If you are going to adopt "sanctuary city" policies that allow violent criminals to run free when they should be deported, are you not an accomplice to their criminal activity?

The man charged with killing a father and two sons on a San Francisco street last month was one of the youths who benefited from the city's long-standing practice of shielding illegal immigrant juveniles who committed felonies from possible deportation, The Chronicle has learned.

Edwin Ramos, now 21, is being held on three counts of murder in the June 22 deaths of Tony Bologna, 48, and his sons Michael, 20, and Matthew, 16. They were shot near their home in the Excelsior district when Tony Bologna, driving home from a family picnic, briefly blocked the gunman's car from completing a left turn down a narrow street, police say.

Ramos, a native of El Salvador whom prosecutors say is a member of a violent street gang, was found guilty of two felonies as a juvenile - a gang-related assault on a Muni passenger and the attempted robbery of a pregnant woman - according to authorities familiar with his background.

In neither instance did officials with the city's Juvenile Probation Department alert federal immigration authorities, because it was the city agency's policy not to consider immigration status when deciding how to deal with an offender. Had city officials investigated, they would have found that Ramos lacked legal status to remain in the United States.

Edwin Ramos murdered three American citizens, aided and abetted by the City of San Francisco. This wasn't an oversight or a case of human error. This was a policy decision by the elected officials of the city to allow rabid beasts like Ramos to roam the streets when there was a legitimate way to promote public safety by turning him over to federal officials for deportation. That is a violation of federal law -- and makes those officials complicit in the murder of Tony, Michael, and Matthew Bologna. Will some courageous prosecutor -- state or federal -- hold Gavin Newsom and the members of the City Council accountable for their actions by indicting them and taking them to trial?

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