Posted on 11/24/2006 4:50:42 AM PST by King of Florida
For years, Roger Barnett has holstered a pistol to his hip, tucked an assault rifle in his truck and set out over the scrub brush on his thousands of acres of ranchland near the Mexican border in southeastern Arizona to hunt.
Hunt illegal immigrants, that is, often chronicled in the news.
“They’re flooding across, invading the place,” Mr. Barnett told the ABC program “Nightline” this spring. “They’re going to bring their families, their wives, and they’re going to bring their kids. We don’t need them.”
But now, after boasting of having captured 12,000 illegal crossers on land he owns or leases from the state and emerging as one of the earliest and most prominent of the self-appointed border watchers, Mr. Barnett finds himself the prey.
Immigrant rights groups have filed lawsuits, accusing him of harassing and unlawfully imprisoning people he has confronted on his ranch near Douglas. One suit pending in federal court accuses him, his wife and his brother of pointing guns at 16 illegal immigrants they intercepted, threatening them with dogs and kicking one woman in the group.
Another suit, accusing Mr. Barnett of threatening two Mexican-American hunters and three young children with an assault rifle and insulting them with racial epithets, ended Wednesday night in Bisbee with a jury awarding the hunters $98,750 in damages.
The court actions are the latest example of attempts by immigrant rights groups to curb armed border-monitoring groups by going after their money, if not their guns. They have won civil judgments in Texas, and this year two illegal Salvadoran immigrants who had been held against their will took possession of a 70-acre ranch in southern Arizona after winning a case last year.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
"confronted on his ranch near Douglas"
Key words are HIS RANCH. These people are trespassing and he is doing something about it.
But now, after boasting of having captured 12,000 illegal crossers on land he owns or leases from the state and emerging as one of the earliest and most prominent of the self-appointed border watchers, Mr. Barnett finds himself the prey. Immigrant rights groups have filed lawsuits...
______________________________________________________________________________
Ah yes, the rationale voice of the NY Slimes and Liberalism.
Another suit, accusing Mr. Barnett of threatening two Mexican-American hunters and three young children with an assault rifle and insulting them with racial epithets, ended Wednesday night in Bisbee with a jury awarding the hunters $98,750 in damages.
Isn't Barnett the same guy who was "captured" my mexican military on his own ranch?
My = by
:-)
LLS
Maybe opening day could be a free day for the entire NRA or anyone else that cares do shoot there guns.
See how the system can "macaca" anyone who trys to interrupt the invasion of illegals into the country.I'd love to know the makeup of those jurys also !!!
They'd rather have another 9/11 than have this guy be the one to foil it, wouldn't they?
The powers that be always hate Vigilantes. The fact that Vigilantes rise up is proof that those powers are not ,or can not do their job. So they do what they can to get rid of the Vigilantes.
Funny, I thought trespassing was illegal as well.
I guess it isn't down that way aftfer all.
A tribute to the Jury system (Sarcasm)
I had always thought that trespassing was a crime, and that an individual had the right to keep people off his/her property - by force, if necessary.
Especially when law enforcement officials were unable or unwilling to act.
I did not think this was considered vigiliantism.
Perhaps someone with knowledge of the law (a lawyer, perhaps) could confirm this.
If they are illegal for crossing the border then they are telling lies as well.Every American should have the right to defend his property no matter what!The da*n American courts have no right to stick their unconstitutional noses in it.This is typical liberal,"transference of responsibility" to wrongly put this on the back of a landowner.These illegals CHOSE TO BREAK THE LAW so they should suffer the consequences!
No. It looks like lawyers and the (cough) 'justice system' isn't the answer (or is it 'legal system'? I get so corn-fused at times).
The operative words in the article are "his" and "he owns or leases". It doesn't say 'open land, 'free land', 'our land' or 'their land' - it's HIS land.
And I don't give a rats ass (legal term) if it's thousands of acres or a 20 SF patch of lawn in front of a townhouse - it's HIS, and nobody has a 'right' to be on it without HIS permission.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.