Bill Nelson: “a very disturbing thing has happened in Mexico with one of my constituents--a U.S. marine who served honorably. Johnny…”

“a very disturbing thing has happened in Mexico with one of my constituents--a U.S. marine who served honorably. Johnny Hammar fought in Fallujah and was honorably discharged in 2007. He and another marine, both having suffered under posttraumatic stress disorder, were taking advantage of the fact they were surfers to lessen their stress. They had surfed up and down the east coast. This is a marine whose family lives in Miami, so they had gone to Cocoa Beach, and they were going to others. They wanted to go to Costa Rica to catch the big waves in the Pacific, and so Johnny bought a camper and entered Mexico at Matamoros. As they crossed the border, he checked with United States Customs because he had a shotgun that was an antique that had been owned by his great-grandfather. He registered the weapon with U.S. Customs so that when he returned Customs would have a record of it. But when he went from the American side of the U.S.-Mexico line into Mexico, and openly showed his great-grandfather's antique shotgun, the Mexican authorities arrested him. His companion, another marine, after interrogation was released, but they put Cpl Johnny Hammar, now age 27, in the general prison population in Matamoros, Mexico. This case came to my attention last August, and I immediately responded. As a result of my contacting the Mexican Government, they moved him from the general population of the jail into an individual jail cell.…”