On Friday, October 31, at 6 p.m., former marine sergeant Andrew Tahmooressi walked out of El Hongo prison near Tecate, Baja California as a free man, after spending exactly seven months detained on multiple federal weapons charges of transporting three illegal guns, including an assault rifle, and over four hundred rounds of ammo into Mexico.

A few hours later he was whisked off from Brown Field in Otay Mesa, California to his home in Weston, Florida via private jet provided by an organization headed by Bill Richardson, former governor of New Mexico. Bill Richardson had spent the five days leading up to Tahmooressi's release in the Tijuana area, and had been a keynote speaker on October 23, 2014 at the Tijuana Innovadora summit, where he discussed immigration reform.

The unprecedented release was ordered on "humanitarian" grounds.

Dr. Alberto Pinzón Picaseño, expert witness for the prosecution, concurred with Tahmooressi's defense team psychiatrist that the ex-marine suffers from a condition that has him "feeling in constant danger."

He recommended that psychiatric treatment take place "by specialized persons in his country of origin."

During a meeting of the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee on Wednesday, October 29, it was revealed that Mexico's attorney general, Jesús Murillo Karam, told Rep. Ed Royce of Fullerton, California that he has the authority to dismiss Tahmooressi's case on humanitarian grounds once he has received expert testimony verifying Tahmooressi's PTSD.

Two days later, Judge Luna Escobedo, who has declined to comment, ordered the immediate release of Tahmooressi without making a determination on the multiple charges against him.

Tahmooressi's defense team is applauding Mexico for its judicial system making the "right decision", although taking much longer than they would have liked. But with heavy involvement by politicians and the media in the seven months leading up to his release, and particularly in the week leading up to it, to many in Mexico it sounds like the decision had more to do with pressure than justice. Politicians in the U.S., including Bill Richardson, are widely taking credit for negotiating the release of Tahmooressi, as though he were a prisoner of war instead of a person that broke the laws of an allied country.

This brings to an end seven months of frenzy including what many regard as reckless accusations orchestrated by Tahmooressi's support team, lead by his mother, Jill, and echoed throughout international media, alleging that Tahmooressi made an innocent mistake and was being brutalized and "almost" murdered by prison guards and drug cartels while in prison. Many accounts in the U.S. left out details of the fact that after being processed through La Mesa prison in Tijuana, Tahmooressi attempted to commit suicide by cutting his throat with a light bulb and attempted to escape by scaling the prison walls.

After these incidents, he was transferred to his own private cell at the state-of-the-art El Hongo prison ("solitary confinement" according to Jill Tahmooressi).

He also had two hours telephone time daily; visits from friends, a pastor, service groups based in the U.S. and Rosarito and U.S. consular services. In essence, he received treatment that prisoners on either side of the border can only dream of, and benefits afforded to him that are not typically available to other inmates.

Although the Mexican Federal Prosecutor (Ministerio Publico Federal) denies Tahmooressi's release was due to caving-in under political pressure and adverse propaganda from the international media, veterans' groups, and U.S. politicians, the decision leaves unsettled many questions with few answers. Even Tijuana's chief of Public Security, Alejandro Lares Valladares, calls his release "regrettable" and that this has "demoralized the troops."

Of course, the release on humanitarian grounds is not a proclamation of innocence, yet at the same time makes little sense if Tahmooressi had a strong case of innocence.

In the end, only a guilty verdict would trigger the issue of whether Tahmooressi could receive adequate treatment for his alleged PTSD condition while serving time in Mexico. The whole thing seems backwards.

It sets an interesting precedent in the minds of many. Does this mean other Americans, similarly situated in Mexican prisons, can claim PTSD, as their defense? Will this open the gates for other gun-toting, ex-military Americans arriving in Mexico to avoid facing trial if caught?

It also paints a really stark picture about how the media treats similar cases very differently. What about the deported vets of U.S. wars, brought to the U.S. as children, who served in the U.S. armed forces and were honorably discharged?

Many of these are without funds, unable to legally work, do not speak Spanish, and have been dumped on the streets of border towns from Tijuana to Brownsville, in cities where they have no contacts or support.

Who in the media, or in Congress, is prepared to go to bat for these unfortunates? Where are the cries of "bring back our marines" for them?

Although it wouldn't appear from the way that the media is portraying this in the U.S., in the eyes of many, Tahmooressi did not acquit himself honorably.

He lied repeatedly about the circumstances that brought him to Tijuana, and then blamed the lies on his attorney.

He tried to escape from a Mexican prison in which he was legally incarcerated.

He cut himself in the neck with a broken light bulb to gain admittance to the hospital ward.

As a result of irresponsible coverage and accusations, rogue groups have been encouraged and anti-Mexico sentiment flared.

Some groups have threatened massive border blockades.

Others have urged boycotts of Mexican goods and an end to military aid to Mexico.

The lunatic fringe has spoken of commando groups gearing up to break Tahmooressi out of prison. The incident has also unleashed a wave of ugly anti-Mexican hysteria amongst a particularly bigoted American minority that should not be encouraged.

It also has come at a time in which Tijuana is breaking free of its definition as a gringo suburb of San Diego dependent on U.S. tourist money – a city where Southern California could go to misbehave for a weekend and return home as though nothing had happened.

The cartel violence and 9/11 led to a dearth of tourism but a re-birth of Tijuana which has re-branded itself as an international destination distinct from the U.S. and also distinct from mainland Mexico, with its own eclectic culture, Baja-Med cuisine using unique local ingredients, artisanal prize-winning craft beers and internationally-acclaimed fine wines from the Valle de Guadalupe.

The Tahmooressi incident came as an unwelcome disturbance in what has otherwise been a five-year renaissance in Tijuana and northern Baja.

While the U.S. cheers the release of Andrew Tahmooressi, to many of the locals and a large number of American expats living in the area, the sentiment is more like a slap in the face, a reminder that the powerful and well-connected can get a free pass out of jail if they cry loud enough.

borderzonie@gmail.com