Northern Virginia families lost two children to unspeakable violence in the summer of 2016. They were murdered in Holmes Run Park—that’s right, the one on Sleepy Hollow Road in Falls Church—by gangsters. The killers belong to the vicious Mara Salvatrucha 13 gang (MS-13) that has established an ominous presence in Fairfax County. The gang’s motto is Murder, Rape, Control.
The gangsters lured first Edvin Escobar Mendez to the park and murdered him because, per the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia (Alexandria), they suspected he was a member of a rival gang. They buried Edvin in the park to conceal evidence of their deed. Edvin was 17 years old. A few weeks later, the gangsters lured Sergio Arita Triminio to the same park where he was killed because he was thought to be cooperating with law enforcement. This juvenile’s remains were also buried. Sergio was 14 years old.
Once again, it was Latinos who were the targets of MS-13 thuggery.
This past Friday, eleven young men, all in their 20’s, were indicted for these heinous crimes. The indictments noted that all 11 were from El Salvador but did not mention their citizenship status. How convenient. We now know that 10 are ILLEGAL ALIENS and one has a “green card.” Ten are now in custody and one is believed to have escaped back to El Salvador.
Could these murders, and who knows how many more murders, beatings, thefts, car wrecks, etc., have been avoided? Our police officers have been directed since at least 2008 by the various Chiefs of the Police Department to not inquire about citizenship status at traffic stops. Were any of the now indicted murderers ever stopped and let go by police?
Did any of these gangsters spend time in the Fairfax County jail? Last week, a Freedom of Information Act inquiry from a local citizen did get jail personnel to admit there were (still are?) 15 MS-13 gang members sitting in our Fairfax County jail. However, while Sheriff Stacey Kincaid’s personnel do ask inmates about their birth country, they do not ask about citizenship status! What would be the point of asking inmates where they are from but not asking whether they are here legally? In addition, the Sheriff will no longer hold criminal illegal aliens past their release dates unless the request from Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agents is accompanied by a court order.
Then there is the Chairman of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, Sharon Bulova. Even though Police Chief Edwin Roessler has stated we have a “horrible” problem with MS-13 in Fairfax, Ms. Bulova has stated she wants Fairfax to be a welcoming community and the police will never do immigration work. Really. I wonder how the parents of the dead children feel. I wonder how parents of other Latino children feel knowing there are MS-13 members living among them and preying on their children.
For all intents and purposes, Fairfax County is a Sanctuary for illegal aliens. While some elected officials claim curbing the detention of illegal aliens is pro-immigrant, in fact it is decidedly anti-immigrant as most MS-13 targets are the sons and daughters of immigrants.
Will Chief of Police Roessler, Sheriff Kincaid, and Chairman Bulova resign when an illegal alien who should and could have been identified as such slips through our law enforcement and detention programs and goes on to murder someone? I won’t hold my breath for that, but we should all hold our breaths as any of us might be the next victim(s) of someone here in the U.S. illegally because our “leadership” wants to be “welcoming.”
Photo caption: Fairfax County seal mounted on front of Fairfax County Government Center (FxFC Photo)