Mexican immigrant acquitted in shooting death of woman in San Francisco: local media

Nov 30 (Reuters) - A Mexican immigrant was acquitted of murder and manslaughter charges in San Francisco on Thursday in the politically charged shooting death of a woman, the San Francisco Chronicle reported on its Twitter page.

The case against Jose Ines Garcia Zarate, who immigrated illegally to the United States, became a rallying cry for President Donald Trump during his campaign for the White House, as he pushed to halt illegal immigration and penalize so-called sanctuary cities, including San Francisco.

Zarate, who had been deported to Mexico five times since first entering the United States as a juvenile, said the July 1, 2015, shooting of Kate Steinle on a pier in San Francisco, was an accident.

The San Francisco jury, while acquitting him of murder and manslaughter charges, found him guilty of the lesser charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm, a San Francisco Chronicle reporter covering the case said on Twitter.

A spokeswoman for San Francisco Superior Court could not immediately be reached for comment on the verdict.

(Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis in Los Angeles; Editing by Peter Cooney)