Border incident interests citizens' group
By Louie Villalobos, Staff Writer
Aug 12, 2003
Using the Yuma case of two men arrested for allegedly holding illegal immigrants at gunpoint as its coming-out party, a newly formed citizens' group is promising to sue two Yuma County departments and come to Arizona with an "army" ready to patrol the Mexican border.
Keith French, spokesman for the newly incorporated U.S. Special Service, said his Missouri-based organization intends to sue the Yuma County Sheriff's Office and the Yuma County Attorney's Office for what he called the unlawful arrest and detention of Matthew Hoffman and Alexander Dumas.
"We have adopted these men," French said.
Both men are accused of detaining six illegal immigrants at gunpoint July 31 in Gadsden until U.S. Border Patrol agents arrived.
Each is facing six counts of aggravated assault, five counts of unlawful imprisonment and one count of conspiracy to commit unlawful imprisonment following the incident.
In an e-mailed declaration sent to the county attorney's office, the sheriff's office and The Sun, the U.S. Special Service accuses both departments of violating the suspects' civil rights by arresting them for doing something permitted by the law.
"People are allowed to arrest someone they see commit a crime," French said. "And entering illegally is a crime."
French said the use of handcuffs and guns on the illegal immigrants by Hoffman and Dumas falls under justification for use of force in defense of property.
Though officials said the area where the incident occurred — County 18th Street and the Colorado River — is technically federal property, French contends the entire United States is the property of every American, which makes it legal for citizens to defend it against "the invasion of illegal immigrants."
A statement released Monday by Sheriff Ralph Ogden states he recognizes the frustrations surrounding current immigration policies and said citizens may assist in the apprehension of anyone violating the law.
But the statement goes one to "warn any individual assuming that responsibility that such arrests must be done in accordance with applicable state and federal laws and that failure to do so may result in their being charged with a violation of the law."
The department has said that detaining someone against their will, even if they have broken the law, is illegal and goes beyond what a citizen's arrest allows.
French said his organization had been looking at federal laws regarding private citizens' patrols when Hoffman and Dumas were arrested, and said the case is the perfect one for his group to announce itself with.
He said his group plans to help family members with the defense of their loved ones, but is urging both the county attorney's office and the sheriff's office to drop the charges and release Hoffman and Dumas. If not, French said his organization will seek alternative means to have the men freed.
"Sometimes you've got to fight fire with fire," he said. "They can take that however the hell they want."
A second demand in the e-mailed declaration is the resignation of Yuma County Attorney Patricia Orozco, who French said is pursuing the case because her Hispanic descent has caused her to take the incident personally.
For her part, Orozco said that her office pursuing the case has nothing to do with her Hispanic heritage and everything to do with the law. She said her staff didn't do anything different on this case than it has in previous cases or will do with future ones.
"Our standard is whether there is a reasonable likelihood of a conviction at trial," she said. "We found that there was sufficient evidence for us to bring charges and we did."
Also targeted by French's group are the illegal immigrants that cross through Arizona on a daily basis. French said he intends to bring an "army" to the Arizona-Mexico border in the near future that will be armed and ready to detain illegal immigrants.
He said plans are in the works for the group to come to the Arizona border and tour the area for possible locations for a base camp. French said the camp will most likely be in the Tucson area but that he intends to visit Yuma to check on the Hoffman-Dumas case and illegal immigrant activity.
Unlike the other citizens' group working near Tucson — which tends to stay on private land — French said his organization will also patrol federal land and public property. Yuma County's border with Mexico is largely federal land, officials have said.
"The United States government's land is the people's land," he said. "And we will function on that property."
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Louie Villalobos can be reached at
lvillalobos@yumasun.com or 539-6858.
http://yumasun.com/artman/publish/a...tory_6677.shtml