- Fri Jan 24, 2014 11:06 pm
#35456
Texas executes Mexican national despite diplomatic protests from the Obama Administration and Mexican Government. A Mexican national was executed Wednesday night in Texas for killing a Houston police officer, despite pleas and diplomatic pressure from the Mexican government and the U.S. State Department to halt the punishment.
Edgar Tamayo, 46, received a lethal injection for the January 1994 fatal shooting of Officer Guy Gaddis, 24. The execution, the first this year in the nation, came after the U.S. Supreme Court and lower federal courts rejected last-day appeals by the State Department.
"The execution of Mr. Tamayo violates the United States' treaty commitments, threatens the nation's foreign policy interests, and undermines the safety of all Americans abroad," a spokesperson from the State Department said. Secretary of State John Kerry asked that Tamayo's punishment be reconsidered, saying it "could impact the way American citizens are treated in other countries."
"It doesn't matter where you're from," said Lucy Nashed, spokeswoman for Gov. Rick Perry. "If you commit a despicable crime like this in Texas, you are subject to our state laws, including a fair trial by jury and the ultimate penalty. Not being a U.S. citizen isn't a defense in the State of Texas."
