NFL Star Killed by Illegal Hours Before Super Bowl
While football fans prepared to watch Super Bowl LII on Sunday, the world of the NFL was rocked by a tragedy just hours earlier.
A star defensive player for the Indianapolis Colts, Edwin Jackson, was struck and killed on the side of a road, along with his Uber driver, by a drunk driver who was in the country illegally, according to media reports.
That driver was initially identified as Alex Cabrera Gonsales from Mexico, and it was reported that Immigration and Customs Enforcement had issued a detainer for him. It was later revealed that that name was just an alias, and his real identity was Manuel Orrego-Savala, an illegal immigrant from Guatemala who had twice been previously deported.
According to conservative commentator Michelle Malkin, Indianapolis is regarded as a “sanctuary-friendly haven” for illegal immigrants. However, due to a 2011 state law that prohibits any town or city from restricting immigration officials in their work, it is not officially a “sanctuary city,” according to The Indy Channel.
President Donald Trump quickly pointed out how unnecessary the death was.
So disgraceful that a person illegally in our country killed @Colts linebacker Edwin Jackson. This is just one of many such preventable tragedies. We must get the Dems to get tough on the Border, and with illegal immigration, FAST!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 6, 2018
“So disgraceful that a person illegally in our country killed @Colts linebacker Edwin Jackson. This is just one of many such preventable tragedies. We must get the Dems to get tough on the Border, and with illegal immigration, FAST!” Trump Tuesday morning.
He followed that with a message offering his condolences to the family of Jackson, and tweeted, “My prayers and best wishes are with the family of Edwin Jackson, a wonderful young man whose life was so senselessly taken. @Colts”
The Indianapolis Star reported that the incident occurred about 4 a.m., when the 26-year-old Jackson felt ill and asked his Uber driver, 54-year-old Jeffrey Monroe, to pull over to the side of Interstate 70.
It was then that the two men and their stopped vehicle were struck by 37-year-old Orrego-Savala, who was drunk, did not possess a valid driver’s license and fled the scene.
Once Orrego-Savala was eventually caught and taken into custody, he registered a .239 blood-acohol level, nearly three times the legal limit of .08. He was being held Tuesday at the Marion County Jail and was expected to make his initial court appearance on Wednesday. It is believed that local and state officials are cooperating with federal immigration officials.
The Star further reported, based on information provided by the Indiana State Police and ICE, that Orrego-Savala was originally from Guatemala and was suspected of initially arriving in America in 2004. He was convicted of drunk driving in Redwood City, California, in 2005, but it is unclear if anything came of that conviction.
Orrego-Savala was arrested by ICE agents in San Francisco for being in the country illegally in 2006 and deported in January of 2007. He soon returned and was arrested again in San Francisco in 2009 and deported for a second time. It is unclear when he arrived illegally in the country a third time or how long he’d been in Indiana.
Of course, open border immigration advocates have downplayed the illegal status of the hit-and-run murderer and instead have focused on the drunk driving aspect of the tragedy, but they are deliberately ignoring the glaring fact that the illegal immigrant never should have been here in the first place to drive drunk and kill innocent people on the side of an interstate.
“Their lives were taken by a twice-deported illegal immigrant who was not only two times the legal limit to drive, but attempted to flee the scene of the crime in a cowardly fashion,” stated Michael Joyce, communications director for the Indiana Republican National Committee. “These horrific events only further underscore the need for immigration reform and stronger border security measures that can further prevent these tragedies from happening in the future.”
Indiana native, former governor and Colts fan, Vice President Mike Pence, weighed in on the horrible death as well, and tweeted, “I was very saddened to hear of the passing of Indianapolis @Colts linebacker Edwin Jackson. This was a senseless & avoidable tragedy. This is a great loss for the entire Indiana community. My prayers are with his family in their time of grief.”
On my way to Alaska. I was very saddened to hear of the passing of Indianapolis @Colts linebacker Edwin Jackson. This was a senseless & avoidable tragedy. This is a great loss for the entire Indiana community. My prayers are with his family in their time of grief. https://t.co/JKkzxakfmE
— Vice President Mike Pence Archived (@VP45) February 6, 2018
We couldn’t agree more, and hope that this “senseless & avoidable tragedy” will serve as an impetus to finally achieve the border security — yes, including a border wall — and immigration law reforms we have needed for some time.
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