Feds File New Charges Against Undocumented Immigrant Acquitted in Kate Steinle Shooting

Federal authorities filed new charges against an undocumented immigrant who was acquitted in the shooting of Kate Stienle last week. Jose Ines Garcia Zarate, a Mexican citizen, was indicted on Tuesday with one gun charge and an immigration charge, according to the Associated Press.

Last week, a jury in San Francisco convicted Garcia Zarate of one count of possessing an illegal firearm. He was cleared of murder, manslaughter, and assault, in the July, 2015, shooting of Steinle. During the trial, Garcia Zarate’s lawyers argued that Steinle’s death was an unfortunate accident—pointing to the fact that the gun ricocheted off the concrete before striking Steinle, who was walking with her father on San Francisco’s Pier 14 when she died.

The Justice Department’s new indictment charges Garcia Zarate with possessing a semi-automatic pistol and multiple rounds. It’s worth noting here that the gun used in Steinle’s shooting was stolen from a U.S. Bureau of Land Management ranger’s car—no arrests have been made in connection to the stolen weapon. Garcia Zarate found the weapon wrapped in clothes on a park bench; his lawyers argued in the state trial that he was unaware of what he was holding when he picked up the weapon.

After he was acquitted last week, both Donald Trump and Attorney General Jeff Sessions slammed the jury’s decision and, once again, seized Steinle’s death as an opportunity to portray sanctuary cities as dangerous public safety threats. Trump, in typical form, cited the “disgraceful” verdict as a reason to build his moronic border wall:

Garcia Zarate was also charged on Tuesday with possession of a firearm and ammunition as an undocumented immigrant; he faces a maximum of 10 years in prison if convicted of either charge.