By ,
Published January 13, 2015
I know I am starting to sound like a broken record here with the mea culpas and my absence on this blog. I promise you too that no one is more aware than yours truly that it’s poor etiquette and totally unprofessional to ask people to read your blog and then not deliver the goods. So let’s just pretend I am some sort of radio and television version of a Special Forces guy – and when I get that call, it’s Go Time – no questions asked?!
Ok – that’s a bit much and fortunately for me, unlike our very talented and brave elite forces, I do get to disclose my disappearances (with apologies) and am rarely actually in harm’s way.
Last week, I had the high honor of being asked to help carry the load for Bill O’Reilly’s crew. So I put my producer hat on and reported for duty in New York. It was a tremendous challenge with great rewards and my only regret is that I was not able to write about it here.
The biggest story Bill covered last week (you may have seen in the news) was the tragic death of two teenage girls in Virginia Beach who were killed at the hands of a drunk-driving illegal alien.
What made this story unique and the killer’s nationality (or illegality) relevant to the story was that he had been arrested on multiple occasions for public drunkeness (including a previous DUI on Feb 5th) and not handed over to the feds for deportment. In short, had the local officials identified his illegal alien status in previous arrests, turned him over to the Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) folks and shipped him back to Mexico – two beautiful girls named Allison Kunhardt and Tessa Tranchant would still be alive today.
And this case is far from over – because what’s happening in Virginia Beach is also happening all across the country in what’s known as “sanctuary cities.” A sanctuary city is one in which there is a specific policy that prohibits local law enforcement officers from inquiring on a suspect’s immigration status. Therefore, essentially passing the buck to the feds who have no way of knowing about a person’s immigration status when he or she is arrested for a local misdemeanor because the information is not relayed.
Think Virginia Beach is alone? Don’t count on it – New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Houston (4 largest cities in America) all have sanctuary policies.
This issue is hitting “critical mass” as O’Reilly says in his “Talking Points.” I spent all day yesterday with another fellow producer, Jesse Watters, who is akin to a NAVY Seal ambush artist, descending upon Virginia Beach to find out what the citizens there think. They are outraged.
Jesse chased down the out-of-touch VB Mayor Meyera Oberndorf (whose unstable husband attacked our microphone) and the cowardly Police Chief Jake Jacocks, Jr. Chief Jacocks literally ducked and ran for cover from Jesse and our repeated attempts to ask for comment. (You have to really feel sorry for a police chief who’s afraid of a camera, a microphone and a guy as nice as Jesse.)
And I interviewed the father of one of the slain girls. David Kunhardt is a strong and courageous man. I cannot possibly fathom the grief that he is enduring at this moment, yet he found the time to sit down with me to answer our questions. Mr. Kunhardt spoke passionately his daughter and the need to speak out on the immigration issue so that others might be spared the tragedy that has befallen his family.
I applaud Mr. Kunhardt for his courage and hope that something positive will come from his willingness to share his story. I just hope the folks in Washington are listening…
"Losing a 17-year-old daughter is something that you can't imagine. I still call her cell phone to listen to her voice. And I leave her a message just to pretend like she's still here... I want justice to be done,” Kunhardt said.
I can be reached for questions or comments at Griffsnotes@foxnews.com.
https://www.foxnews.com/story/griffs-notes-4-10-07