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Rancher sued, another killed. Can't we defend ourselves?
Just thought it would be interesting to juxtaposition all three of these articles. (I'll cut and paste them at the end of the post.) A few years back, a rancher was sued by people, shall we say, "not of this country" because he detained them. This article tells the story.
This past weekend, this occurred. Also about the murder and adding to it is this article from the area.
In my opinion, it appears that the real victims are the United States citizens that live along the border. Yes, some real tragedy occurs with the illegal aliens, but isn't it also tragic that people in this country have to be concerned whether or not they could lose their homes or even lives, by way of defending their property and persons, to someone who shouldn't even be here in the first place?
And what has to happen before something is finally done about this issue? Like a terrorist sneaking in a dirty bomb through the Mexican border perhaps? I mean, if large numbers of old men, women and children and insane quantities of drugs can sneak in, it wouldn't be too far a stretch for someone really motivated to do the same.
Just curious to everyone's take on this.....Yes, I posted anonymously, and no, I'm not going to dive into any flame wars. Say what you want, I'm only reading this thread (or not) once it's posted.
Rancher Killed....
Quote:
Cochise County Rancher Murdered
Posted by Jimmy Boegle on Sun, Mar 28, 2010 at 1:11 PM
Leo W. Banks, who has been covering border issues for years, brings us news that Rob Krentz was killed yesterday in the Chiricahua Corridor.
Leo—who has written about the Krentz family before (see here)—says:
Cochise County rancher Rob Krentz was shot and killed on his ranch some time Saturday, presumably by a drug smuggler. (Poster's note...They tracked the suspect 20 miles to the Mexican border. Draw your own conclusions as to that persons citizenship. See the next article...)
The death, which being investigated as a homicide, occurred in the San Bernardino Valley, part of the Malpais region. The event has rocked the towns of Douglas and Portal, and the ranches in between, both of which have been under siege by cross-border smugglers for years.
As the Weekly has reported, the situation in the so-called Chiricahua Corridor has deteriorated lately, leaving residents fearful that an episode of this kind was inevitable. The grief is great for the Krentz family and their many friends throughout Southeast Arizona; Krentzes have been ranching in Cochise County for more than a century.
The Weekly has received word that a representative for Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords has placed calls to Cochise County, trying to set up a community meeting, either Monday or Tuesday at 11 a.m., possibly at the Apache School. The Giffords' rep making the arrangements said it is possible she will ask the president to place military units in the besieged area
A source tells the Weekly the practical impact of Giffords' actions might be small, but at least she is paying attention. The source said, "Kolbe laughed at us when we complained, and McCain worries about getting his patent leather shoes dirty when he's down here."
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Ranchers worried...
Quote:
Slaying stokes border worries
Crime: Stats may show rise in illegals
By Derek Jordan
Herald/Review
SIERRA VISTA — The east edge of Cochise County, including the area where a local rancher was killed, has seen in increase in illegal immigrant activity in the past year, Cochise County Sheriff’s Office officials say.
In an area stretching from Douglas in the south to San Simon in the north, authorities say the type and volume of burglaries indicates an increase in illegal immigrant traffic. Burglary cases include the Feb. 8 report of the theft of $100 in food from a home on Skeleton Canyon Road. And the Feb. 20 report of clothing stolen from a home on Owl Butte Trail. Cases in which people peer inside windows and then run when they’re seen or enter a home and track in mud but take nothing.
Similarities in the cases point toward illegal immigrants being responsible, said Carol Capas, spokeswoman for the sheriff’s office.
“Items that are stolen are specifically food and clothing,” she said. “For the most part, the residents have not been home for some time, or it’s a second home that they have in the area.”
There is a “direct relationship” between these cases and the increasing amount of illegal immigrants coming into the country by way of that area, Capas said.
Robert Krentz was found shot dead Saturday on his 35,000-acre ranch between Douglas and Apache. Krentz, 58, was believed to have been killed by an illegal immigrant.
According to the sheriff’s office, Krentz’s brother, Phil Krentz, reported receiving a radio phone transmission from his brother between 10 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. Saturday morning, but all Phil Krentz could understand were the words “illegal alien” and “hurt.”
Asked if during the course of the investigation the possible meaning of these words had become clear, Capas said, “We are not going to speculate on that.” She added “There is no way for us to know whether or not that means he caught up to someone who was injured or that he caught up to someone and that now (Robert Krentz) was injured.”
Phil Krentz was to meet with his brother at another area of the ranch at noon later that day. When the time came and went and Robert Krentz was nowhere to be found, family and friends organized a search for him but were unsuccessful and contacted the sheriff’s office at 6:20 p.m. The sheriff’s was joined by ground and air support from the U.S. Border Patrol and the Department of Public Safety.
The body was found, along with his dog, in his all-terrain vehicle shortly before midnight.
Investigators followed the tracks of the vehicle approximately 1,000 feet back to where they determined Krentz came upon an individual. Krentz was apparently shot while in the vehicle.
Foot tracks at the scene were followed by a number of tracking teams until the Mexico border, about 20 miles south. No one had been apprehended for the death of Krentz as of Tuesday.
As the investigation continues, authorities are releasing few details, including any possible connection to an incident involving a gun that occurred within 24 hours of Krentz’s death. Sheriff Larry Dever mentioned the incident during a press conference on Monday. “They’re not willing to discuss that any further,” Capas said.
Separately, Border Patrol has said that eight drug smugglers were apprehended Friday night as they were crossing the Krentz ranch. The smugglers and 290 pounds of marijuana were taken into custody by border agents.
Several officials have called for an increased federal presence at the border.
On Monday, Gov. Jan Brewer renewed her call for National Guard soldiers to be deployed to the border. Also Monday, Sen. John McCain sent a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano calling for Guard troops on the border.
On Tuesday, U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords made a similar request when she sent a letter to President Barack Obama and Napolitano. “I urge you to take bold and immediate action to protect our citizens by deploying the National Guard to our southern border,” she wrote.
Giffords also asked that more Border Patrol agents, particularly horseback units, be sent to the border and that a forward operating base, a rural outpost for Border Patrol agents, be established between Douglas and the New Mexico border.
Giffords to visit
U.S. Rep. Gabriel Giffords has called a meeting with ranchers today in Apache to discuss safety issues regarding illegal immigrant and drug smuggling traffic across their lands. The meeting will begin at 6 p.m. at Apache Elementary School on Skeleton Canyon Road northeast of Douglas, Giffords’ office said.
Reward offered
The Arizona Cattle Growers’ Association is offering a $15,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of rancher Robert Krentz’s killer and has set up a memorial fund at Wells Fargo Bank to help Krentz’s family.
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And finally, Rancher Sued.... (A few years old.)
Quote:
16 illegals sue Arizona rancher
Claim violation of rights as they crossed his land
By Jerry Seper
An Arizona man who has waged a 10-year campaign to stop a flood of illegal immigrants from crossing his property is being sued by 16 Mexican nationals who accuse him of conspiring to violate their civil rights when he stopped them at gunpoint on his ranch on the U.S.-Mexico border.
Roger Barnett, 64, began rounding up illegal immigrants in 1998 and turning them over to the U.S. Border Patrol, he said, after they destroyed his property, killed his calves and broke into his home.
His Cross Rail Ranch near Douglas, Ariz., is known by federal and county law enforcement authorities as "the avenue of choice" for immigrants seeking to enter the United States illegally.
Trial continues Monday in the federal lawsuit, which seeks $32 million in actual and punitive damages for civil rights violations, the infliction of emotional distress and other crimes. Also named are Mr. Barnett's wife, Barbara, his brother, Donald, and Larry Dever, sheriff in Cochise County, Ariz., where the Barnetts live. The civil trial is expected to continue until Friday.
The lawsuit is based on a March 7, 2004, incident in a dry wash on the 22,000-acre ranch, when he approached a group of illegal immigrants while carrying a gun and accompanied by a large dog.
Attorneys for the immigrants - five women and 11 men who were trying to cross illegally into the United States - have accused Mr. Barnett of holding the group captive at gunpoint, threatening to turn his dog loose on them and saying he would shoot anyone who tried to escape.
The immigrants are represented at trial by the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF), which also charged that Sheriff Dever did nothing to prevent Mr. Barnett from holding their clients at "gunpoint, yelling obscenities at them and kicking one of the women."
In the lawsuit, MALDEF said Mr. Barnett approached the group as the immigrants moved through his property, and that he was carrying a pistol and threatening them in English and Spanish. At one point, it said, Mr. Barnett's dog barked at several of the women and he yelled at them in Spanish, "My dog is hungry and he's hungry for buttocks."
The lawsuit said he then called his wife and two Border Patrol agents arrived at the site. It also said Mr. Barnett acknowledged that he had turned over 12,000 illegal immigrants to the Border Patrol since 1998.
In March, U.S. District Judge John Roll rejected a motion by Mr. Barnett to have the charges dropped, ruling there was sufficient evidence to allow the matter to be presented to a jury. Mr. Barnett's attorney, David Hardy, had argued that illegal immigrants did not have the same rights as U.S. citizens.
Mr. Barnett told The Washington Times in a 2002 interview that he began rounding up illegal immigrants after they started to vandalize his property, northeast of Douglas along Arizona Highway 80. He said the immigrants tore up water pumps, killed calves, destroyed fences and gates, stole trucks and broke into his home.
Some of his cattle died from ingesting the plastic bottles left behind by the immigrants, he said, adding that he installed a faucet on an 8,000-gallon water tank so the immigrants would stop damaging the tank to get water.
Mr. Barnett said some of the ranch´s established immigrant trails were littered with trash 10 inches deep, including human waste, used toilet paper, soiled diapers, cigarette packs, clothes, backpacks, empty 1-gallon water bottles, chewing-gum wrappers and aluminum foil - which supposedly is used to pack the drugs the immigrant smugglers give their "clients" to keep them running.
He said he carried a pistol during his searches for the immigrants and had a rifle in his truck "for protection" against immigrant and drug smugglers, who often are armed.
A former Cochise County sheriff´s deputy who later was successful in the towing and propane business, Mr. Barnett spent $30,000 on electronic sensors, which he has hidden along established trails on his ranch. He searches the ranch for illegal immigrants in a pickup truck, dressed in a green shirt and camouflage hat, with his handgun and rifle, high-powered binoculars and a walkie-talkie.
His sprawling ranch became an illegal-immigration highway when the Border Patrol diverted its attention to several border towns in an effort to take control of the established ports of entry. That effort moved the illegal immigrants to the remote areas of the border, including the Cross Rail Ranch.
"This is my land. I´m the victim here," Mr. 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."
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