Posted on 05/26/2010 2:12:47 PM PDT by OneVike
Roger Barnett had his house broken into, trucks stolen, cattle killed and property damaged by illegal immigrants crossing the border via his 22,000-acre Arizona ranch. In 1998, he decided enough was enough.
He began rounding them up at gunpoint and turning them over to the U.S. Border Patrol. Barnett claims to have captured around 12,000 illegal immigrants attempting to cross his property - a spot along the border that authorities have since deemed “an avenue of choice” - into the United States.
Astonishingly, 16 of those illegal immigrants are now suing Barnett for $32 million in punitive damages for civil rights violations and emotional distress, among other crimes.
The particular incident involved in the suit occurred on March 7, 2004 when Barnett held the five women and 11 men at gunpoint, threatening to turn his dog loose on them and shoot anyone who tried to escape.
According to attorneys representing the illegals through the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Barnett kicked one of the women and threatened them in English and Spanish, at one point shouting “my dog is hungry and he’s hungry for buttocks.”
(What a threat. The 16 must have been horrified that the dog was actually going to eat their butts.)
When Barnett first began his campaign to hunt down the illegal immigrants trashing his property, he began carrying guns for protection against armed drug smugglers. He has spent over $30,000 on electronic sensors hidden along the trails on his property. He tracks the trespassers like Rambo - equipped with a green shirt, camouflage hat, guns and a walkie-talkie. The sheriff of the town is also named in the lawsuit for allowing Barnett to carry on over the years.
Barnett was a former sheriff’s deputy before later becoming successful in the towing and propane business.
“This is my land. I’m the victim here,” Barnett said. “When someone’s home and loved ones are in jeopardy and the government seemingly can’t do anything about it, I feel justified in taking matters into my own hands. And I always watch my back.”
In March, a U.S. District Judge rejected Barnett’s request that the case be thrown out due to the fact that there was sufficient evidence to take it to a jury. The trial is expected to continue until Friday.
It was in Cochise county, right down where all the action is.
OOops they didn’t get the $2 million they got $60,000.
They shouldn’t have received a penny, and instead they should have been put in prison, and the rancher should have gotten a medal.
Somehow the money got up to $210,000.
Ping!
Already have them...........
Excellent, that’s another one I hadn’t heard of. I remember back when Barneett was first sued everyone ran around painting him as though he was some kind of vigalante. I guess you’re supposed to just sit around and wait until they kill you. People got tired of the border patrol not doing their job and they started doing it for them, and they got even with him....all the way up the judicial system.
Oh good, you are on the thread. You’ll remember this better than I do.
Wow.
Thanks. I'd forgotten about that one.
Appears that Roger Barnett got off relatively lightly considering.
Unbelievable.
If our congress worried as much about creating jobs for Americans as they do about allowing illegals to work we'd be out of this recession in no time at all.
You got that right.
Makes..... blood..... boil......
And if I leave this country without my passport, which I don’t need to get INTO Canada, God help me for trying to get back into MY OWN COUNTRY.
Our government has it so bassackwards. Keep American citizens out and throw open the doors and grant amnesty to illegals who just stroll in every day.
Thanks for the ping!
Ah, yes, the lost ranch. Casey Nethercutt was involved in that - the ranch in question (not his) was in Texas.
The rancher was alleged to pistol-whipped an illegal and to have sicced a dog on the group. There was insufficient physical evidence to substantiate the claims according to the news reports at the time; but that didn’t stop the County Attorney from persisting in a trial.
The rancher was unavailable to show up and defend himself for some reason, and the judge ruled in favor of the illegal and awarded the ranch to the illegal.
Thanks HiJinx, I confused the two.
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