Andrew Tahmooressi Sent Back to Prison as US Public Demands Release, Gov't Help
U.S. Marine Sgt. Andrew Tahmooressi has been returned to the Mexican prison where he has been held since March 31 after going in front of a judge on charges of bringing firearms into the country. A new trial date has been set for Aug. 4, but the American public wants Tahmooressi freed immediately and believe that the government should be doing more to help the soldier.
Tahmooressi maintains that he took a wrong turn while driving in California and ended up in Mexico. In his vehicle were several firearms that were legal to own in the United States but illegal to bring into Mexico. He was arrested and imprisoned in March but was not brought before a judge until yesterday. Hopes were high that he would be released, but instead, the judge ordered a new date in August for a hearing, meaning that the soldier will remain in Mexican custody until then.
"I know what they're going to say," Tahmooressi told CNN. "They're going to say a whole bunch of lies. They're already saying a whole bunch of lies. I just know that the truth will set me free."
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While in the Mexican prison, Tahmooressi, who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, attempted suicide.
"I had one hand above my head, not both, just one. I was laying on a bed. When I got the opportunity, I decided to stab myself in the neck with a light bulb … I was paranoid. I had been abused. I was thinking they were going to come and abuse me more and torture me and get information about my family from me. So I said, 'I'm not going to allow them to do that,'" he revealed.
Since learning of Tahmooressi's situation, his treatment inside the prison has improved. His family remains hopeful that he will be released and is calling on the U.S. government to do something to help the young man, especially after they worked so hard to rescue Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl.
"It was finally and officially discovered that there are multiple irregularities with the order to search his vehicle," Tahmooressi's lawyer, Fernando Benitez, told CNN after the hearing.
"He is strong," the boy's mother, Jill, said after being allowed to be with her son. "He is confident and he is very privileged to have Mr. Benitez defend his innocence."
