Mexican Troops Fire on U.S. Border Watchers

An official with a civilian border group says a squad of Mexican soldiers opened fire on a position only moments after it was vacated by group volunteers patrolling private property near Douglas, Ariz.

Jack Foote, national spokesman for property protection group Ranch Rescue, told NewsMax a reconnaissance squad of his volunteers spotted two armed Mexican soldiers wearing green combat fatigues and Kevlar helmets on U.S. soil adjacent to property the group was asked to protect.

Foote said his volunteers, part of a mission Ranch Rescue dubbed "Operation Thunderbird," deployed at the landowner's request to interdict smuggling of illegal aliens and drugs on the property, reported the shootings about 5:22 p.m. Saturday. There were no injuries, and Ranch Rescue members, who are patrolling the property armed, did not return fire.

The group spokesman said the leader of the reconnaissance unit reported movement about 200 meters north of the landowner's southern boundary, a location near the U.S.-Mexico border.

"He waited until the first two soldiers moved into the clear. One was carrying an AK-47 and the other an RPK," a light machine gun version of the AK. "Both were wearing [olive drab] green fatigues and Kevlar helmets," Foote said.

Foote said the recon point man yelled in Spanish for the two soldiers to stop, but they turned around instead. Recon volunteers reported seeing the entire unit run back into Mexico. It wasn't clear how many Mexican soldiers had crossed into the U.S.

For safety, the volunteer recon unit moved to a different position, Foote said. About a minute later "the Mexicans fired on our squad's previous position." Members heard about six to eight shots fired, said Foote.

Mexican Embassy officials in Washington did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Incidents of Mexican troops crossing the international boundary into the United States are nothing new, say Border Patrol agents.

Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., head of the House Immigration Reform Caucus, says 115 incursions by Mexican military and police have been documented by the U.S. government since 1996.

"The purpose of these incursions is not totally understood, but U.S. officials have speculated that they are designed to help facilitate the flow of illegal drugs into America, either by creating a diversion or by providing cover for the traffickers," Tancredo says, on his caucus Web site.

Ranch Rescue has had its share of problems during operations. The landowner host for Operation Thunderbird, Casey Nethercott, was arrested Nov. 25 by federal authorities for failing to appear for a court date in Texas.

Nethercott and fellow Ranch Rescue volunteer Hank Connor were arrested by Texas authorities in March during a group operation on the property of Joe Sutton, near Hebbronville in Jim Hogg County. They were charged with allegedly detaining and beating two illegal aliens from El Salvador, allegations the group vehemently denied.

Foote said Nethercott's attorney told him Nethercott did not have to appear at the Texas hearing. The attorney said he would appear instead, but got sick and also missed the date. Foote said Nethercott's attorney filed papers with the court seeking a change in court date and explained the circumstances for missing the initial hearing, but Jim Hogg County prosecutors "pushed the issue and got a warrant issued for Casey."

Now, Arizona authorities are holding Nethercott on a "fugitive" warrant, but Nethercott is fighting the extradition to Texas. He remains in jail, Foote said, and will likely be there until February, unless bail can be arranged.

Federal officials also filed charges against Nethercott and Connor in the Hebbronville case, but eventually those were dropped.

Read my tag line, slick. I'm proud of it. I even managed to include it in my resume. I lost track of how many illegals I've helped send home a long time ago. All I know is that it is now well over 3,000. After a while the numbers become meaningless, just another drop in the bucket when you consider that the Border Patrol caught over 900,000 without my help last year.

I just don't let emotion interfere. Believe it or not, I actually like Mexicans. I just don't think we're doing them any favors by accepting the few who have cojones and initiative -- the ones who just might make the difference in turning that misbegotten country around.

Why does the world's 10th largest economy have 40% of its population living in abject poverty? Corruption. Until we stop acting as Mexico's safety valve the place will never change. It will just remain as another third world oligarchy with a few families lording it over the peons, with hired thugs to keep them in line.

Everybody is entitled to a hobby. Mine is simply to embarrass the hell out of the pissant political parasites on both sides of the border.

Sorry `bout taking so long to reply, just trying to wrap things up here... I don't mean to make this look like a chat room hit piece. I am just trying to address your concerns..
Sheriff Dever is doing as well as can be expected given the limitation placed upon him. He's got a pretty good relationship with most of the border watch groups and is trying to treat Foote's group carefully until he's convinced they are, in fact, a danger to others and themselves.
Well, If he is going to watch Foote until he finds something to convince him that a danger might exist, he is probably going to find something. Just in case anyone has not realised the gravity of this situation let me lend a hand. You guys are in a war. Plain and simple. There will be danger involved. It is inescapable. If anyone tries to convince you otherwise or tell you that you can get through this in perfect safety put a boot in their butt and send them on their way. Time will prove you to be correct.
That said, how about some good advice? Make friends with everyone else you can. This will aid you in developing intel, resources and above all a plan. You may as well, because it is becoming quite obvious there will be ZERO help from our tax-fat guv. Any plan, short of running away, will be much more productive than trying to convince gov officials to actually do anything that will offer real results. Start small, set a realistic goal and accomplish it. Getting started is the hard part. Expanding a successful plan is easy. Look at Jack. He has already assembled a multi-state org. Small, but it is there. Look at what you need to accomplish in your back yard and start. Experience is a hell of a good instructor.
Dever does not have unlimited resources with which to patrol the border. He's got other crimes in the HUGE county to deal with too.
He does not need unlimited resources, he needs folks to steadily work the problem. Showing up is half of the battle in itself. Once folks realist that lightning will not come from the sky and the earth will not swallow them up just because they picked up some gear and ran a night patrol, they will be ready to go again. And again. Real success in endeavors such as this will not come overnight, they come with practice and repetition.
Dever does not have carte blanche from his bosses (the County) to run around doing Border Patrol's job.
Bingo. You just answered one of your hardest questions. That question is....
Q. How do I do this without getting hammered by my own LEO?
A. Put pressure right on the area you described. On the Sheriffs bosses, The County. These are elected officials. To look bad in the public eye is the kiss of death to them. Get the pressure off the sheriff and then take care of your own business.
He does what he can do and would have surely responded to a 911 call about the Mexican Army troops if Foote actually did see them and had called to report it.
Ok, speaking from experience, to try to remember such a logical course of action after spotting what appears to be armed troops, only to get fired up within about one minute after contact is not going to happen very often. As best as I can determine, the basic events went like this . .
Recon patrol spots two guys in uniform carrying shoulder fired weapons.
Non-aggressive contact was established by recon patrol.
Two guys split, closely followed by "more" It is assumed that they are also armed and in similar uniforms. From the quoted description "entire unit" a reasonable guess would be about 8 more.
Recon patrol follows correct procedure and quickly changes position.
Inbound rounds are fired into recon patrol's first position.
Recon patrol does NOT return fire, thereby not revealing their new position.
In it's basic form, I can find no fault in the recon patrol's procedure.
I simply do not see what the recon patrol did that was so scary other than a non pee-cee attitude of actually arming themselves. Heaven forbid they offend the criminal border buster.
Dever has no qualms about calling Border Patrol if he or his deputies pull over someone who is obviously not supposed to be here.
Great. Support him every time he does it. Photograph it. Get lots of nice wide angle shots to include as many border buster as you can. Demand the local newspaper print a front page story with photos for every event.
Dever is a good conservative Republican. I know him and he is good people.
Then get the County politicians off his back and free him up to do a unfettered job. He has the organization and county wide communication system. Use it. If you need more FReepmail me.

TLI

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