment the state has to offer. She's a monster. They could stick her in the Phoenix Zoo for the rest of her life and charge admission for all I care.

A bigger issue for me is the message my government sends when, through legalizing the death penalty, it sets up a class of murder which it says is OK. In my opinion, it brings the act of taking someone's life closer to each of us.

It's heartbreaking to see young men and woman talk about killing someone as if it's an everyday event. If we're to remain a civilized society, I think that message needs to be countered emphatically and soon.

Ideally, parents would pass on that value to their children, with the government backing them up. As long there's a death penalty, I think kids are getting a mixed message at best.

[Guest zipperzone]

If we're talking about sheer punishment, I think life in prison without parole is a much heavier penalty. Given a choice I would take death over life in a NY minute. I can't think of anything worse than being incarcerated with a bunch of raging convicts for the rest of my natural days.

[TampaYankee]

If we're talking about sheer punishment, I think life in prison without parole is a much heavier penalty. Given a choice I would take death over life in a NY minute. I can't think of anything worse than being incarcerated with a bunch of raging convicts for the rest of my natural days.

That is what separates you and many of us from those who commit these abhorrent crimes. Many convicts come to grow and feed on the environment and each other. That might be a fitting end if only the worst of the worst left together and segregated from others and they acutally didn't thrive on the experience. Unfortunately, many less deserving of that environment are also subjected to the worst of the worst.

In my ideal world, my sense and sensibilities would be served by launching deserving individuals into space in a capsule with food, water and life support services such that they would never encounter a life form again. Of course this also assumes a rightful conviction of the abhorrent crime which is another can of worms.

[TampaYankee]

TY, I don't say often enough how much I appreciate the ...

lookin,

Thanks for the nice words. I think we have a pretty special collection of posters here, yourself included. Our forum participation may be narrow but it is also deep. We don't engage in a lot of mindless fluff, tantrums and bitch fests. When something of substance is posted it often finds thoughtful responses of equal substance.

For those who may wish to contrast our photo forum with our substance, I say that they are damn fine photos from damn fine contributors with great taste. We are a site dedicated to hot men and male escorts. These photo contributions and contributors support that site and member interst and they do a bang-up job. Thanks to all positive participants.

[RA1]

As a possibly interesting aside, I have seen it argued that in the US it costs more in dollars to put someone to death than it does to imprision them for life. That would partly be based upon the endless mandatory appeals, the "special" housing, the additional appointment of attorneys, etc. In other words, the "machinery" of our justice system. It is the real world practice of perhaps letting one guilty man go free to avoid executing an innocent one.

Certainly we have a plethora of human foibles built into our justice system. Eye witnesses are all too often wrong or can be persuaded by the prosecution or defense or both. I think today often it takes several eye witnesses to convict someone. Regardless of all that, we are advancing rather well technologically. DNA evidence in general is very persuasive to me.

Best regards,

RA1

[lookin]

Illinois today became the sixteenth state to outlaw the death penalty.

Gov. Pat Quinn, a Democrat who has long supported capital punishment, looked drained moments after signing the historic legislation. Lawmakers sent him the measure back in January, but Quinn went through two months of intense personal deliberation before acting. He called it the most difficult decision he has made as governor. "If the system can't be guaranteed, 100-percent error-free, then we shouldn't have the system," Quinn said. "It cannot stand."

. . .

Quinn also commuted the sentences of all 15 men remaining on death row. They will now serve life in prison with no hope of parole.

In his comments, the governor returned often to the fact that 20 people sent to death row had seen their cases overturned after evidence surfaced that they were innocent or had been convicted improperly.

. . .

Republican Rep. Jim Durkin of Westchester predicted Quinn will pay a political price if he seeks re-election in four years. Some terrible murder that cries out for the death penalty is bound to occur and grab voters' attention, he said.

One can only hope. [/sarcasm]

[Lucky]

In reading the posts from Tampa Yankee and lookin, I would have thought we were pretty much in the same line of thinking, but here I am glad to see the death penalty imposed. I know the objections to it, and I agree that it has to be imposed rarely and fairly. But some people are just evil. The acts they commit deserve our highest punishment. Gacy, for example.

Here's my best example for the death penalty:

William George Bonin (January 8, 1947 – February 23, 1996) was an American serial killer and a twice-paroled sex offender,[1] also known as the Freeway Killer, a nickname he shares with two other serial killers. Between 1979 and 1980, Bonin tortured, raped and killed a minimum of 21 boys and young men, and is suspected of committing a further fifteen. Bonin was convicted and eventually executed in 1996 for 14 of these murders.-

Bonin had a preference for young boys. The LA Times once printed the pictures of many of his victims, and it was one of the most heartbreaking things you ever saw. He actually stuck hot pokers up their asses in his cruelty. So yes, some guys deserve to die.

The victims whose lives were cut short:

[lookin]

Lucky, I also think we share a lot of the same views. Moreover, I don't find anything in your post that I disagree with. I think it's just the different perspectives we're coming from.

When I look at these compassionless freaks, I can't find any justification for them to keep living. I think you and I would agree there.

It's just that when I look inside to see if I personally want to be responsible for taking another person's life, or encouraging my government to do it for me, the answer comes back 'no'. In order for it to come back 'yes', I'd have to consider myself entitled to have the power of life and death over another person. And I just don't think I am.