| For Immediate Release May 30, 2001 |
Contact: Press Office 202-646-5172 |
Served While Former Attorney General Was Attending Miami Bar Association Luncheon in Miami Beach Complaint Demands $25 Million In Damages Against Reno Personally (Washington, DC) Today, former Attorney General Janet Reno was served with a civil rights complaint filed by INS Agent Ricardo Ramirez. (A copy of the lawsuit is available on the Internet at www.judicialwatch.org.) Reno was served while attending a luncheon of the Miami Bar Association at Miami Beach�s new Loew�s Hotel. Reno, who was sued personally for $25 million in damages, along with former INS Commissioner Doris Meissner and 11 other INS officials, is charged with fostering and furthering anti-Cuban and anti-Hispanic prejudice concerning the Elian Gonzalez raid on April 22, 2000. The defendants are also charged with ordering the destruction of evidence about the illegal raid. Judicial Watch, on behalf of Donato Dalrymple and over 50 residents of Little Havana who were gassed and beaten during the illegal raid, filed suit last year against Reno and Meissner for well over $100 million in damages. Mr. Ramirez is a material witness in that case. �Janet Reno is at the epicenter of the Elian scandal. Personal service of the complaint upon her reinforces Judicial Watch�s reason for being � that no one is above the law. She will be held fully accountable before the bar of justice for the wrongs which she has committed in the Elian scandal which, but for the grace of God, could have been another Waco,� stated Judicial Watch Chairman Larry Klayman. Mr. Ramirez�s co-counsel Dan Appignani added, �Mr. Ramirez�s lawsuit will redress the culture of prejudice and contempt which permeates throughout the Miami District INS office and resulted in the tragic Elian raid.� | |