The big story in summer 2001 was the disappearance of Chandra Levy, a lovely young Washington intern who disappeared while jogging. Attention focused on Gary Condit, a married congressman over twice her age, after forensic evidence suggested he was having an extramarital affair with Levy. Condit proceeded to do everything possible to act like the special guest star in an episode of “Murder, She Wrote,” but he faded from public consciousness after a much larger story broke in September 2001.
Today a jury convicted a Salvadoran illegal alien named Ingmar Guandique of Chandra Levy’s murder. The Fox News main page announced, “Illegal Immigrant Found Guilty In Levy Case.” The interior story is headlined, “Jury Convicts Salvadoran Immigrant Of Murdering Chandra Levy.”
Over at CNN’s website, the headline is: “Jury Convicts Man In Killing Of Chandra Levy In 2001.” You will search the entire CNN article in vain for any mention of Ingmar Guandique’s immigration status. They do mention that he allegedly belongs to a Salvadoran gang called Mara Salvatrucha, better known as MS-13. According to website Known Gangs, MS-13 is more properly understood as a terrorist organization. The gang has conducted a long series of terror attacks and violent actions against Central American governments. The year after Chandra Levy died, they murdered 28 people on a bus in Tegucigalpa, including seven children.
Isn’t Guandique’s status as an illegal alien relevant to the Chandra Levy story? The popular image of illegal aliens as nothing but simple, hardworking folk ignores the large percentage of violent criminals who slip through our porous borders. It is not surprising that a group defined by its willingness to ignore laws it finds inconvenient would include a high percentage of more aggressive lawbreakers. This is one of the reasons legal immigrants generally dislike living next to the illegal variety. A high percentage of alien crime is committed against both documented and illegal members of the immigrant community.
There is some dispute about the exact numbers, but some estimates have suggested over 200,000 sexual predators among the illegal alien population. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement runs a program called Operation Predator, designed to catch illegal alien sex offenders, which has made over 12,000 arrests since 2003. MS-13 is thought to have over 15,000 members in the United States. Someone who represents both the illegal alien and gang populations appears to have been behind one of the highest profile crimes in recent memory. That seems like it should be in the headlines.
Levy was not the first victim of an assault by Ingmar Guandique. He’s already in prison for attacking two other women in the same park. Both of his previous targets were able to fight him off. They bravely chose to appear in court during the trial, and testify against him. Thanks to their efforts, and assuming he receives the maximum sentence, Guandique will never have another victim. I hope that brings some small measure of comfort to the Levy family.
Who killed Chandra Levy? He isn’t a “man”, or an “immigrant.” He isn’t an American. Ignoring what he actually is would be foolish, and dangerous.
