Posted on 03/24/2003 10:58:49 AM PST by libertylass
Volunteer denies beating on border
By John MacCormack San Antonio Express-News
Web Posted : 03/22/2003 12:00 AM
The leader of the border watch group Ranch Rescue denied Friday that two of its volunteer members detained and beat a Salvadoran they caught crossing a ranch in Jim Hogg County. "That never happened. It's a fabrication," said Jack Foote of Abilene, who said he was present Wednesday evening when his group caught two Salvadorans on an exotic game ranch about 160 miles south of San Antonio.
Foote said two armed volunteers, with the help of a large dog, discovered the Salvadorans hiding in the grass after they saw two large groups of people scale an eight-foot game fence and scatter.
The two Ranch Rescue volunteers were arrested Thursday and charged with beating the Salvadoran with a gun.
But a French photojournalist covering the group's South Texas operation said the immigrants were treated humanely.
"I know exactly what happened. I was a witness. No one hit them," Eric Boye said. "There was firmness but no brutality or violence. Absolutely not."
"They received blankets, water and food, and the man who is in jail now is the man who gave water to the two Salvadorans," Boye said.
Foote said the two undocumented immigrants were taken unharmed to the ranch gate and let go. They were apparently picked up later by the U.S. Border Patrol.
Ranch Rescue is a volunteer group that provides armed patrols to border area ranchers who claim the U.S. Border Patrol is not protecting them or their property from undocumented immigrant trespassers.
"Our motto is 'Private property first, foremost and always,'" Foote said.
"We volunteer our time and travel at our own risk and expense to the border to assist these landowners in dealing with the damage and lawlessness," he said.
According to the complaint by the unnamed Salvadoran, Henry M. Conner Jr., 62, of Lafayette, La, and James N. Casey, 35, of La Mirada Calif., tracked him and a companion down with a dog, threatened his life, and beat him with a weapon.
The two are charged with aggravated assault and unlawful restraint and remained in the Jim Hogg County Jail on Friday in lieu of $200,000 bond.
They were arrested Thursday by Texas Ranger Doyle Holdridge after he took a statement from the Salvadoran. He said the complainant "had a knot on the back of his head about half the size of your fist."
"Pistol whipping illegal aliens and slicing dogs on them is not something that's going to be tolerated in this country," said Holdridge, who said his investigation of the incident is continuing.
The Ranger said a planned Friday afternoon meeting with Foote and ranch owner Joe Sutton was called off by Sutton, who cited the need for legal representation.
Holdridge said he fears more violence could result from armed Ranch Rescue volunteers that patrol after dark in the underbrush, some with semiautomatic rifles.
"This is a very high-volume illegal alien area. You've got deputies who work out there, and U.S. Border Patrol agents, and you mingle these two kinds of groups, it could really cause a problem," he said.
"If you're a police officer, out there in the darkness, and someone raises up out of the brush in full camo with an assault rifle, what are you going to think?" he said. "It's a disaster waiting to happen."
Ranch Rescue's "Operation Falcon" on Sutton's ranch is the sixth since the group was founded almost three years ago. Never before, said Foote, has a group member been arrested.
He declined to say how many volunteers are involved.
Reached by telephone, Sutton declined to comment. He referred questions to his Houston lawyer, Marvin Rader, who said the ranch owner does not condone violence against trespassers.
"I can't imagine this happened. We gave everyone instructions not to use violence or force, or aim a gun at anyone," Rader said of the alleged beating.
He said Sutton's 5,000-acre ranch, a few miles south of the U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint on Texas 16, is a main thoroughfare for northbound undocumented immigrants trying to evade detection.
"There are literally hundreds of them crossing his property every week. It's dangerous. You don't know who they are. You don't know if they are terrorists, and some of them are armed," he said.
Rader said Sutton sought help from Ranch Rescue because local and federal authorities have failed to stem the flow.
"It's really very simple. The Border Patrol and the sheriff won't do their job. They won't remove these trespassers from his property," he said.
"When he calls them, they either take their time coming down there, or they don't come at all," Rader said.
Mike Herrera, a spokesman for the U.S. Border Patrol in Laredo, referred an inquiry about this complaint to an agency spokesman in Washington D.C.
The spokesman, Mario Villarreal, said he was not familiar with the specifics of the situation in Jim Hogg County and could not comment.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- jmaccormack@express-news.net
"" Posted on 03/29/2003 3:43 AM CST by kattracks
WASHINGTON - An Iraqi terror team armed with millions of dollars tried to get smuggled into the U.S. through Mexico to Crawford, Tex. - the site of President Bush's ranch, a law enforcement source said yesterday. The alarming attempt to infiltrate the country occurred this month, the source said. ""
I wonder.... just where did they try to cross?
How did the local sheriff and BP employees vote a few years ago?
Were they equipped with "professional backpacks" and walking together in a military cadence?
Will the Texas Rangers arrest everyone known to have eaten at Dary Queen on the morning after the attempted border crossing?
WHAT DID THE SHERIFF KNOW AND WHEN DID HE KNOW IT ? < / idiotic >
Apparently, illegals were going on foot through sugar cane fields and had spent the night there. This morning the owner started burning the fields as he does every year. By law he has to advertize that he is going to set the fields on fire and he did this. Five illegals were burned to death today. The reports stated that as many as 50 people came running out of the fields.
There will probably be a law suit.
Have you heard anymore on this story?
CNN International Story
Five immigrants die in sugar cane field fire
RAYMONDVILLE, Texas (AP) --Five illegal immigrants sleeping in a sugar cane field near the U.S.-Mexico border were killed Monday when a fire swept through, authorities said. One person was in critical condition.
The field was set on fire about 10:30 a.m. Monday as part of the harvesting process, Willacy County Sheriff Larry Spence said. The fields are burned every spring to clear away weeds and undergrowth so the cane stalks can be harvested.
Minutes after the field had been lit, a man ran out yelling that he was on fire and that there were five more people in the field, Spence said.
Three bodies were found burned. Autopsies will be ordered, but it appeared the men died of asphyxiation, said Justice of the Peace Sabas Garza.
A man and woman were taken by ambulance to a hospital, where they died. Spence said a sixth man was taken by medical helicopter to a burn center in Dallas; a hospital spokesman said the patient was in critical condition, but he had no further details.
Spence said it was believed the group was sleeping in the field when the fire was set. He said windy conditions may have caused the fire to burn faster than normal.
Authorities were checking on the identities of the group. Some of the victims had identification that burned up, but an intact ID showed one of the men was from Guatemala, sheriff's officials said. He said they were undocumented immigrants.
A pair of tennis shoes, scattered water bottles and a travel bag containing deodorant and toothpaste was all that remained at the scene of the fire Monday.
Normally, signs are posted around the perimeter of sugar cane fields warning of an upcoming burn. Spence said about a half hour before the burn, farmers are required to speak through a loudspeaker in English and Spanish, warning of the upcoming burn. The warnings were issued before Monday's burn, he said.
Raymondville is about 40 miles north of Brownsville, which is along the U.S.-Mexico border.
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.
