This post isn’t about immigration, it could be about any issue du jour, really. This is about a man who played fast and loose with laws, and partially due to his disregard, a family was irreparably damaged. In 2005, Governor John Hickenlooper owned a bar and restaurant called the Cherry Cricket. It’s a tradition in Denver. While there are conflicting reports about whether Hickenlooper actually put the restaurant into a “blind trust” as he claims, his business partner knew he had hired someone who wasn’t legally in this country. The federal government sent the company a letter saying that the Cherry Cricket had an employee who had provided false documents. Hickenlooper’s business partner shrugged, it wasn’t his problem to enforce the law. Hickenlooper’s house wasn’t in order.
Hickenlooper also was mayor of Denver. As mayor of Denver, he willfully ignored federal immigration laws, metaphorically shrugging as if it wasn’t his problem because it was federal. His employee, with false documents, had been pulled over three times and because of the permissive atmosphere that Hickenlooper fostered, he was never asked whether he was allowed to be here.
Hickenlooper’s employee cowardly killed a decorated Marine, husband and father of two little girls by shooting him in the back. This was so unfair to this family. Hickenlooper had a responsibility to keep Denver residents safe and he failed. He failed as a business owner, and he failed as Denver’s leader. He sided with those who broke law over those who upheld it, just like he did with death-row inmate Nathan Dunlap.
Below is a timeline of the events around this terrible situation. Learn more about the people involved. Judge for yourself if Hickenlooper’s “the buck stops anywhere but here” approach is what Colorado needs in a leader.
*Please note some reports call the assailant Raul Garcia Gomez, others call him Raul Gomez Garcia. The majority seems to use the first spelling, and we have used it as well.
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