When I blogged about the Tony Bologna murders last month I got an unusual number of hits to this site. Still getting them, actually. Though no one has commented on my thoughts, I found it interesting that so many people took the time to read them, the humble musings of a Novato musician. With most of these folks finding my blog through “Tony Bologna” searches on Google (WordPress tells us what search terms were used to find me), it’s clear that these murders have inspired many to go searching online for details, answers, maybe ways to express their anger about how senseless this murder was, much like myself.
Unfortunately, this infuriating story of senseless violence is proving to be much worse.
SF Gate just published this story about the murderer and what a truly nasty thug he was–beyond the act of murdering a father and his two kids. Among the new details:
—The alleged killer (I still won’t say his name and if he’s proven innocent I’ll blog a retraction/apology in each one of my blogs for a month) was found guilty of two felonies as a juvenile, including a gang-related assault on a Muni passenger and the attempted robbery of a pregnant woman.
— Federal authorities missed an opportunity to take the killer into custody this past March, after he was arrested in San Francisco on a gun charge.
–From SF Gate: “Federal authorities finally learned that [killer] wasn’t a legal U.S. resident sometime after he turned 18, when he applied for temporary residency status and was turned down. The records are confidential, so the exact date of [killer’s] application is unclear, but ICE spokeswoman Virginia Kice said that once he was turned down, he would have been considered deportable. By that time, however, [killer] had married a woman who is a U.S. citizen and applied again to immigration officials to stay in the United States, this time as a permanent resident. That request was pending at the time Tony Bologna and his sons were shot to death.
This really needs to be the tipping point on the Bay Area’s (not to mention the rest of the country’s) “sanctuary” policy on illegal immigrants. Because this isn’t some isolated incident of one dangerous illegal immigrant. The Marin IJ reported a story about police setting up a sobriety checkpoint in San Rafael’s Canal area (said to be predominantly Hispanic and/or illegal immigrant), where out of 47 arrests, 39 of them were driving without a license. Not a series of ongoing checkpoints in the Canal…ONE evening of a checkpoint in two locations. But instead of focusing on the reality that there are an absurd number of people driving drunk without licenses it turns into a whinefest about “racial profiling”. The gag reflex hits so hard it makes you wince.
Now before the hypersensitive take to the streets in another protest, hold infants in my face crying “What about he CHILDREN???” and other knee-jerk, invalid cries of racism, let me be clear…the fault isn’t with illegal immigrants. I understand the vast majority of them are good people escaping brutal poverty and dictatorships from around the world. They want to work hard and do what’s right for themselves and their families. They’re not the focus of my anger here.
That anger is reserved for the politicians.
I heard Gavin Newsom brag proudly on Ronn Owen’s radio program last year about how SF was a sanctuary city and they would do NOTHING to support the Federal Government in dealing with illegal immigration. Since the Feds were doing nothing about the issue either (aside from a few well-publicized raids on meat packing plants) it’s safe to assume local and Federal government are on the same page–a blank page with no gameplan written on it. Now among all the other problems related to illegal immigration you can find daily on most major news sites, we’ve got this senseless murder which it appears could have been easily prevented had this punk been deported through the proper procedures. There MUST be a way to address the problem firmly in a racially sensitive way, telling anyone who still complains to take a seat and shut up!
Are there any leaders willing to take on the illegal immigration (the gang issue, while they’re at it) problem? And by dealing with it I don’t mean deporting twenty million people, which is dumb, ignorant rhetoric. Where are the leaders who who have the balls to say: 1. THESE benefits will be reserved for U.S. Residents. 2. THESE people will be deported. 3. THESE people get amnesty/citizenship due to their longstanding loyalty and hard work on behalf of the US. 4. THESE businesses WILL be punished for creating the magnets that contribute to the problem?
There’s no one solution that will make everyone happy. ANY solution is going to piss people off. Gee, what else is new in politics??? If these Bozo politicians are so hungry to be in charge why aren’t they grabbing the reins and saying, “Alright, love me or hate me, I’m in charge and I’m going to DEAL WITH IT!”???
Christ…I have to go through hell to get on an airplane–and pay a growing fortune for the privilege–and yet an illegal immigrant committing a violent crime or driving drunk without a license gets a perpetual PASS GO because, “Oh…we don’t want to be accused of being insensitive”? This madness needs to stop.
It needs to stop now.
I’m almost ready to scream it in the streets in protest. But no, I can’t. The police won’t close the street off for me and provide an escort. That’s reserved for the “Day Without An [Illegal] Immigrant” marches. Besides, taking on such a protest would put my safety in jeopardy. A Novato High student wrote an essay in their school paper years back, making such a protest. Though the editorial wasn’t as politically sensitive as it could have been, he didn’t deserve to get assaulted for it.
My political correctness radar is finely tuned. I don’t mind pressing 1 for English and I will listen to opposing viewpoints intently without planning how I’m going to argue my next point to shut you up. But I do have one challenge to anyone who thinks any policy besides open borders is racist…next time you read a story on this subject on a news website, scroll down to the bottom and click the read comments link. Yes, you will unfortunately find some racist idiots to justify your faulty thinking that anyone against illegal immigration is racist. But I urge you to keep reading, as you will find HUNDREDS of reasoned, well-thought out comments about why illegal immigration is a problem that needs to be dealt with in a firm, reasonable manner in a way that’s best for the country. Not for special interests.
And while we’re at it I hope Mrs. Bologna finds herself a dedicated attorney who will sue every city official involved with letting this captured thug go free to kill her family. She deserves beyond millions for her suffering.
This blog was posted at Americans for Legal Immigration (alipac.us/ftopict-124198.html). Someone took issue with one of my comments, below.
“There MUST be a way to address the problem firmly in a racially sensitive way, telling anyone who still complains to take a seat and shut up!”
The reader’s response…
Since the issue of illegal immigration has nothing to do with race, and has everything to do with the law, why, exactly, MUST it be addressed in a “racially sensitive” manner?
Illegal aliens….white, black, brown, bright purple with fuzzy green feet…..are just that, illegal aliens. And as such, they have no business being in this country. They have broken our laws and should expect to be arrested, detained, prosecuted, jailed for their crimes, and then deported.
Are Latinos subject to enforcement…….and here’s that word again….”disproportionatly” to those illegals of other races and nationalities? Of course. But that is only because, through an accident of geography, they are here in numbers “disproportionate” to others having fully exploited their close proximity to the United States. And now that there are consequences to be had, they are fully exploiting race.
And what I’d like to know is when are we allowed to wriggle off the race hook? No one denies that, in the history of this country, minorities were not always treated fairly, equally, or even particularly very nicely. No one denies that even today there are a few who still hold prejudice against those “different” from them. But, we’ve come a long long way from those past abuses.
When does it stop being held against us? When do we get to stop being expected to handle everything in a “racially sensitive” manner when it is exactly that which has led us to where we are today?
What MUST happen is that the race baiters are told to sit down and shut up because this is not an issue of racism against Latinos, we will no longer allow them to hold this country hostage to their inane prattle, and we will not be granting these people…these criminals….a damned thing over some misguided notion that we MUST be racially sensitive.”
The guy makes some great points and I appreciate that they found my blog worthy of discussion. The reason I stressed “racially sensitive” is because, like it or not, this country is stuck in a thick goop of political correctness that can be separated by some, but not by others. My theory is that this whole issue hasn’t been resolved because both side of the issue refuse to budge on it. There’s no one person who can wave a magic wand and say, “Illegal immigration is about laws, case closed–now let the deportations begin!” Too many special interests to fight, too many people who desperately want to be seen as compassionate and racially neutral, regardless of whether that has to do with the issue. We’re not going to deport everyone and the outcry at last year’s amnesty bill proves significant support for real reform.
It seems to me the only way to get realistic immigration reform is if we get leaders from both sides of the table (preferably our politicians, not these fringe special interests) to negotiate the best deal possible, something that involves a little give & take. I don’t believe any final deal will achieve complete happiness for either side of the debate, but it would result in SOMETHING happening as opposed to the many decades of NOTHING being resolved.
But I’m not sure exactly what sort of give & take would be involved.
Anyway, I’m hoping these avoidable murders of the Bologna family put worthwhile changes in motion.
I searched the name to see if I could find pictures of the deceased. We need to get the family’s permission to tell their story, and have images of the deceased plastered on posters, signs, and television commercials all over Texas, Arizona and California. Some organization to launch a campaign on their behalf to make this a real election issue for states along the border. And perhaps most importantly, it needs to be led by a Hispanic or a group of hispanics. I qualify for that, and I’m sure I can’t be alone in this.
How do we know this person is the killer ? Why the rush to convict someone before his trial ?
This is insane! Newspapers don’t even use the word “alleged” these days.
Thanks for writing, Dino. I agree, the word “alleged” should be used more clearly, but I DO use the word in my blog above. And the first sentence in the article I quoted it says, “The man charged with killing a father and two sons…” It doesn’t say, “The man who KILLED a father…”
And you’re right, people are innocent until proven guilty, but reading the SF Gate article we learn that the alleged killer was convicted of other attacks and shielded by San Francisco’s bizarre sanctuary policies. Fine, innocent in this current crime until proven guilty, but we’re talking about a CONVICTED violent individual who should have been deported a long time ago, according to the article.