Posted on 11/16/2005 9:33:15 PM PST by Dan Evans
Two members of a civilian border-patrol group similar to the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps were depicted as guilty of murder in tonight's episode of NBC's "Law & Order."
But the show which often promotes its plots as being "ripped from the headlines" came under fire from the co-founder of the group, which claimed on-air promotions of the episode portrayed the real-life Minutemen as murderers.
During the 60-minute program which centered on the probe into the murder of a human smuggler responsible for the deaths of a truckload of illegal aliens, some of the dialogue referred to "The Countrymen Project" which sought to protect the U.S. from illegal border crossers:
"These men confronted foreign invaders in the desert."
"You're not terrified to see more buildings fall, more planes crash?"
"What kind of a country locks up its patriots?" It also depicted an illegal alien as a sympathetic character who testified against the "Countrymen" despite the fact she had been in the U.S. illegally for a decade without paying taxes.
"Our interest is in this homicide, not in sending you away," said the fictional prosecutor.
As WorldNetDaily reported earlier today, Minuteman Project co-founder Chris Simcox had sent a letter to NBC demanding the network "cease and desist" airing the promo for the episode.
According to Simcox's Minuteman group, the promo includes the following verbiage:
ANNOUNCER: Wednesday, new "Law and Order" ... 12 immigrants, cooked alive in a boiling hot truck. CHARACTER: You classify that as something going down?
ANNOUNCER: Was it murder? Or Minutemen protecting our borders?
CHARACTER: Nathaniel shouldn't go to jail for protecting this country!
ANNOUNCER: The episode that will enrage America!
CHARACTER: You don't know nothing!
ANNOUNCER: New "Law and Order," Wednesday on NBC.
As the announcer delivers the Minutemen line, the word "Minutemen" is flashed on the screen.
A statement from the Minuteman organization says Simcox's letter was faxed to the office of NBC President Jeffrey Zucker this morning after the legal department for NBC failed to respond.
Simcox also demanded NBC remove all mention of the Minutemen from the episode before it is aired at a later date and that NBC broadcast on its network an apology to the Minutemen as many times and in the same time slots as the promotions were aired.
"The Minuteman Civil Defense Corps Inc. and its sister organization, the Minuteman Project Inc., are the recognized founders and leaders of the civilian border watch and day labor site observation movement," said Simcox in a statement. "The public and the media routinely refer to our members as 'Minutemen' and 'Minuteman' when talking about the issues of border security and illegal immigration.
"By publicly and repeatedly accusing the Minutemen of murder on its network, and by its promise to 'enrage America,' NBC is inciting the public, which will likely result in acts of violence against members of the Minutemen and their families."
Simcox said there had not been "one incident of a member of our organizations committing acts of violence on our patrols, let alone murder."
In an e-mail to supporters, Simcox said his organization would hold NBC responsible "for any and all violence, persecution, brutality, aggression, hostility and 'hate crimes' toward Minutemen the promotions incite."
Simcox asked Minuteman supporters across the nation to contact their local NBC affiliates to urge them not to run the episode.
As WorldNetDaily reported, in September a Rasmussen poll indicated 54 percent of Americans approve of the Minutemen volunteers.
@ssh*les
Once one of my favorite programs, now just a leftist agenda.
The only time I have heard of illegals being "cooked" in trucks is when their coyotes abandoned them to their fate.
Why I never watch network television dramas. Stick with HBO and you get a lot less of this stuff.
This will be the last episode of Law & Order I will see. In the last scene the DA (played by senator Fred Thompson) makes a decision that will send a illegal back to Mexico. Then, to underscore the hypocrisy, he speaks Spanish to a Mexican waiter who fills his water glass.
This really makes me sad that Thompson allows himself to be part of this crap.
ping
Watched the episode but didn't see the promo. Can't believe they actually used the term "minutemen" in the ads. It wasn't a bad show. Aside from social commentary, the episode was all about catching the bad guys, convicting them and incarcerating them. Law and order.
The Bad Guys.
It also depicted an illegal alien as a sympathetic character who testified against the "Countrymen" despite the fact she had been in the U.S. illegally for a decade without paying taxes.
The Good Guys.
Not so unusual from the MSM. This is just more hate-America crapola.
Wouldn't surprise me to find out that Michael Moore wrote the script for this episode.
Sue them for defamation and make them run a disclaimer next week that says "the minutemen on last week's show were ficticious and there had not been "one incident of a member of our organizations committing acts of violence on our patrols, let alone murder."
In this story, one of the "Countrymen" sabotaged the cooling system in the truck to kill the illegals.
This is just plain slander. It's such a shame that the people who will see this nonsense will never know the extreme lengths that the Minutemen go to avoid any whiff of lawbreaking or bigotry.
NBC & MSNBC are now run by Culture of Death freaks
and perverts...and they hire their own, to write
and act on their shows...If they had made 'Friends'
today, they would have instisted that at least one
"friend" be "gay" and one other a lesbian..and
during the rn of the series, they would each have
an "imtimate affair" with evedery other "friend",
and a couple of abortions and out of wedlock
children to "teach" their "tolerant way" to..and by
the end of the series, they's all be bi, and have
a great big polgamous "marriage" followed by a
reception orgy as their finale...and don't forget
the monkey, duck and chicken...but they'd be bound
to add a dog so that no one would accuse them of
stealing "intellectual property".
(spit...on all of the the pervert traitor freaks
They all deserve to be horse whipped..From the
top to bottom! CEO, down to the Ellen Degenerate
slut, the passaround booty poodle Non Reagan, &
Cootie UberButtmunch. )
Nothing like that has happened, EVER!
I loved the old Law and Order with Jerry Orbach.
now just a leftist agenda.
So true. I'm going to fight back in the small way I can and find out who plays the dickhead prosecutor who does ads for somebody and write them saying no business from me until they dump the prick as their spokesman.
It was all about smearing the Minutemen, plain and simple. This happens all the time on L&O. I've lost count of the number of times the "bad guy" turns out to be some bigoted white man wrapped in a flag.
Freepers still watched after their Tom DeLay slur back in May?
Dude, it's the media. They're all a bunch of lefties who claim to be anything but.
When was the last time they did ANYTHING that was pro life, pro gun, pro military or any other conservative issue?
There is a reason that Network television is falling by the wayside.
They got at least one less Freeper after tonight. I thought there might be hope for the series when Fred Thompson signed on but I guess he doesn't have that much say about things.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.