Violence escalates at the border

From the "If it looks like a duck, and quacks like a duck" department comes this story of murder at the border:

Gunmen attack migrants, kill man and injure teen


Authorities are searching for four men who attacked 12 undocumented immigrants, killed an Eloy man and shot a teenager, Pinal County Sheriff's Office officials said.

Authorities said David Norris Jr. was driving a pickup truck containing 12 illegal immigrants late Saturday in an Eloy farm field when four heavily armed men in a white full-size van began firing on them.

All four men were wearing military-style berets, camouflage pants and shirts, authorities said.

"As far as being a group we don't know that yet," said Pinal County Sheriff's Office Detective Buddy Johnson, who is investigating the case. "Is there any group of people we are looking at? No. Anybody can dress in anything and they can do this."

Detectives aren't sure of a motive, that the attackers could have been vigilantes, rival smugglers or criminals trying to steal drugs, although no drugs were found in the truck, Johnson said.

"Anything's possible, we are taking all the information we can," Johnson said.

Arizona Republic

OK …let me get this straight.

Four guys dressed in camo with military-style berets ambush a pickup full of people they assume are undocumented immigrants in the middle of a farm field and Sheriff Buddy Johnson's not sure whether they are part of an organized group?

Were they going to a costume party?....did they just happened to all pick the same outfits that day like a couple of starlets who show up at an awards ceremony in the same dress?

Let me clue you in Barney Fife …Any time four guys are wearing the same clothes, that makes them part of group … you know, like a sports team …..it's called a uniform Detective.

So Detective Johnson, who do you think these men in military-style uniforms might be?

Do you know of any group or individuals in the area that are in the habit of dressing up and roaming around the desert looking for migrants?

Norris, 46, of Eloy, was fatally shot and 19-year-old Andres de Jesus, from Oaxaca, Mexico, was shot in the leg during the attack, authorities said.

"They told them to get down to the floor and then they shot and everyone started running," said Alejandro Ramos, a spokesman with the Mexican Consulate in Tucson, from the immigrants' reports. "They didn't take anything. It's pretty strange. We aren't sure who (the attackers) are."

...

Johnson said due to the large amount of blood found in the back of the pickup, a third victim may have also been shot but has not been found.

The four suspects were wearing military-style berets, one red and three black, and green camouflage pants and shirts, authorities said.

Three of the suspects are described as White and one Hispanic, who spoke limited Spanish, authorities said.

Most of the undocumented victims fled from the attack, but authorities were able to talk to five witnesses, ages 14 to 24, who helped produce a sketch of one of the attackers, Johnson said.


Arizona Republic

Let's see. We've got four guys, three white and one Hispanic, dressed paramilitary-style who order a truckload of migrants to lie on the floor then start shooting at them.

No drugs are found in the truck and they didn't take anything, so "criminals trying to steal drugs" seems far fetched.

They spoke limited Spanish so "rival smugglers" looks like a long shot also.

So who does that leave?

Come on detective think about.

Here I'll give you a clue:



What do you think…is it possible?

Could it be one of the myriad of border vilgilante groups roamimg the desert?

The night of April 3, armed vigilantes camped along Border Road in a series of watch posts set-up for the Minuteman Project, a month-long action in which revolving casts of 150 to 200 anti-immigration militants wearing cheap plastic "Undocumented Border Patrol Agent" badges mobilized in southeastern Arizona. Their stated goal was to "do the job our government refuses to do" and "protect America" from the "tens of millions of invading illegal aliens who are devouring and plundering our nation."

At Station Two, Minuteman volunteers grilled bratwursts and fantasized about murder.

"It should be legal to kill illegals," said Carl, a 69-year old retired Special Forces veteran who fought in Vietnam and now lives out West. "Just shoot 'em on sight. That's my immigration policy recommendation. You break into my country, you die."

Carl was armed with a revolver chambered to fire shotgun shells. He wore this hand cannon in a holster below a shirt that howled "American bad asses" in red, white and blue. The other vigilantes assigned to Station Two included a pair of self-professed members of the National Alliance, a violent neo-Nazi organization. These men, who gave their names only as Johnny and Michael, were outfitted in full-body camouflage and strapped with semi-automatic pistols.

Earlier that day, Johnny and Michael had scouted sniper positions in the rolling, cactus-studded foothills north of Border Road, taking compass readings and drawing maps for future reference.

"I agree completely," Michael said. "You get up there with a rifle and start shooting four or five of them a week, the other four or five thousand behind them are going to think twice about crossing that line."

With a grilled sausage in one hand and a cheap night vision scope in the other, Johnny scanned the brush in Mexico, spitting distance away.

"The thing to do would be to drop the bodies just a few hundred feet into the U.S. and just leave them there, with lights on them at night," he said. "That sends the message 'No Trespassing,' in any language."

Arizona Showdown Southern Poverty Law Center

Jeez, how many migrants have to be attacked or killed before people start to realize that these people are terrorists and murderers? Yeah, the majority are a bunch of blowhard racists who never even waddle out of their lawn chairs longer then it takes to grab a hotdog or a beer, but in amongst them are some certifiable psychos and sociopaths. Anyone who has spent any time at their websites or read their internet forums knows what they really believe and what they are capable of doing. They advocate hatred and violence. They view themselves as "warriors" and "patriots" in a battle against an "invading horde."

Anyone who doubts they are capable of this level of violence is dangerously naïve.

My advice to Detective Johnson ... open your eyes ....and do your job, damn it.



Anyone with information on the attack is asked to call the Pinal County Sheriff's Office Homicide Division at 1-800-358-4636 or 1-520-866-5105.




tags: immigration, border deaths , vigilantes, Arizona border