Family Of Murdered Football Standout Jamiel Shaw Meets With Controversial Trump
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is no stranger to generating controversy on the campaign trail, but when he arrived Friday in Los Angeles, he had the support of at least one Southland family.
Trump met with Jamiel Shaw, the father of high school football standout Jamiel Shaw II, who was murdered in 2008 by a gang member who was in the country illegally.
The elder Shaw praised Trump in interviews this week for his criticism of illegal immigration, saying the real estate mogul's criticism of illegal immigration has begun "resonating in the black community".
"We see all the jobs that are gone," said Shaw. "We see the whole community changing."
Pedro Espinoza, convicted of first-degree murder in 2012 and sentenced to death, was living in the United States without legal permission at the time of the killing. He had been freed from jail two days before the shooting without immigration authorities placing a hold on him.
Althea Shaw, Jamiel's aunt, told KNX 1070 NEWSRADIO her family planned to tell Trump local officials have failed to respond to the Shaw's inquiries about Los Angeles' status as a sanctuary city.
"It's been seven years since my nephew was murdered, and now Mark Ridley-Thomas at the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, we can't even get him to return our call, we can't get him to meet with us," said Shaw. "He's supporting sanctuary cities...so nothing has changed."
Sanctuary cities have recently come under increased scrutiny in the wake of the murder of a woman by an illegal immigrant on a pier on San Francisco's waterfront.
The oft-controversial real estate mogul and reality TV star has been under fire from various groups over remarks made while announcing his bid for the White House last month.
Speaking on immigration, Trump said: "When Mexico sends its people, they're not sending their best. They're sending people that have lots of problems, and they're bringing those problems with (them). They're bringing drugs. They're bringing crime. They're rapists. And some, I assume, are good people."
Univision responded by cutting business ties with Trump, followed by NBC, Macy's and the PGA. ESPN also decided not to hold a charity golf tournament at one of Trump's courses.
But for Althea Shaw, Trump is simply acknowledging what many other White House hopefuls are otherwise afraid to say.
"I know people are saying he didn't say it right, but if you look at it, there's really no right way to say all the carnage and crime that's going on," said Shaw.
In addition to meeting with the Shaws, Trump is also reportedly scheduled to speak later Friday night to the Friends of Abe, a group of conservatives who work in the entertainment industry.
Protesters with the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles Action Fund held a boisterous rally, news conference and protest outside the Luxe Sunset Boulevard Hotel in Brentwood, site of the speech.
CBS2's Dave Bryan spoke to Trump detractors and fans alike.
Martha Munoz was the first "Dump Trump" demonstrator to show up outside the Luxe.
She told Bryan she believed Trump was intentionally trying to put whites and blacks and Mexicans against one another.
"What he said was a porous border is a dangerous border," said Sabo. "He never said he hated Latinos or immigrants."
Many Latino artists, politicians, organizations feel otherwise.
Bryan spoke to a Republican strategist who thinks Trump's rhetoric could backfire on him and the party. The party has been trying to appeal to Latino voters since a 2012 meltdown at the polls.
"We have slipped with Latinos significantly ," said Reed Galen, "And we need to get them back. They are a growing block and a large part of the population and an important part of the population and I think what Trump is doing is making that arguments for Republicans everywhere a lot more difficult."
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