Major media are hesitant to admit it but the random killing of a 32-year-old woman in San Francisco last week underscores Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s remarks of crimes committed by illegal immigrants who enter the U.S. via the porous southern border, noted Grumpy Editor.
Francisco Sanchez, 45, was arrested Wednesday night after police said he shot and killed Kathryn Steinle as she walked with her father at Pier 14 along the crowded Embarcadero, a destination popular with tourists and families.
Sanchez, who was deported five times, has a rap sheet with seven felonies, and in March was released from jail in San Francisco --- despite immigration authorities asking that he be kept in custody. In the Wednesday incident, Sanchez told police he was shooting at sea lions.
In commenting on the shooting, Trump on Friday said, “This senseless and totally preventable act of violence committed by an illegal immigrant is yet another example of why we must secure our border immediately. “This is an absolutely disgraceful situation and I am the only one that can fix it. Nobody else has the guts to even talk about it. That won’t happen if I become president.”
Liz Sullivan, mother of the shooting victim, on Friday said Sanchez “should have never been out, and now our daughter is gone forever,” adding “it’s a terrible travesty, and we lost our daughter. Everybody is trying to put the political spin on it, but it happened, and there’s no taking it back.”
In the presidential race, a CNN poll out last Thursday showed Trump in second place with 12 percent of Republican voters and GOP-leaning independents, up from 3 percent before he announced his candidacy on June 16. Jeb Bush held top spot with 19 percent, up from 13 percent in May.
FYI, IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE…
The press must be able to see, hear, witness and question the President and his or her aides on a routine basis, in addition to the daily White House briefing. That’s one of the White House Correspondents Association’s primary goals, unveiled in detail Saturday, in search of “meaningful and consistent access to the President and his or her aides whenever and wherever they conduct the public’s business”…Delayed findings: Hillary Clinton, Democrat presidential candidate, on Saturday accused China of stealing commercial secrets and “huge amounts of government information” and its “military is growing very quickly”…California’s Bay Area continued to be risky for TV news crews in the field. San Francisco’s KNTV and KTVU staffers, covering a homicide, were robbed at gunpoint by two men, a cameraman was pistol whipped and $100,000 in camera equipment was stolen --- with some of the action captured live…Sneaker-maker New Balance continued to press the Pentagon to buy American-made footwear (through the company’s Boston facility) for U.S. military instead of Chinese-made footwear from rival Nike. The Department of Defense in April announced military recruits would start using athletic shoes 100 percent manufactured in America…Chris for Hillary? A photo snapped at a July 4 parade in suburban Washington, D.C. showed MSNBC’s Chris Mathews marching next to a woman holding a Hillary for America banner…Press passes come at a price, a lofty $500, at Wednesday’s FreedomFest in Las Vegas. Organizers said the high figure was designed to distinguish real journalists from, say, bloggers in covering appearances by GOP presidential candidate Sen. Marco Rubio, radio-TV personality Glenn Beck, Fox Business host John Stossel and Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform. However, organizers will give a free press pass to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Nevada’s dominant newspaper.
In California’s first statewide rate overhaul since the 2000-01 energy crisis, electric bills for most household customers will rise over the next few years, following approval --- on quiet semi-holiday Friday --- by the state Public Utilities Commission.
The rate hikes will show up on bills starting next year.
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