Critics of a jury’s verdict Thursday in the trial of Kate Steinle's killer have taken to Twitter to #BoycottSanFrancisco.
The hashtag was trending in the wake
of a controversial trial in which defendant Jose Inez Garcia Zarate was
found not guilty of murdering Kate Steinle on a pier in San Francisco in
July 2015.
Steinle was walking with her father and a family friend when she was fatally shot, collapsing into her father's arms.Zarate, an undocumented immigrant, claimed the shooting was an accident. The bullet, fired from a stolen gun Zarate found, ricocheted off the pier’s concrete surface before hitting Steinle.
However, prosecutors argued Zarate intentionally shot the gun toward Steinle.
Zarate was acquitted of first- and second-degree murder, involuntary manslaughter and found not guilty of assault with a semi-automatic weapon. He was found guilty of possessing a firearm by a felon.
In a Twitter rant early Friday, President Donald Trump called the decision “a complete travesty of justice” and seized upon the ruling as another reason to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.
“The Kate Steinle killer came back and back over the weakly protected Obama border, always committing crimes and being violent, and yet this info was not used in court,” Trump tweeted. “His exoneration is a complete travesty of justice. BUILD THE WALL!”
U.S. Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., sided with the president, saying he “could not disagree more” with the verdict.
Twitter was flooded with tweets from trial watchers. The case sparked a national debate over sanctuary cities and illegal immigration.
Many say they've decided to skip California visits.
“My wife and I considered San Diego for our 30th wedding anniversary. I’ll take her to Iowa before we spend a dime in California,” Bruce Novozinsky wrote on Twitter.
Another Twitter user argued, “If you want to #BoycottSanFrancisco, you'd have to give up Google, Facebook, Apple, Youtube, Netflix, Pixar and yes... even Twitter.”
After the jury’s ruling on Thursday, U.S. immigration officials announced Zarate would be deported.
"Following the conclusion of this case, ICE [U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement] will work to take custody of Mr. Garcia Zarate and ultimately remove him from the country," a statement said.
The Department of Justice unsealed an arrest warrant for Garcia Zarate on Friday.
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