I don't care if the brat thug in the following story is only 14 years old- she's a member of a Mexican gang, she was in felony possession of a weapon, and she assaulted a police officer. She committed adult crimes, and now she's facing adult prison time.
Black and Mexican gangs are starting to take over the County. There's gang graffiti all over the place, and earlier this year some gang thugs gunned down a 9-year old little boy. Forget coddling these little criminals- stick their butts in jail where they belong.
Our liberal paper doesn't say whether she's here legally or not. That detail seems to escape their notice when reporting the rise in Mexican gang violence.
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From The Bradenton Herald:
By MAURA POSSLEY
mpossley@bradenton.com
MANATEE --A 14-year-old girl who authorities claim is a gang member has been charged as an adult for alleged battery of a Bradenton police officer in July.
Magis "Maggie" Ruiz faces charges of battery of a law enforcement officer and attempting to deprive an officer of means of protection/communication.
During a hearing Wednesday, Ruiz, who wept softly, was slapped with a third charge - possession of a weapon during commission of a felony - ensuring she would be tried as an adult.
Prosecutors and police say Ruiz bit an officer's arm and went for the officer's gun during her arrest on a warrant the afternoon of July 11.
Once handcuffed and in the officer's vehicle, police allege Ruiz said she wished she had gotten the gun to kill the officer and claimed membership in the SUR-13 street gang.
But the teen's public defender, Jennifer Fury, is crying foul on the state attorney for leveling such charges on a person her age.
The state's claim that Ruiz boasted of her gang membership, Fury said, was at minimum an association with friends and a way of surviving an uphill battle she has faced her whole life.
Ruiz had been in the custody of Florida Department of Juvenile Justice since the age of 11, Fury said.
She has been abandoned by her mother, who in their last contact told the teen she had washed her hands of her, Fury said Ruiz has told her.
"I don't know how much involvement in gang activity she has," her attorney said. "She has not been out on the street."
Ed Brodsky, assistant state attorney, declined to comment Wednesday, saying judicial ethics rules prevent him from talking about a pending case.
He said the state attorney's office reviews juvenile cases separately, and a juvenile has to commit a serious enough offense to be tried as an adult.
"The facts of each particular case will speak for themselves," Brodsky said.
Fury on Wednesday went on to describe conditions Ruiz has been placed in at the Manatee County jail, which she says are inappropriate given Ruiz's age.
Ruiz lives in a small medical unit, her attorney said, with no sunlight and two other inmates, including Ashley Rios, a 16-year-old reputed member of SUR-13 who is facing charges of principal to murder in the May shooting death of 9-year-old Stacy Williams III.
Jail spokesman Randy Warren said juveniles are held separately from the jail's adult population.
They are housed in the safest environments possible and given access to the exercise yard, he said.
Jail officials ensure inmates in the units get along, are not co-defendants and are not known enemies, Warren said.
"We are limited in the areas we can put her in," he said. "In jail, you don't always get your own room."
Fury contends Ruiz is being unjustly targeted as a criminal. Holding her behind bars is not the solution, she said.
"I told her, 'No matter what happens, I'm not leaving you,' " Fury said. "Even if I fail, I'll go down swinging, because she needs to know there are adults out there who care. That's this girl's problem - everybody has failed her."
