“Kate’s Wall” calls for a physical barrier along the U.S.-Mexico border have grown louder after the acquittal of a Mexican immigrant charged with the murder of the 32-year-old Kate Steinle in 2015, The Washington Post reported.
Last Thursday a San Francisco jury found Jose Ines Garcia Zarate not guilty for the killing of Kate Steinle, who was walking with her father along the San Francisco waterfront when she was fatally shot.
The shooting sparked renewed calls for stringent immigration laws and the building of a wall along the U.S. and Mexican border and now Zarate’s acquittal has further stoked the fire.
People in favor of the wall have taken to social media with #KatesWall to condemn the court’s decision to release a felon who was illegally in the country at the time of Steinle’s death and who, according to The Hill, had been deported on several occasions.
Among those fueling the online movement was white nationalist and alt-right leader Richard Spencer who encouraged others to join him in Lafayette Square in the natiion’s capital on Sunday afternoon to “demand Trump build #KatesWall,” the Post noted.
President Donald Trump fired off a series of tweets on Friday morning, criticizing the verdict and saying it was “no wonder the people of our country are so angry with Illegal Immigration.”
“The Kate Steinle killer came back and back over the weakly protected Obama border, always committing crimes and being violent, and yet this info was not used in court. His exoneration is a complete travesty of justice. BUILD THE WALL!”
Meanwhile on Pier 14 in San Francisco, where Steinle was killed, a memorial had been set up in her honor on Friday but was taken down a day later upon her family’s request, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
The display, comprised of about 50 candles as well as red and white roses, reportedly had been set up by a group that identified itself as "alt-right.”
City officials have denied that was a reason for removing the memorial.
Instead, a spokeswoman for Mayor Ed Lee and a spokeswoman for the Department of Public Works said, per the Chronicle, that the tribute’s presence was in violation of city policy.
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