White House Responds to Petition to Release Sgt. Tahmooressi from Mexican Jail

Response expresses respect for the rule of law and judicial process in Mexico

TIJUANA.- During the first couple of months following the arrest of former U.S. Marine Sergeant Andrew Tahmooressi, his support team (with his mother Jill Tahmooressi at the helm) heavily publicised a White House petition with the hopes that a response from the Obama Administration would pressure Mexico to throw out the case and release Tahmooressi from custody. The official response has now been posted, and makes it more apparent than before that this will not be the case, and that the criminal proceedings against the former marine shall continue on course.

The former marine was arrested five months ago when he entered Tijuana with three weapons including an assault rifle and more than 400 rounds of ammunition.

In response to the petition, which received 134,936 signatures "demanding" the release of former U.S. Marine Sergeant Andrew Tahmooressi from jail in Mexico, the White House

states," the U.S. State Department continues to provide extensive consular assistance to Mr. Tahmooressi, and will do so until the case is resolved."

The petition platform requires a minimum of 100,000 signatures within 30 days to elicit a response from the White House.

The response comes three months after the threshold was passed, and generally states that other than providing consular assistance and monitoring the case it respects Mexico's judicial system. Other than that, no additional information or facts are provided in the response.

This falls in line with the terms of participation of the petition platform, which state that responses "might not address the facts of a particular matter to avoid exercising improper influence."

The response continues by saying "Mexico is one of the United States' most important partners...we work closely with them on numerous sensitive issues...We respect the rule of law and expect the judicial process of sovereign nations to protect other U.S. citizens who might find themselves in similar circumstances in the future."

Courtesy U-T San Diego
Courtesy U-T San Diego

In more recent months, the importance of receiving an official response to pressure Mexico into releasing Tahmooressi was not publicised as much as initially. Tahmooressi's third Attorney hired to date, Fernando Benitez, has clearly redirected the strategic angle away from demanding his release and is instead pushing to get the case thrown out

by attacking what he views as irregularities in the prosecution's case against Tahmooressi.

The most recent information from Attorney Fernando Benitez and the support team is that the eighteen video segments by Mexican customs officials of Tahmooressi's arrest have been produced to the judge, as well as a tape that was recorded of a call made to a 911 dispatcher over an hour after Tahmooressi entered Mexico.

A psychiatric evaluation performed on Tahmooressi has also been admitted and the Federal prosecutors will reportedly also conduct their own forensic psychiatric evaluation. It is expected that the next hearing will be held within two months, but no firm date has been set.

Courtesy U-T San Diego
Courtesy U-T San Diego

A protest has been planned for the 20th of September, whereby protesters plan to shut down 26 ports of entry on the U.S. southern border with Mexico to "force elected officials" to "immediately and unconditionally release" Tahmooressi. The protest website also lists other demands related to illegal immigration, including installing an electrified fence with razor wire along the border with Mexico, and making Mexico responsible for 50% of costs associated with processing deportations.

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