ROFLMPO! Can't wait to see the race-baiting liberals and brown berets' minds short circuit on this one!
Posted on 07/29/2005 12:25:12 PM PDT by mdittmar
The Minuteman Civil Defense Corps announced a new head for its Texas branch Thursday after the previous leader resigned abruptly earlier this week alleging disorganization and racism in the Goliad County chapter.
Al Garza, a retired private investigator and Arizona resident, will serve as supervisor over all Texas chapters. The presidents of the Texas chapters will report to Garza, while he will report to national president Chris Simcox, Garza said in a Thursday afternoon interview.
Bill Parmley, who served as president of the Goliad chapter of the organization and the overseer of the entire Texas branch, resigned both positions in an e-mail Monday night.
Kenneth Buelter, vice president of the Goliad-area chapter, assumed the duties of acting president for the group until members meet next week to decide on new leadership. Buelter said he is willing to continue as president if the group's 25 members so desire.
Garza, who lives near rural Douglas, Ariz., was born in Raymondville, Texas, and later lived in Pharr. After serving with the Marines in Vietnam, Garza went on to work as a private investigator in California for 30 years before retiring. He has worked with the national Minuteman organization for about two years, he said.
Garza originally had misgivings about the Minuteman group when he first heard about it on television, but changed his mind after he personally saw how Simcox gave water to dehydrated immigrants.
"It flabbergasted me. I really thought these people were vigilantes out here," Garza said.
Garza said he was also shown the destruction and waste many of the illegal immigrants left in their wake.
Over the next month, Garza said he plans to spend four or five days with each of the four Texas chapters to ensure everything is running smoothly.
In the past he has met with the Goliad chapter, and said he never saw any indications of racism from the group.
"I was really in shock when this came about," he said of Parmley's comments. "I think it's just a misunderstanding and it will be my function to make sure it's corrected."
Parmley said his allegations of racism were largely based on efforts by members of the group to undermine Goliad County Sheriff Robert DeLaGarza.
In prior interviews Buelter said he and other residents had expressed concerns about how the sheriff handled felons on work crews, but those concerns were completely unrelated to immigration issues or the Minuteman organization.
As further evidence of the group's racist tendencies, Parmley said members of the Goliad group were strongly opposed to buying water for illegal immigrants.
At one meeting some members voiced opposition to giving water to illegal immigrants because many were causing damage to landowner's property, said Garza, who was present for the discussion. He said it was more of a misunderstanding of the group's standard operating procedure. In a similar vein, some people thought the group would patrol rather than observe.
"There was some confusion," he said. "It was cleared up that same afternoon."
Garza explained to the volunteers that part of the standard operating procedure for the organization was to render aid to illegal immigrants in distress.
"We carry binoculars, we carry cell phones, and we carry plenty of water," he said.
When asked why Parmley was making accusations against the Goliad chapter, Buelter answered: "I don't know. I just don't know."
Parmley dedicated great amounts of time and money to establish the Minuteman organization in Sarco, he said. The only problem Buelter noted was a failure by Parmley to forward information in a timely manner to other officers and members.
"Bill was supposed to be the statewide head and he was supposed to be filtering all the information that came from national down to the local groups, and we weren't getting that," Buelter said.
This led some members to contact the national headquarters in Arizona directly, he said.
Parmley wrote in his letter of resignation that members were bypassing him and taking decisions directly to the national office in Arizona, thus undermining his authority.
He added in a Thursday interview that several other Sarco residents have distanced themselves from the group because of the same concerns over racism he expressed.
"All of us have caught wind of this and none of us want anything to do with it," Parmley said. He declined to disclosed the names of his concerned neighbors.
Buelter said he knew of no members who had quit the organization recently.
The group recognized all the work Parmley did in organizing the group, Buelter said.
"We do appreciate all of the hard work and effort Bill has put in for the Minuteman organization," Buelter said. "We will miss him, but we will move on and continue with Operation Secure Our Borders in October."
Buelter declined to answer any specific comments made by Parmley against the Goliad group.
"I will let my actions and our group's actions speak for themselves as far as the accusations about racism," Buelter said. "Our actions will show that we are not in any way shape or form."
""It flabbergasted me. I really thought these people were vigilantes out here," Garza said."
Ahh, the vigilante propaganda I spewed really had an effect!
Sincerely,
El Presidente Bush
Chris bats a home run, and shows that patriotic assimilation works as well.
Texas MM Ping!
Please FReepmail me if you want on or off this South Texas/Mexico ping list.
ROFLMPO! Can't wait to see the race-baiting liberals and brown berets' minds short circuit on this one!
ping
PING
evening bump
Where's bayourod, cj and the usual "cry racism!" crowd when you need them???
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