Have You Heard Of Bassim Chmait? (PBU11)
It's a bizarre story of a young man who was shot by an off duty federal agent, Douglas Bates, in an apartment complex. No matter which side of this story you are on it seems obvious that this federal agent is being treated much different than if Joe Citizen had pulled the trigger. Here is a good recap of the story, Police Killing of Bassim Chmait:

Douglas Bates, an off-duty Migra agent, shot Bassim Chmait in the head with his pistol in brutal cold blood without a word of explanation in the courtyard of the Madrid Apartments in Mission Viejo, California, in the early morning hours of February 5, 2005. There were witnesses--friends of Bassim and neighbors of the killer. The Orange County Sheriffs came within minutes and found Bates in his apartment with the gun that ended Bassim's life.

They never even took the Mr. Bates down for questioning?

The Sheriff's Department "investigation" was a whitewash. There was no chase, no weapon, no "hand reaching for the waistband"-- none of the usual justifications that the police come up with when they kill someone. So what could they say in this case? A spokesperson for the Department said, "There was no clear evidence of a crime being committed, so there was nothing to book him on." Days later the Sheriffs added, "As soon as a deputy believes all the elements of a crime are there, and he or she has reason to believe that a crime has been committed, then he or she will arrest a person."

If this was someone in my family I would be out of my mind! Well the Orange County DA has finally decided to Grand Jury look into this. The slow pace at which this case is being pursued makes it almost certain that there is something else going on here. My prayers and thoughts go to the Chmait family and I hope you receive peace and justice.
- posted by Mom/Dad @ 10:51 AM