Guesses about Sebastian Solas's past ⸺ my theory
⚠️ This was translated from Russian, so it may sound weirdly .
꒰ ⛓️ ꒱ Hey! I want to share my theory on how and why Solas was convicted. Honestly, I haven't found any official information on this topic, so everything written below should be taken with a grain of skepticism ⸺ especially if information about this part of his past has already been revealed earlier.
All we know is that Sebastian Solas is a Chilean national who was charged with the murder of nine people. Since the death penalty has been banned in Chile ⸺ and throughout South America ⸺ since 2001, let's assume that Sebastian lived in the United States. He was tried as an adult for nine counts, which were most likely committed on days AFTER his 18th birthday; otherwise, he could not have been sentenced to death ⸺ the U.S. Supreme Court has prohibited capital punishment for crimes committed before the age of 18 (Roper v. Simmons, 2005).
It can be assumed that he was arrested when he was nearly 19 years old. From this, it follows that the murders were committed within a short period of time (about a couple of months, five at most), and the investigation lasted less than six months.
This leads to two possible scenarios: first, the murders were committed in a state where the death penalty is permitted (given the specification that the execution was to be carried out by electric chair, this narrows the number of possible states down to nine ⸺ Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Illinois, Kentucky, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia); second, the murders were committed across multiple states, which would have elevated the investigation to the federal level. The first scenario is more likely, but the second cannot be ruled out.
Sebastian Solas was placed in the Secret Hadal Facility in 2013, when he was (presumably) 20 years old. Under these circumstances, and considering that Sebastián was later found innocent, there are inconsistencies ⸺ such an investigation would have taken much longer than 1–1.5 years. Typically, investigations of this kind take 3–4 years, or even longer. This means we need to find a reason why he was apprehended and convicted so quickly.
In 2011, the anti-immigrant climate in the United States reached one of its peaks in modern history, driven by the lingering effects of the 2008 economic crisis, rising unemployment, and political polarization. As part of the emerging campaign for the 2012 presidential election, Republican candidates actively exploited the theme of «border security». The concept of «self-deportation» gained traction creating unbearable legal and economic conditions to pressure immigrants into leaving the country on their own.
Chileans in the U.S. were perceived as a migrant minority alongside other Latin Americans. Despite the fact that they socially often placed themselves above Mexicans or Peruvians, in practice they were still regarded as a racial and cultural minority. However, the vast majority of Chileans were in the U.S. legally, and direct deportation risks barely affected them. Still, due to the laws in effect at the time, Latin American ⸺ including legal residents and U.S. citizens of Chilean descent faced prejudiced treatment, and anyone with a Latin American appearance or accent could be subjected to document checks by police on the street.
From this, it follows that the haste in reaching a death penalty decision in Sebastián Solas's case may have been driven by plain racism toward his Latin American background, as well as possible public outcry and media pressure.
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