Andrew Tahmooressi: Marine Who Made Wrong Turn And Wound Up In Mexican Jail Eager To Resume PTSD Treatment
Andrew Tahmooressi Update: After spending 214 days in a Mexican jail, the U.S. Marine reservist is eager to resume his treatment for PTSD. Tahmooressi’s experience in the Mexican prison was reportedly harder on him than his tours in Iraq. The Andrew Tahmooressi told lawmakers from both sides of the aisle that worked diligently to free him, that he is looking forward to a steak dinner and some stone crabs.
@DanMarriesKOLD: 'Great to see @Montel_Williams greeting Marine Sgt. Andrew #Tahmooressi …' pic.twitter.com/2Usvh3FLxa via @twttimes
— Patty Ann (@NavyNmySoul) November 1, 2014
PHOTOS: Sgt. Andrew Tahmooressi Arrives Back on Am… via @TheBlaze http://t.co/0AYyklUyx4
— Crystal Woodlock (@woodlock5) November 1, 2014
A Florida Marine took a wrong turn in San Diego with legal guns in his car and his now being held in a Mexican jail. Andrew Tahmooressi is “mentally and physically crippled” according to his mother. The South Florida Marine reservist is reportedly being held in four-point restraints at the Mesa Prison in Tijuana and has received death threats from other inmates.
The 25-year-old Marine called his mother, Jill Tahmooressi, as Mexican police officers surrounded his vehicle on April 1. He had been traveling to visit a friend.
The worried mother said her Marine son had this to say during the phone conversation:
“Mom, I got lost. I made a wrong turn and I ended up at the Mexican border. I’m telling you this in case something happens to me. All the Mexicans officials are surrounding my truck now. I’ll call you back.”
Approximately 12 hours later Andrew Tahmooressi called home again, but this time from a Mexican prison. The mother said that virtually everything her son owned was in the back of his truck, including several guns purchased legally in the United States. “There is absolutely no indication that he’s going to get out of jail, and of course, no indication as to when. My nights are miserable, my days are miserable,” Jill Tahmooressi said. The Marine’s mother started a White House petition to garner awareness about her son imprisonment and to foster support for his release.
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On April 6, guards at the Mexican prison said the South Florida Marine tried to scale a wall topped with barbed wire and escape. The escape attempt was reportedly prompted by death threats Tahmooressi received from other inmates inside the Mexican jail.
Andrew served in the US Marine Corps in Afghanistan. According to his mother, just 10 days before the wrong turn in San Diego lead to the arrest in Mexico, her son had been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. Tahmooressi was in California getting treatment for his condition.
Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz told the family that she had contacted the State Department about Andrew’s arrest and incarceration.
Wasserman Schultz’s communication director Sean Bartlett released a statement about Andrew Tahmooressi which read:
“The Congresswoman read Ms. Tahmooressi’s letter with concern and instructed her staff to get in touch with the State Department right away to ensure that Andrew’s case was being handled as expeditiously as possible. Our office will remain in close contact with the State Department as the trial approaches, and we will continue to be of service to the family where we can and when appropriate.”
No trial date has yet been set for the Florida Marine. As previously reported by The Inquisitr, Jon Hammar, another South Florida Marine, was arrested by Mexican authorities after crossing the Texas border with guns legal in America, and spent four months behind bars.
[Image via: Jonathan Franks/Los Angeles Times]
