Fox News has a new Cliven Bundy — and again, the right’s new hero has some explaining to do

[DonViejo]

Conservative media has a new cause célèbre, a former Marine on trial in Mexico. His story has an awful lot of holes

JOHN AVIGNONE

The case of Andrew Tahmooressi, a former Marine who was arrested in Mexico on weapons charges in March, has become a cause célèbre for the Tea Party and the conservative media.

His mother, Jill Tahmooressi, has been a frequent guest on Fox News. Seventy-four Tea Party Congress members have signed on to a letter demanding his release from a Mexican jail and demanding that Barack Obama close the border until Tahmooressi is released. His story has been covered extensively on Fox News and on conservative websites, including Drudge Report, WorldNetDaily and Breitbart.

All of them echo Tahmooressi’s claim that it was a simple mistake that he entered Mexico with a a fully loaded AR-15 5.56 caliber assault-style rifle, a chrome-plated 1911 model Colt .45 caliber pistol, a 12-gauge shotgun, extra clips for the rifle and the pistol and 457 rounds of ammunition. It was an accident, the result of a wrong turn. But like Cliven Bundy and other recent conservative heroes, on closer inspection there are serious problems with Tahmooressi’s story.

Some facts are not in dispute. Andrew Tahmooressi served two tours in Iraq and Afghanistan and was promoted to sergeant before being honorably discharged from the Marine Corps. A native of Weston, Florida, he had recently moved to the San Diego area to receive treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder at the VA hospital in La Jolla. On March 31, Tahmooressi parked his pickup truck and walked across the border at the El Chaparral crossing from San Ysidro, California, to Tijuana, Mexico. He spent the day in Tijuana and later that night returned to the American side of the border. Then he got into his truck and drove back across the border, where he was arrested at 10:30 p.m. by Mexican authorities.

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http://www.salon.com/2014/08/11/fox_news_has_a_new_cliven_bundy_and_again_the_rights_new_hero_has_some_explaining_to_do/

[DetlefK]

1. Sounds to me like arms-trafficking.

[Thinkingabout]

2. Yep, big red flag.

[stone space]

3. But, but, but...his guns have civil rights...

...or something...

[Ikonoklast]

4. Driving around with a portable arsenal.

While being under treatment for a verified mental disorder.

Nothing bad can happen with that scenario.

[frylock]

5. yea, the whole thing doesn't smell right..

his crossing was no accident. he's been caught lying several times, so you'll have to forgive me if I don't trust a word he says. it's a hot button issue here in San Diego. there's a teabagger yahoo that used to park at the end of a busy offramp shouting and parading about with a BOYCOTT MEXICO-FREE ANDREW sign. his car also has a custom-made sunscreen in the back window displaying REPEAL OBAMACARE-IMPEACH THE PRESIDENT. I don't know if the Sherriff kindly asked him to move, because I don't see him there anymore. he has now taken up a position at a busy intersection in Santee.