The Marine who wandered into Mexico with a trunkload of guns is to be released:
A Mexican federal district judge in Tijuana on Friday ordered the immediate release of a U.S. Marine veteran behind bars in Baja California on federal weapons charges.
Andrew Tahmooressi was on trial for crossing the border with ammunition and three loaded weapons on March 31. The Mexican Attorney General’s Office agreed to cease its prosecution of Tahmooressi and allow him to return to the United States.
The agreement brings to a close a high-profile case that has resounded far beyond the border. In the United States, it has prompted calls for his release from politicians, veterans groups, conservative talk show hosts. But for months there had been an impasse, as Mexican federal prosecutors insisted that the case be resolved through the courts — not through diplomatic or political pressure.
I’m predicting that all the wingnuts spamming my FB feed will either A.) Ignore this or B.) Find a way to blame Obama for it taking so long.
BillinGlendaleCA
My guess is B.
BillinGlendaleCA
@efgoldman: The nerve of the Mesikins not respectin’ the 2nd Amendment. Who do they think they are, their own country or sumthin’.
ETA: If Obummer had shown Leadership none of this would have happened. I think that will sum it up.
Omnes Omnibus
He drove into Mexico by mistake? Nice land nav skills, jarhead.
BillinGlendaleCA
@Omnes Omnibus: None of this would have happened if we had just listened to John(you know he was a POW) McCain; and just built the dang wall.
Omnes Omnibus
@BillinGlendaleCA: Or given marines basic land navigation skills, Although, I will admit that during WWII, my grandfather was leading a small column of vehicles and accidental found himself behind German lines. He quickly and, through pure luck, steered the column back where it was supposed to be without any harm. In his defense, the front line was a somewhat movable and nebulous entity – unlike the US-Mexican national border.
kindness
John don’t be silly. The wingnutz will do both.
Rainin’ hard out here. God knows we need the rain.
John Revolta
Look, knucklehead, it’s simple. I’ll explain it so even YOU can understand it.
1) People who come to America from other countries have to follow the laws of America.
2) People from America who travel to other countries also have to follow the laws of America. Fair’s fair, right?
3) Except guns. Because, America!
How hard is this really?
BillinGlendaleCA
@kindness: I’ve seen a few drops here in the Southland. The bulk of the rain should be here for the 11pm news.
OT: I’m testing out my new router with a USB drive attached. I’ve discovered that copying 30gb of data over the network is probably not the best way to accomplish that task. It does provide some useful benchmarks.
Villago Delenda Est
It is indeed unfortunate that the judge in Mexico didn’t let this guy face justice for his obvious crime, and his arrogance.
It’s also unfortunate that this idiot’s fuckhead advocates can’t all be deported to Mexico to stand trial for being shitheads.
Omnes Omnibus
@Omnes Omnibus: “giving” not “given.” Oy.
West of the Cascades
My question to wingnuts: would they feel the same way if a Mexican army veteran who has PTSD from fighting the drug war within his country (largely a product of US demand of course) were to “accidentally” enter the US with a trunk full of weapons and a loaded handgun within reach?
Of course not – their response would be a question whether the Border Patrol was wise to fire only 400 bullets at his car, or whether it should have used a bazooka, too.
Cacti
Umm yeah.
This guy’s story that he just accidentally wandered the extremely conspicuous San Ysidro border crossing and managed to miss all of those signs saying “don’t take your guns to Mexico” always struck me as some weapons grade bullshit.
BillinGlendaleCA
@Cacti: San Ysidro? They do have the dang wall there.
Omnes Omnibus
@Cacti: I have never been near that border area (or Mexico at all); is the area well labeled? Or is it possible, in your view, to cross the border like unknowingly crossing a state border on a back road?
BillinGlendaleCA
@Omnes Omnibus: Take a look at the area on teh Google Maps. San Ysidro is where I-5 ends at the border.
SiubhanDuinne
@BillinGlendaleCA:
WaitWUT?
KG
@Omnes Omnibus: I don’t think there are too many back roads between the us and Mexico. But it’s been a long time since I’ve been closer to the border than the gas lamp district
BillinGlendaleCA
@SiubhanDuinne: He doesn’t like to talk about it.
Omnes Omnibus
@BillinGlendaleCA: Okay then. No way he didn’t know he was crossing the border. And there are signs about guns? If so, he is an idiot (but then again, he did choose to be a marine so that may be redundant).
Omnes Omnibus
@KG: I am more familiar with the Canadian border.
SiubhanDuinne
@Cacti:
What you did there. Seen.
SiubhanDuinne
@BillinGlendaleCA:
That probably explains why I have never heard a thing about it until naow.
GregB
We can assume the Republicans will now be outraged about Obama allowing a released criminal cross the border from Mexico into the US.
max
@Omnes Omnibus: I have never been near that border area (or Mexico at all); is the area well labeled?
It’s actually in the city of San Diego. If he got caught on a one way, which can happen to regular people, his story makes sense, otherwise not.
max
[‘Boneheaded mistake or raging bonehead?’]
max
I’m predicting that all the wingnuts spamming my FB feed will either A.) Ignore this or B.) Find a way to blame Obama for it taking so long.
You almost had it Cole! See this dude was on one of the missions that was ordered not to save Benghazi, so to keep him quiet that sent him to San Diego, so they had to bail him out because he KNOWS ALL THE SEKRITS, and thus his being helped out his jam is PROOF that Hitlery killed all those guys in the embassy with her own bare hands. While wearing a burka, of course.
max
[‘Have you lost your touch dude?’]
Omnes Omnibus
@max: He may have been away from the RWNJ mothership long enough that it doesn’t come naturally anymore.
Viva BrisVegas
@John Revolta:
If you think you are joking, just look up the Trans Pacific Partnership Treaty.
If you haven’t heard of it before, don’t be surprised, because it’s being negotiated in almost complete secrecy.
Ruckus
@max:
Except that even on the one way there is a turn around and one would have to be a massive idiot and passed out to miss the fact that it is a national border. There are signs that you are leaving US territory and then more that you are entering Mexico, along with armed guards. That or lying.
burnspbesq
@Viva BrisVegas:
Almost complete secrecy except for the wild-ass rumors being promulgated by emo-progs who don’t know shit. But that’s OK. Perhaps you’d like to explain how it’s going to go through the Senate ratification process and collect 67 votes in almost complete secrecy.
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
@Ruckus: I’ll take lying for $500, Alex.
Omnes Omnibus
@Viva BrisVegas: He was joking.
Mike G
It’s been a few years, but my recollection is that there were prominent signs on I-5 for the last several miles indicating “International Border x miles”, “Last USA Exit” and “Do not bring guns into Mexico”.
Deecarda
He may be bringing the Ebola back to America, quarantine may be in order.
Ruckus
@a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q):
Yeah, that’s my take. Combine the two.
Massive lying idiot.
Omnes Omnibus
@Deecarda: Eek.
Gian
@Omnes Omnibus:
I once or twice have driven that border crossing.
to not freaking notice the border coming up, the guy must have been drinking the Russian vodka with wood alcohol that causes blindness and death after dropping serious acid.
were I a total cynic, I’s suspect he was working for a drug cartel and was going to kill people and got cold feet. But really he’s just a PTSD guy who decided to boost adrenaline by carrying loaded guns over an international border by “accident”
Omnes Omnibus
@Gian: So, no accident then?
Gian
@max:
fuck no, san diego proper is well to the fuck north of the actual border. it’s nowhere near the city. get a fucking map
edit, I think you may have left out an intended conditional and the city of san diego does have a bunch of one way streets, so I owe you an apology.
Sorry.
Culture of Truth
I saw the House hearing on this issue. Montel Williams started crying and screaming for Obama to get him released from Mexico. Pretty much sums up the whole weird event.
Culture of Truth
At the House hearing, when not bashing Obama, witness emphasized he is suffering from PTSD. Also some witneses and Congressmen when on and on about how Obama negotiated for Bergdahl but not this guy. Unfortuntely some of Tahmooressi’s friends and family decided the best way to help him was to to trash and smear Bowe Bergdahl, which struck me as really tasteless and inappropriate. Also in some way his jailing was just really really unjust, as if somehow US veterans shouldn’t have to obey other countries’ laws and also Obama hates America.
Deecarda
I remember a border crossing into Juarez with my brother. At the last minute he did a ‘Uie’ across multiple lanes so he could dump the bag of Mexican dirt weed before we crossed! Subtle much?
AnotherBruce
@Culture of Truth: Fuck these guys, lets dump Montel William’s worthless ass in the middle of a Tijuana barrio. Worthless ammosexual shitheads.
bmoak
The “accidental” crossing story is full of shit. Tahmooressi admitted that earlier on the day of his arrest, he parked his car full o’guns on the U.S. side of the border, walked into Mexico and stayed at a Tijuana hotel, and later walked back out. Then he “accidentally” drove his car into Mexico, not knowing he was crossing that border he had crossed twice that day.
http://www.cnn.com/2014/06/06/world/americas/mexico-u-s-marine-detained/
Ari
Not sure what’s happening but every time I go onto this site in particular today with firefox it immediately hangs the browser (I’m on Chrome now). Anyone else getting anything similar?
Omnes Omnibus
In the end, since it ended in no prosecution, the specifics of what the jarhead did don’t really matter. It pulls the rug out from a right wing meme, and that is okay with me.
Deecarda
@Omnes Omnibus:
The thing about a RW meme is when the rug gets pulled out, they cover their ears & close their eyes & never acknowledge they were wrong.
BillinGlendaleCA
I just finished my walk, I’m all wet due to water falling from the sky. Should I be concerned?
Steeplejack (tablet)
@BillinGlendaleCA:
Twenty-one days’ quarantine for you, bucko! Just to be on the safe side.
Hal
@Culture of Truth: I saw Williams on Chris Hayes a few weeks ago and they showed that clip of him boo hooing. I couldn’t figure out what is was the Montel Williams wanted the Feds to do exactly. Hayes at one point talked about this being a civil criminal matter, and that if you broke the law in a foreign country the US doesn’t have jurisdiction to swoop in and take you back home. Williams was saying this guy was a PTSD sufferer and this was all a simple mistake.
The Bergdahl comparison is just idiotic. This guy wasn’t being held by a terrorist organization. Montel should stick to trying to get poor people to sign up for a loans with 300+ interest rates.
Viva BrisVegas
@burnspbesq:
Nobody knows shit about it because it’s being negotiated in almost complete secrecy.
I said it was being negotiated in almost complete secrecy, not that it would go through the Senate in secret.
By the time it gets to the Senate it will be wrapped in in a nice corporate friendly bow and will doubtless sail through almost unopposed.
El Caganer
@Viva BrisVegas: I thought TPP was dead in the water ’cause the Japanese thought they were getting dicked. But I haven’t followed it for a few months, so I’m kinda behind.
Omnes Omnibus
@Viva BrisVegas: Why should we believe you?
buster
@Gian: sorry, San Ysidro was annexed into SD last century, using the trick of a dotted line to connect to San Diego proper.
andy
Ahhh… that’s what those stupid fucks were ranting about… “jailed Marine.”
Since when does wearing the Globe and Anchor sometime in your life entitle you to a fucking get-out-of-jail-free card?
Mandalay
Meanwhile on our side of the border:
A white Muslim I assume; any other scenario is unpossible.
max
@Gian: @Gian: fuck no, san diego proper is well to the fuck north of the actual border. it’s nowhere near the city. get a fucking map
Oy. I did, because before tonight I did not know what area he was in when he reached the crossing. So I checked the Google to make sure and the city limits of San Diego run right up to the border. That said, you are correct – the proper ‘city’ isn’t really down there.
Previously, I had been thinking the guy tried to cross at some place where the highway is a two-lane black top surrounded by scrub and tumbleweeds with one sleepy guard waving people through at the border. (There are a number of places along the border that are exactly like that.) The footage I saw tonight indicated a six lane divided highway. I have been forced to go through toll plazas because I took the wrong entrance ramp, and I had a friend who took a wrong turn and had to drive through to Tijuana and then turn around and come back across.
Pictures of an urban highway (with lots of signs) made his story much more plausible than pictures of a sleepy one-goat town.
As it is, the guy is presumably going to lose his truck, his guns and he spent eight months in a Tijuana prison, and nobody has yet shown me he is one of those ‘patriots’ who are gung ho to patrol the border and beat back the Mexican muslims with the terrorist Ebolas when they try to cross. Given that the Mexican prosecutors let him go, I’m going to suppose he just screwed up and leave it at that.
Generally speaking, I got tired of everyone going all Nancy Grace every time anyone gets busted for anything, so I made a conscious decision a couple of years ago to operate like people (all of them) were actually innocent until proven guilty regardless of the circumstances. Give me a reason not to believe the dude the dude merely screwed up rather than deliberately doing something sinister and I’m there, otherwise not.
max
[‘Don’t matter much anymore.’]
Viva BrisVegas
@Omnes Omnibus:
Because I have an honest face?
@El Caganer:
The Japanese were pissed off at the US keeping tariffs on imported cars, but now they get to keep their tariffs on agricultural imports, so they’re back on board.
Or so rumour says.
Gian
@Omnes Omnibus:
well if PTSD from gunfire were to make you load guns and take risks as opposed to trying to avoid risks, I’d buy the defense.
If this guy was named Abdul, and was crossing the same border the other way, the outcry would be “get a rope” from the right wing…. Hell same if he was named Jose’
he was up to no good… Just how bad his “no good” was is another matter. But this was as much an “accident” as forgetting your keys in the car of a date is an “accident”
Joseph Nobles
@Mandalay: A white Muslim who got his picture taken with Greg Abbott, the GOP candidate for Texas governor? Yeah, maybe… ;-)
Gian
@max:
I’ve driven it. granted from the 5 and not the 805, you have to be insane to not notice it. I used to drive over it to just go shopping. I remember buying some cool shoes and a bacon wrapped filet 20 years ago.
Nancy Grace has had cases overturned for her unethical conduct.
That border was hard to miss before 9-11. I doubt it got easier after. the location is called san ysidro
NotMax
Halls of Montezuma?
Check.
Next stop, Tripoli!
BillinGlendaleCA
@NotMax:
Wrong city in Libya.
NotMax
@BillinGlendaleCA
The Republican House hasn’t passed (multiple times) a bill to change the lyrics of the song from “the shores of Tripoli” to “the mosques of Benghazi.”
Yet.
? Martin
Holy shit I’m tired. The good news?
ITS RAINING IN CALIFORNIA!!!
Not enough, but I don’t think I’ve seen it rain in a year and a half.
? Martin
Holy shit I’m tired. The good news?
ITS RAINING IN CALIFORNIA!!!
Not enough, but I don’t think I’ve seen it rain in a year and a half.
BillinGlendaleCA
@NotMax: I guess TJ isn’t the Halls of Montezuma either.
BillinGlendaleCA
@? Martin: It deserved to be said twice. I got wet on my walk tonight. According to the news on the TV machine, it’s snowing in NorCal.
PurpleGirl
@? Martin: Enjoy the rain. I know how badly you need it. If I could ship rain from the East Coast to California, I would.
BlueDWarrior
Republicans, and Conservatives in general, just want to be right and piss off liberals. Anything that either A) makes them wrong and/or B) makes liberals happy is something that has to be crushed into the ground, and then ground into dust.
One thing that comes to mind are all of the products that make our energy use lower while maintaining the same or even enhancing our quality of life or productivity. We will go out of our way to buy something that will cost us more money, but we do it to stick it to the libs.
When you have half the electorate that thinks like this, it should be small wonder our political process appears irrevocably busted.
greg
So this is why FX cancelled ‘The Bridge’. This much reality is too close to reality. Fuck reality, and fuck FX.
opiejeanne
@? Martin: It’s 20 to 1am and it’s raining pretty hard in Bakersfield.
If we could we’d send you some of the rain that’s been hitting the PNW; we’re getting a bit more than we need at my house, and the past couple of weeks we’ve averaged 2 inches per week.
kdaug
Apparently I can win Lingerie For Life now, along with some Oil of Olay (Ultra, natch).
Reckon we should count our blessings, and I’m sure it’s all lovely, but what the hell did I click on?
tsquared2001
@BlueDWarrior: I am not a fan of societal neutrality that seems to be going along with this “proud to be an asshole so suck it libs” attitude. Christie is the worst but even ordinary people at town halls yelling at disabled people, interrupting, exhibiting completely horrible manners but have NO shame about their behavior.
Not a Scarlet Letter but maybe some kind of sign. “Yes, I Was Raised By Wolves” placard could be worked up.
Emerald
I’m in Oceanside watching the radar. I think we’re gonna get a leetle bitsy bit of rain in about an hour or two. Maybe more than sprinkles. But we’re not gonna get any of that yellow stuff on the radar, just green stuff.
We haven’t had a real soaking rain here since the end of January 2013. Two or three times it’s sprinkled a little bit since then. That’s it.
My lawn is dead. I’m gonna put mulch over it.
NotMax
The big annual Halloween event in Lahaina appears to be completely rained out – just looked at a webcam and it’s coming down in torrents.
Another Holocene Human
Let’s go with C, do what the MSM is doing, lie through omission about the fact that this guy had been back and forth across the border and only called “oops” when the Federales wanted to look in his trunk … “Oops.”
Nowhere in NPR’s headline recap this morning did they mention any details that might make the Mexican government look less, you know, cray cray, and more people who make rational decisions based on the preponderance of the evidence. More loads of manure for bullshit mountain.
Another Holocene Human
@burnspbesq: TPPT Negotiations:
And by Republican union leaders who love conspiracy theories because they offer a sweet escape from their nagging cycle of shame, selling out, ineffectiveness, rejection by rank and file, and feelings of inadequacy and depression. Get it right!
Another Holocene Human
max,
I like to reason, so let’s reason this through.
Though experiment:
Suzy-Q is a Southern California native who has never been in the military but who has PTSD from an abusive relationship that she just escaped 18 months ago, as well as some really bad pain from some injuries that occurred when her ex kicked the shit out of her.
One day she drives to San Ysidro in her trusty little KIA. There is an epic, and I mean epic, sick shit-ton of weed in her trunk. She has a medical marijuana card although I will emphasize that this is way more weed than she would smoke in a day. Suzy-Q gets up to that area where you can turn off and park your car on the American side because, hey, shit-ton of weed and Tijuana doesn’t have medical marijuana licenses. She crosses the border on foot.
In Tijuana she checks into a hotel and hangs around for much of the day. We don’t know if she meets anybody or makes any other plans. She walks back to the US.
Then she gets in her car and drives to the Mexican border.
Choose your own adventure!
The Federales do a random search of Suzy-Q’s vehicle. They can smell the weed when they open the trunk and they arrest Suzy-Q over her strident protests that it’s all a mistake and charge her with whatever they call possession with intent to distribute south of the border.
Is drug-runnin’, smokin’ tokin’ Suzy front page on Newsmax and Breitbart, toast of Twitchy and #tcot, subject of furious House hearings, and calls for Obummer to do something?
You decide!
Mike J
@opiejeanne:
Sounds like the first line in a Buck Owens song,
raven
@Mike J: Sposed to be pretty cold here too and the local stations love to freak out when the slightest snow is forecast.
Your Mom
On the behalf of the United States Military, I offer a hearty FUCK YOU!
Asshole liberal…
You’re welcome.
delk
@BillinGlendaleCA: It snowed in Chicago Friday. Massive wind storm too. A tree across the street from me was knocked down.
Frankensteinbeck
I’m going with C) vilify this man because Obama saved him, so he must be evil and not worth saving. What they were saying five minutes ago is irrelevant.
@Viva BrisVegas:
I’m not sure rumor has been right once during Obama’s presidency. I was promised, promised, that he was going to gut social security years ago. Oh, and that he was going to announce an excuse to not withdraw from Iraq and Afghanistan. And then there was the time he colluded with BP to hide the oil spill…
Stevep
The first article I read about this came from a wingnut FB friend, and it had a quote from the guy’s congressman along the lines of, if the president had just made a phone call to the Mexican president this could have been finished months ago, but he was too busy playing golf.
What a dick.
mattH
@Frankensteinbeck: You know, I’d be tempted to agree with you, but treaties are fun things, from the secretive nature of how they are negotiated, to the up-or-down vote the Senate has to take on them. Makes them a rather unique way to pass legislation and should be both more transparent and rarely used. In this case they could be more transparent just to guarantee the rumor mongering was less rampant. Besides, we have NAFTA to blame for a lot of things wrong with Mexico and it was more transparent than this is.
Steve from Antioch
At my favorite wingnut site the line is: The fact that this is happening only a few days before the election proves that Obama delayed it for political purposes.
Jay C
@andy:
When Glenn Beck gets hold of the story, and it further gets spread around the Right-Wing Media AND there’s an opportunity for Obama-bashing besides, then yeah. Various wingnuts have been flogging the Andrew Tahmooresi case for months – never mind the holes in his story, or his contradictory accounts*, or his attempted escape – if there’s a chance to rake The Kenyan Muslim Usurper over something, it doesn’t have to bear any relation to reality: flogging the tale as “Hero Marine Unjustly Held In Vile Mexican Jail” will get the clicks just the same.
*Tahmooresi’s “defense” was basically: “made a wrong turn”
kindness
Who kept the guns and ammo? Probably the Mexican authorities. Which means they’re floating around the country right now. Fast and Furious libelz.
Ella in New Mexico
@Omnes Omnibus:
Hey, Hey HEY! DON’T BE A JUDGEY JUDGE!!!
I don’t know about the San Ysidro entrance, but clearly, unless you have had to drive in El Paso, TX, you should not judge just how ridiculously easy it is to get railroaded into taking the exit to the mother-fucking International Bridge when all you really wanted to do was go to Sephora at Cielo Vista Mall.
Fortunately, all the guns and ammo I carry are jumper cables and reusable shopping bags. :-)