On May 6th - a Friday - after a week that saw Attorney General get skewered by members of Congress over what his department knew about Project Gunrunner, U.S. Attorney for Arizona Dennis Burke magically - and likely out of sheer coincidence (wink, wink) - issued an indictment for the murder of Border Patrol agent Brian Terry. This is extremely significant because of Burke's level of involvement in the Project Gunrunner / Operation Fast & Furious program. What are the odds? Terry was killed on December 14, 2010 and this indictment that names Osorio-Arellanes comes nearly five months later on the last day of a week when the Attorney General Holder came off VERY badly.
Via
CBS: Nearly five months after Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry was gunned down near the Arizona-Mexico border, today a federal judge unsealed 14 count indictment charging Manuel Osorio-Arellanes and at least two others with Terry's murder. At today's arraignment, Osorio-Arellanes pleaded not guilty.
Though others were charged, only Osorio-Arellanes was named in the indictment because the others are fugitives and their identities remain under seal.
"Today's incitement is an important step, but it is only a first step to serving justice on behalf of Agent Brian Terry," U.S. Attorney Dennis K. Burke said in a statement.
U.S. Attorney Burke, who announced today's indictment, was also the U.S. Attorney on a major ATF alleged gunwalking operation in Phoenix known as "Fast and Furious".
Remember, Holder's main argument for not honoring Issa's subpoenas and document requests had to do with ongoing investigations. This indictment is so transparently nothing more than an attempt to further justify that argument.
I received an email from Issa' office that included a statement from the congressman about the indictment:
“The announcement of an indictment against Manuel Osorio-Arellanes for the murder of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry is certainly good news, but leaves critical questions unanswered. The Justice Department still hasn’t said how and why guns purportedly being tracked and monitored by federal law enforcement officials as part of Operation Fast and Furious ended up in the hands of Agent Terry’s killers. It angers me to think that this death might not have occurred had it not been for reckless decisions made by officials at the Department of Justice who authorized and supported an operation that knowingly put guns in the hands of criminals. For these officials to imagine that this operation would result in anything other than a tragic outcome was naive and negligent. Sen. Charles Grassley and I continue to demand accountability as we investigate this matter.”
This basically comes down to the man who pulled the trigger being indicted by the entity that irresponsibly put the gun in his hand, which goes right to Issa's point to Holder. Issa is not interested in the cases involving straw purchasers or thugs they sold guns to; he's interested in the Department of Justice officials who authorized the sale and transport of those guns into Mexico.
Something else very interesting about Burke. It seems he has a history of
cozying up to Planned Parenthood. You know, that taxpayer funded entity that MURDERS innocent children. If you're good with that, what's wrong with murdering a few innocent adults, right?
h/t
Sipsey Street
