June 28th, 2010, 9:00 am · 28 Comments · posted by jensslin
I got an interesting e-mail last week from Terri G. Sapp.
Sapp is the editor of a website called www.veteransresourceforjustice.org
The site includes a petition on behalf of Jose Miguel Barco Jr., the former Fort Carson soldier convicted of attempted first-degree murder of a pregnant woman injured in an April 25, 2008 drive-by shooting.
On Nov. 29, 2009, 4th Judicial District Judge Larry Schwartz sentenced Barco to 52 years in prison, saying that the former soldier’s actions dishonored the uniform he once wore. See story here.
Barco was one of the soldier featured in my Gazette colleague Dave Philips series “Casualties of War.” Barco also figured in a Frontline documentary on violence committed by soldiers returning from the Iraq War.
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I am one of the Team of four who founded Veteran’s Resource for Justice. You already know Terri Sapp. I am treating Veterans with combat-related PTSD at no cost. I live in the Denver area. I am trying to assemble a group of concerned citizens in Colorado Springs who have a sincere desire to reach out to our courageous warriors. When they get into trouble with the police they can end up going to a Psych facility for medication and some counseling. When they are released I would like them to know there is a caring and non-judgmental group that is willing to support them. I have a meeting facility in Security. I can provide information on PTSD to families also. The community can be a great resource for continuing emotional support.
“This was a stupid, angry and impulsive act,” 4th Judicial District Judge Larry Schwartz told Jose Miguel Barco. “It’s stunning in its lack of compassion … It brings considerable dishonor upon the uniform you wore.”
Read more: http://www.gazette.com/articles/sentenced-90083-years-soldier.html#ixzz0sDQ3jFbj
I consider what judge Larry Schwartz did in sentencing a “stupid, angry and impulsive act” upon Jose Barco.
Per the judge’s own bio he has served as: a team leader for YMCA membership; being the former chairman of the Colorado Springs Realtors Commercial and Industrial Society, having been a past chairman of the Realtor/Lawyer Committee of the Colorado Springs Board of Realtors and being active as well in the Pikes Peak Marathon and the Colorado Springs Dance Theatre.
http://www.courts.state.co.us/Bio.cfm/Employee_ID/149
What right does the judge have to comment on disrespecting the uniform that he NEVER wore? I find this extremely prejudiced. I find it very offensive as someone who wore the uniform for 20 years.
I would like to write Jose Barco in prison. Does anyone know where to address a letter? Thank you all for your work.
I am a student taking a political film course. Dr. George brown, the teacher of the class, suggested that we watch the Frontline special. This film also gave me interest in what was happening with this young mans appeal. His sentence is unjust and a correctional facility is not the best environment for someone like him. Perhaps a psychiatric hospital would suit Jose better.
I would also like to know if we can write this young man.
Regards
Matt
Please visit http://www.veteransresourceforjustice.org.
Thank you for your concern and desire to contact Mr. Barco.
The address for the Buena Vista Correctional Center can be found there. You may also contact prisoners through jpay.com. Jose’s prisoner number is on the above site, also. You can e-mail him through the jpay.com site. Be sure to include your mailing address so Jose can respond to you. This young man was railroaded by the Fourth Circuit into a virtual life sentence for what amounts to a misdemeanor wherein two people were allowed to plea to a slap on the hand in exchange for their witness against Jose. Mr. Barco was not allowed a plea or a reduced charge. If you any questions, please contact me. terri g. sapp, editor of VRFJ. If you visit dvmen.org, you will find the Fourth Circuit listed as one of “The Filthy Four”; four Colorado jurisdictions known for their absymal record on civil rights. Be forewarned, the report contains offensive language used by the Courts.
I visited Jose Barco on July 31st. at the Buena Vista Correctional Facility in Colorado. We met for 3 hours. A picture of Jose and I will appear on our website by Aug 20th hopefully. Jose is a fine young man suffering from his battlefield experiences. He gets no mental health counseling in prison – just medication from a different unknown doctor. They communicate by video conference. What a disaster! Our support group considers Jose to be our “adopted son”. Judge Schwartz disregarded Jose’s untreated PTSD and his service to his county. Judge Schwartz showed no empathy or compassion. He was determined to throw the book at Jose. It is a disgrace that Judge Schwartz will be hearing Jose’s appeal. We want national media coverage to see how the Filthy Fourth abuse their power. The Justice Department should investigate the Filthy Fourth. Some of them are a disgrace to their profession.
I watched The Wounded Platoon on Netflix last night and vowed to research it today. I have embedded Frontline’s documentary and Jose’s Veterans’ Resource For Justice on my Facebook as well as joined the Supporting Jose Barco page on FB. I am using Twitter in hopes of gathering some support as well. (XinInNyc) Hopefully the national attention it will receive will bring justice to this young man. The penalty he received for his crime was grossly unjust. I was shocked at Judge Schwartz’s comments during his verdict and it is at times like that when I am embarrassed to be an American and feel the need to apologize for his statements. I will be working in my own way to help Jose the best I can. God Bless
I just watched The Wounded Platoon via Netflix instant view. I am heartbroken for Jose Barco. I’ve looked online for a defense fund or an appeal fund for his cause, but have found nothing of that sort. I have found a Facebook link, a PTSD site featuring Jose where I signed a petition, and then this site. I think if more people were aware of the outrageous sentence imposed by this judge Schwartz, there would be a huge outcry of support. Having witnessed this judge in action in the film, I’m convinced Jose will receive no benefit from him.
Wounded Platoon has just aired here tonight in the UK via the BBC. I’m sure many like myself must have been appalled by its contents. I am so so saddened by the experiences that the allies soldiers have experienced and continue to experience in Iraq and Afghanistan, in wars which do not have and never have had, the support of the general public in the UK. If prayers can work miracles, then there will be miracles! For many must be moved to pray for these and all our soldiers who are so brutally traumatised and then left to fend for themselves by the very military services who use any means they can to recruit very young and vulnerable teenagers off the streets and in the schools, to become ‘cannon fodder’.
Please tell your veterans that love knows no boundaries and across the world people know and CARE about them. I pray they all come to know peace in their hearts and minds one day.
Sue
“This was a stupid, angry and impulsive act,” 4th Judicial District Judge Larry Schwartz told Jose Miguel Barco. “It’s stunning in its lack of compassion … It brings considerable dishonor upon the uniform you wore.”
Jose Barco wasn’t wearing his uniform when he went crazy and shot and wounded that poor woman, but he got 52 years in prison, a killers sentence in my opinion.
His comrades in arms Bressler and Bastien were sentenced to 60 years in prison for the murder and a string of other crimes in Colorado Springs.
Where is the logic and where is the proportion?
I’m not american (I live in Sweden), but I can guarantee that the world is watching,.
Is this the way to treat soldiers that have risked their lives overseas on a daily basis?
My name is Maria Barco. Jose Miguel Barco is my cousin. He is a great kid. I remember that before he went into the Army he was always a happy person, even as a kid. I love him to death. The little times that he came home to visit, he would always have bad nightmares would even scream well he was asleep, wake up in the middle of the night like if he was still at war. But the saddest of this story is that we have a young kid that serve this country where he almost lost his own life, and noone has asked why did he do something like this or was it really him, the point is that someone was hurt, but he got a sentence like if he had killed 10 pepole, or murder, or child abuse, & noone has thought of the help he needs from everything he experience in the war for this country. (Jose if you by any chance can read this I love you, and I pray everyday for you. Don’t ever loss your faith because God will permit that you get out of that place. We miss you like crazy.) Please take care of yourself. Love You Always.
Maria Barco
Jose now has supporters from 7 countries where “The Wounded Platoon” aired. I will visit him again October 16th. The justice system has definitely failed Jose Barco and many others. With our country, the military and our communities treating our heroes like this we are learning the horror of war. Who is going to enlist to fight our next war? Our government and military failed our Vietnam heroes and here we go again. Our courageous warriors have been to HELL and back and we don’t even give them the respect they earned on the battlefield. We taught them to kill and wreak havoc and they learned well. You do not turn this off and become civilized overnight. America and our military communities are a disgrace. We all need to look at what we have become as individuals and as a nation..
Really… they are going to charge me for emailing Barco in prison? Typical Colorado…
I am a civilian social worker currently serving troops in the Army and Air Force. I am also a veteran with four years of active duty in the Army (Vietnam era). Frontline’s “The Wounded Platoon” did an exceptional job of exploring the mental and emotional damage that the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have inflicted on the young American’s who have answered their country’s call to fight. Of all of the tragic consequences highlighted in this film, none was more poignant or heartbreaking than that which befell Jose Barco. He deserves a swift and skilled appeal in front of a judge who bears some semblance of humanity.
This is the most outragous miscarriage of justice I think I have ever seen, heard, or read about! This is an American soldier who deserves recognition for his service to this country, and some serious help from the military that he served! WTF? The Wounded Platoon was an excellent documentary, very clearly showing the world just how much, it would appear, that our soldiers are nothing more than pawns in a very wicked game of cat and mouse! You stay strong Jose, your government might have forgotten you, but the people of your country, never will~
P.S. to all those inquiring about writing Jose, there is a mailing address on Facebook @ Supporting Jose Barce~
You all watched the Frontline documentary, did you watch that part where Jose admitted to war crimes? Where he admitted that him and his fellow soldiers did not find it important to distinguish between combatants and civilians?
Regardless of what he did once he arrived home, he’s most certainly a war criminal for what he did overseas.
I JUST WATCHED FRONTLINE TONITE AND MY HEART IS HEAVY! IT AGRIVATES ME THAT THE SERVICE FOR WHICH THEY DEDICATE THEIR LIVES FOR SEEMS TO JUST BRUSH THEM TO THE STREETS; THEY FO THERE WIT NO KILLING EXPERIENCE AND COME HOME WITH NO LIVING EXPERIENCE. WHEN NASA COMES BACK FROM SPACE THEY DESENSITISE THEM, BUT WHEN OUR HEROS THAT DEFEND OUT FREEDOM COME HOME, THEY ARE LEFT ON THEIR OWN. MY HEART GOES OUT TO THEM AND THEIR FAMILIES! FOR THEY ARE OUR PROTECTORS!! THANK YOU TO ALL MALE AND FEMALE WHO HAVE FOUGHT FOR MY FREEDOM!
I JUST WATCHED FRONTLINE TONITE AND MY HEART IS HEAVY! IT AGRIVATES ME THAT THE SERVICE FOR WHICH THEY DEDICATE THEIR LIVES FOR SEEMS TO JUST BRUSH THEM TO THE STREETS; THEY GO THERE WITH NO KILLING EXPERIENCE AND COME HOME WITH NO LIVING EXPERIENCE. WHEN NASA COMES BACK FROM SPACE THEY DESENSITISE THEM, BUT WHEN OUR HEROS THAT DEFEND OUT FREEDOM COME HOME, THEY ARE LEFT ON THEIR OWN. MY HEART GOES OUT TO THEM AND THEIR FAMILIES! FOR THEY ARE OUR PROTECTORS!! THANK YOU TO ALL MALE AND FEMALE WHO HAVE FOUGHT FOR MY FREEDOM!
Here is his address. It was posted on a facebook page entitled “1,000,000 Strong for Jose Barco” but only has 129 likes as of now. I hope this is the correct address.
#148321, East Unit, Box
2017, Buena Vista, CO 81211
I watched the Frontline report and was appalled by both the actions of Judge Schwartz and the lack of real help our veterans receive from the military. A sentence of 52 years for a non-attempt of murder is unbelievable. I can only believe that it is racial discrimination at its worst when you compare the sentences the other soldiers profiled received. Dee
i woud like to get jose barco out of prison
Jose could have left the service with a medal and a pension, but wanted to go back and be with his friends. He admitted to killing civilians and perhaps that’s why GOD allowed him time to repent and pay for his crimes. The military turned him into a killing machine and dumped him on the streets, with no time to adjust. That trial was an injustice to mankind and we should all pray that sentence be drastically reduced.
Semper Fi to all
#14….http://mysite.ncnetwork.net/resroais/
Did you know if a soldier recieving army disability and is convicted of a felony, his disability is stopped. Leaving his family with no income. I think each case should be looked at on a case to casr basis. I served 2 Tours in Iraq and did things I cannot talk about. So I understand what Jose has gone thru. I hope him and all vets get a fair shake when all the horrors come busting out in nightmares and etc. I am on numerous medications and feel like a zombie all the time. I wish you the best Jose !
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I just saw the documentary The Wounded Platoon – how can I help with his appeal. I know I could never handle the the dangers stress,fear etc etc they lived with every day and every night. Round the clock over two years?
Jose, just know we will not be quiet at let so pompus judge never seen the frontline of war ruin your life.
I will write to every office and fight for you.
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