(El Paso Times) EL PASO — Mexican federal police said Saturday that they arrested a second man in connection with the recent birthday party massacre in Juárez in which gunmen killed 16 people, including 11 teenagers.
Federal officials said the team of shooters were tipped off that people at the birthday party were members of a rival gang known as Artistas Asesinos (Artists Assassins), who reportedly work for the Joaquín “Chapo” Guzmán drug cartel from Sinaloa.
The shooters were informed that the party would be at 10:30 p.m. Around that time, 16 gunmen arrived, some armed with AK-47s and AR-15 assault rifles, to shoot the partygoers, and sealed off the 1300 block of Villas del Portal.
Officials said some of the victims were gang members, but most were identified as students and athletes.
The attackers initially did not mean to kill some women and children. Arzate Meléndez said at a news conference Saturday that Ramírez said “que dispararan a todos parejo,” which roughly translates to “shoot everyone.”
In total, 16 died and 12 were wounded. The youngest killed was a 13-year-old girl; the oldest was 42.
Stop and think about this. This massacre occurred just over the border from El Paso, Texas. Imagine chaperoning your teenage son’s or daughter’s birthday party. Picture gunmen with assault rifles bursting in, spraying your home with gunfire. Try to comprehend the horror of trying to escape, trying to help your child, and finding every escape route blocked by more gunmen.
28% of young people will use marijuana this year; 11% will use twice a week or more.
You may think that Juárez is far away and that you and your children have nothing to do with rival drug gang warfare, so this doesn’t affect you. But so long as there exists a War on (Certain American Citizens Using Non-Pharmaceutical, Non-Alcoholic, Tobacco-Free) Drugs, there is the chance you can get caught up in the crossfire. These Mexican gangs are controlling marijuana trafficking in 230 American cities. 28% of all young people aged 18-25 will use marijuana this year; 11% will use more than twice a week. Those young people are going to get their marijuana from someone. Will it be a dealer for a Mexican gang from Sinaloa or Juárez? Could there be a misunderstanding that leads to gunmen attacking your college-aged child’s party in Peoria, Pocatello, or Portland?
Plus you must remember that both sides fighting the War on Marijuana are well armed and that sometimes, police make mistakes, too. Mistakes on search warrants for drug raids killed 64-year-old John Adams of Lebanon, Tennessee; 46-year-old Willie Heard of Osawatomie, Kansas; 92-year-old Kathryn Johnston of Atlanta, Georgia; 45-year-old Israel Mena of Denver, Colorado; 44-year-old Cheryl Noel of Dunkalk, Maryland; 65-year-old Mario Paz of Compton, California; and 11-year-old Alberto Sepulveda of Modesto, California were all shot by police who were serving warrants on locations that either turned out to be wrong addresses or turned out to find no drugs whatsoever.
The only sensible way to protect our children from the horrors of prohibition-related drug trafficking violence is to take the market away from the criminals and give it to responsible law-abiding businesspeople. After all, when is the last time you hear of teenagers getting caught in the crossfire of Al Capone’s gang warring over moonshine distribution?
I’m from a small town in N.E. Ok. and was stationed at Fort Bliss for sixteen month’s. We parteid across the time.
I got back to the small town in Ok. and my friends where being killed over drugs and it just not right that good young men should have to die because they chose to par take.
The big tobbacco and alc. Companys are paying off the Goverment for years so that pot doesn’t become legal and it hurts us all when God gave us every thing bearing fruit and seed for us to par take and we should see just how much the Goverment is being paid to keep a medical wonder and safer way of having a good time illegel!
Thank You Russ for covering this important story from my hometown.
Anyone would hurt to see this kind of horror going on where they were born and raised.
Legalize it to save lives.
I hate to say it but it speaks to how America does not give a fuck, even though we say we do, we are hipocrits. I am just picturing some old white rascist personin Texas saying ¨we dont give a fuck about them mexicans. I hope they all kill each other.¨ Har har. This ignorant war needs to end
I am currently in El Paso. Today the city council was to have discussion and action on a Resolution brought forward by three council members. I have yet to hear which way they voted, but I do have a link to the Resolution itself. Its pretty poignant stuff, and worth a read (only the first 3 pages, subsequent pages are process records, memos and such. Anyways, here it is:
http://www.ci.el-paso.tx.us/muni_clerk/agenda/02-09-10/02091011A.pdf
I’m gonna re-post this on the Fresh Stash and on the Stickam chat.
It is sad this story does not get the media coverage that the Columbine incident did.
Yes, it will take a horrific incident like this on our home turf to make any dent in the thick skulls of hard-core prohibitionists who caused this mess. Even then, they’ll rationalize it into a “victory”. That dumb bitch Leonhart will say “See, we’re winning! They’re backed into a corner like caged animals.” What kind of twisted fucked up logic is that? And Obama wants to give her the head DEA post? And he’s supposedly intelligent?! WTF,OMG,WTF!?! We need to be more vocal, all of us, demanding our rights to safe neighborhoods, safe medicine, safe recreational choices, safety!
Safety first, I always say, on the firing line. (I was a firearms instructor in a previous life) Soon I’ll be free of big brother’s heavy hand on my shoulder, and will join the fight with Russ, Madeline, Hippy, Spof, RevRayGreen and all you other brave souls speaking out against prohibition and all its evils. This war will go on for as long as big pharma is allowed to poison us without a safer alternative legally available in every state of the union.
Peace and herb.
El Paso is so close to the border that you could shoot across the river onto the campus of University of Texas at El Paso’s student parking lots. Am really glad that I no longer live in El Paso even leary of going back in September to celebrate the 100th anniversary of my high school. If any of the people want to visit Juarez they will do so without me.
What? Does this have to happen in the USA (in how many american cities) before they wake up to the fact what we have done for 73 years and continue doing hasn’t worked?
How can anyone not see that this Drug War caused these deaths and that it may be our kids that will be next! Or is that what its going to take sad as it is?