Molon Labe !
Posted on 11/15/2002 8:14:13 AM PST by dirtboy
Cochise County's "official newspaper" has issued a call to arms and is spearheading the formation of a local militia to combat illegal immigration.
Tucson human rights activist Isabel Garcia said the Tombstone Tumbleweed's rhetoric is the latest manifestation of a militant vigilantism that has long existed in Cochise County with the acceptance and encouragement of local officials.
She said Cochise County Sheriff Larry Dever's public friendship with groups like Glenn Spencer's American Patrol, the sheriff's lack of investigation into Roger and Don Barnett's armed detention of illegal entrants and the clear unwillingness on the part of Cochise County Attorney Chris Roll to investigate and prosecute the two brothers have given them credibility and encouraged groups like Texas-based Ranch Rescue and the new Tombstone Militia.
"To have the official newspaper of the county call on people to take up arms is very dangerous, very frightening. Law enforcement and public officials should be concerned," she said.
Garcia canceled an upcoming speaking engagement in Bisbee out of concern over the growing hostility in the county.
Roll, the county attorney, said every case brought to him is reviewed under the same standards. "If we have sufficient evidence that a crime has been committed, we will prosecute."
Sheriff Dever said frustrations with the federal government's inability to stem the flow of illegal immigration has attracted the attention of a number of groups on all sides of the issue.
While he acknowledged attending and speaking at American Patrol meetings, he said his presence should be construed as being a voice of reason rather than a supporter of particular agendas or methodology.
At least 43 people have joined the Citizens Border Patrol militia since the front page call to arms appeared in the Tombstone Tumbleweed last month - under a headline that read "Enough is Enough!" - and support continues to grow, said Chris Simcox, a former California teacher who is now owner, publisher and editor of the Tombstone weekly.
Simcox isn't shy about using the words "vigilante" and "militia" to describe his plans. He sees both as a patriotic obligation in a time of war and a necessity in light of the federal government's failure to stop the flood of immigrants funneling through Cochise County.
His plan is to put armed, able-bodied militia members on private property near the border to create a presence and a deterrent to illegal border crossers.
"This has nothing to do with the Mexican people per se. . . . It's about stopping uncontrolled immigration," he said. "We want local people, we don't want the Rambos, the mercenaries and soldiers of fortune that some of these groups seem to be made up of."
Cochise County Supervisor Paul Newman, who represents the Tombstone area on the county Board of Supervisors said the county has no authority or desire to interfere with the publisher's First Amendment right to publish what he chooses.
But the supervisor said he is concerned that the harsh editorial tone of the newspaper not be represented as the position of Cochise County. He's asked county staffers to look into the newspaper's use of the phrase "Official Newspaper of Cochise County" in its masthead.
According to state law, a newspaper awarded a county's legal advertising contract may be referred to as the county's official paper.
* Contact reporter Ignacio Ibarra at (520) 432-2766 or at nacho1@mindspring.com.
Well in case you haven't noticed we already have problems, big problems, and those problems are the direct result of the government not doing it's job.
So when the government refuses to do the job that they were hired to do then it becomes the reasonability of the people to correct that. And that's what these people are attempting to do. And quite frankly I would like to see more of it.
That's what it's going to take and nothing less, to fix the illegal alien problem.
Believe me --I've noticed the problems and I live in an area where there are huge problems including an economic disaster where hospitals are on the verge of bankrupcy ---and not just from illegal immigration but out-of-control legal immigration including anchor babies handed easy citizenship and welfare benefits. However I can see many many problems with citizens taking these matters into their own hands.
"This has nothing to do with the Mexican people per se. . . . It's about stopping uncontrolled immigration," he said. "We want local people, we don't want the Rambos, the mercenaries and soldiers of fortune that some of these groups seem to be made up of."
Regardless of the title of this thread, this does not seem to be a racist group nor are they advocating violence, labels that seem to be slung around very quickly here these days.
Well then you should have also noticed that the government is not doing anything about it.
I just saw an interview on Fox where Shepherd Smith had some government guy, and a couple of ex FBI guys on and he asked them all the exact same question. How has our security improved in this country since 9-11? And you know not one of them could give any kind of an answer that says it's gotten better, and that’s because the truth is it hasn’t
I can understand your concern about the sad state of affairs that we have gotten ourselves into in this country, but unfortunately that is the reality of the situation. But I am afraid that we have reached the point of critical mass. If one sits around and waits for the government to protect them, well you could very well end up dead. JMO
Molon Labe !
Audio to the Donahue show:
We would not be in this situation if the President, the House and the Senate of the United States of America had exercised their constitutional mandate under Article IV Section Four of the United States Constitution which reads in part:
Section 4. The United States shall guarantee to every state in this union a republican form of government, and shall protect each of them against invasion...
The word "shall" doesn't reflect the meaning of the words can, may, might, should or any other word other than the word that promises action. The United States government MUST take action. It says it WILL take action. At the present time the Presidency, the House and the Senate of the United States are in breach of their
Constitutional duty as enumerated in the Constitution of the United States, specificly Article IV Section Four.
This breach of the United States Constitution is grounds for any wronged citizen, those with financial losses, to seek legal remedy from the Federal Government. In actuality all three branches of our government are in violation of our Constitution. They are allowing our nation to be overrun by another. The illegal-immigrant from Mexico is a citizen of Mexico, a foreign agent of that nation. They are not acting on behalf of our nation. They are not US Citizens. Their actions as Mexican citizens is in direct violation of our immigration laws. The government of Mexico has not exherted minimal efforts to stop what is taking place. By inaction they have given a silent nod to the events that are taking place. The President of Mexico addresses this issue often. Not only does he not announce ways to stop the violations of our sovereign borders, he damns our nationals for objecting and not easing the way for his citizens to complete the tast of violating our borders.
This has led to a situation where land owners are having to find ways to remedy this situation on their own. What started out as an invasion without remedy, is now turning into an invasion with a make shift remedy. And I'm here to tell you that the same Presidency, House and Senate that over the last thirty years couldn't pull their head out of their ass long enough to address this issue by putting military on the border, will soon within months of the land owners saying enough is enough, put troops on our border. "Good" you might say. Not so fast.
There is a better than 50/50 chance they will prevent land owners from taking up arms to stop this invasion. The troops will be placed on the border so that land owners won't be able to stop this. And when they get there, they will allow the illegal to pass in the same manner they have for decades. The border patrol at this time has been ordered not to impede illegals on their way northward. We have sanctioned open borders. Does anyone think our federal officials are going to allow land owners to set national policy? Dream on, if you do.
She said Cochise County Sheriff Larry Dever's public friendship with groups like Glenn Spencer's American Patrol, the sheriff's lack of investigation into Roger and Don Barnett's armed detention of illegal entrants and the clear unwillingness on the part of Cochise County Attorney Chris Roll to investigate and prosecute the two brothers have given them credibility and encouraged groups like Texas-based Ranch Rescue and the new Tombstone Militia.
Roger and Don Barnett have been armed while they detained illegals on their property. They own 22,000 acres of property. They have arrested over 8,000 illegal alliens. Not a single illegal has been shot. That's good. It also proves that armed borders do not a racist killer make. These men detain the illegals and the INS agents pick them up. Roger and Don see the same illegals over and over and over again. Get the picture?
"To have the official newspaper of the county call on people to take up arms is very dangerous, very frightening. Law enforcement and public officials should be concerned," she said.
To be honest, I share concerns for this situation. It is despicable that the federal government has neglected this situation to the point that our own law abiding citizens have had to take up arms to protect their own property. The actions of our federal government on this issue goes against everything that I stand for. It is inexcuseable!
The Barnetts have between 100 and 200 illegals cross their property every day. That's just one farm.
Sheriff Dever said frustrations with the federal government's inability to stem the flow of illegal immigration has attracted the attention of a number of groups on all sides of the issue.
While he acknowledged attending and speaking at American Patrol meetings, he said his presence should be construed as being a voice of reason rather than a supporter of particular agendas or methodology.
What has undoubtedly happened, is the Sheriff has instructed these folks how to conduct themselves. I'm sure he has told them specificly what circumstances they could use lethal force under. And I hope that they never have to use it. Only if they are fired on, or it is clear they are in immenent danger of being fired on, should they use their own weapons, and only then against the armed individual.
At least 43 people have joined the Citizens Border Patrol militia since the front page call to arms appeared in the Tombstone Tumbleweed last month - under a headline that read "Enough is Enough!" - and support continues to grow, said Chris Simcox, a former California teacher who is now owner, publisher and editor of the Tombstone weekly.
Yes, enough is enough. While the federal government takes a whiz on this issue from Washington, D.C., where the peddal hits the metal, folks are having to make the hard decisions for them.
The Barnets have vandelism, theft, threats, property damage and now have been told by the FBI that there is a hit out on them. The FBI was informed of this by their Mexican counterparts. Still the federal government plays Rumplestiltkin on the subject.
Simcox isn't shy about using the words "vigilante" and "militia" to describe his plans. He sees both as a patriotic obligation in a time of war and a necessity in light of the federal government's failure to stop the flood of immigrants funneling through Cochise County.
His plan is to put armed, able-bodied militia members on private property near the border to create a presence and a deterrent to illegal border crossers.
"This has nothing to do with the Mexican people per se. . . . It's about stopping uncontrolled immigration," he said. "We want local people, we don't want the Rambos, the mercenaries and soldiers of fortune that some of these groups seem to be made up of."
Folks, I don't like the idea of our citizens taking up arms to defend our borders. In effect they are taking up arms to defend this nation. In the time honored tradition of our founding fathers, they have taken a stand. I do not bear Mexican nationals ill will. I like to visit Mexico and personally like the people I run into. And when I'm done visiting, I return home. I would not dream of overstaying my welcome in Mexico or any other nation.
For the sake of the Mexican nationals how invade our nation, and the nationals who need financial remedy on the Mexican side of the border, it's time for our President, our House of Representatives and our Senate to stand up to El Presidente' Fox and explain to him that it's about G.D. time he take action to better the economic fortunes of his citizens. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!
No problem, I have been reading up on Spencer and American Patrol over the last couple of nights and think he's primarily a good man who makes some occasional misjudgements about who he associates with - for example, once I got the chance to read up on the American Renaissance event on an unfiltered internet hookup where I could get more details, I saw that he was the only one at that event questioning whether racialism was the answer to the immigration issue, or something along those lines. I think it would behoove him to be more careful who he associates with, but that's just my opinion, yours may vary. So if I considered him to have some racist attitudes because of his association with folks like Taylor, that is my error, and I apologize.
Having said that, there are still the occasional problem children popping up and saying stupid things on FR regarding this subject. Check your freepmail in a minute.
Of course doing this could get them dead too --and faster. I'm in agreement with protecting your own private property but then the illegals will just enter some place else ---or the Mexican government officials will buy land along the border so they can continue disposing of their citizens this way so ultimately it can't work. Mexican drug runners are extremely violent and they will kill citizens who they feel are interfering in their getting drugs across. You've also got the possibility of the Mexican army shooting at US citizens from across the border. The border isn't exactly a safe area for many reasons.
Yeah, it's nutty to take action when the feds are refusing to do anything. Would you refuse to defend your home if the cops refused to come when you called 911?
Look, we are going to have stupid folks come here and make racist violent comments. We will have them removed and folks will out the comments for what they are. No matter how much I may detest those comments, no matter how much you hate those comments, the detesting cannot be used as a reason to silence rational discussion on the subject.
We have a serious problem. I hate like heck that it involves to a high degree a certain ethnic group of people. It does, we have to deal with it anyway.
I apprecite your willingness to understand that I do not condone racism or calls to violence, except in self-defense. And I appreciate that you now realize that Glenn doesn't condone that stuff either. I'm not going to state emphaticly that Glenn has never made an intemprate statement. Overall I believe him to be a person who is trying to address a serious problem, in a rational manner.
Glenn used spend a significant amount of time helping the Hoppi (sp?) indians on the reservation. My grandfather used to drop in and help out there too. I don't think Glenn is a racist. I do think he's about as disgusted as I am at the current situtation.
Take care.
I would tend to disagree there - I can see your point, but it can also give your opponents a club to hit you with, which IMO can more than eliminate any practical advantage of trying to get folks like Taylor to change their ways.
I know I'd rather someone reason with them than to have some loon squad go to the border and shoot a group of illegals to make a statement.
Fortunately, I figure the AR guys are too lazy and stupid to go to the bother of bushwhacking about Southern Arizona to try and apprehend illegals. Takes a bit more of a man to attempt that...
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