Posted on 05/30/2003 1:58:53 PM PDT by JackelopeBreeder
(Passed to me by texastoo -- similar story on NY Times, but this one is more detailed.)
Calling Ranch Rescue an illegal paramilitary unit that is motivated by racial hatred, a team of private and civil rights lawyers sued Thursday in a bid to put the controversial border watch group out of business. "The object of the suit is to bankrupt Ranch Rescue and to bankrupt Joe Sutton, so other landowners will not be willing to work with Ranch Rescue," Laredo lawyer Ricardo de Anda said. "We feel if we get the landowners to stop cooperating with these Ranch Rescue paramilitary types, they will wilt on the vine."
Sutton, who's among the suit's five defendants, is a Jim Hogg County rancher who this spring invited armed Ranch Rescue volunteers to repel undocumented immigrants who regularly cross his property.
With its stated mission the defense of private property, Ranch Rescue, based in Abilene, has conducted similar "operations" along the U.S. southern border, rounding up undocumented immigrants and even seizing drug loads.
The trip to South Texas, however, ended disastrously.
It resulted in allegations of abuse of immigrants, criminal charges against two Ranch Rescue volunteers and now a civil suit backed by powerful civil rights organizations.
Also named as defendants in the suit are Henry Conner and Casey Nethercott, both of whom participated in the March patrol of Suttons' ranch, and Ranch Rescue founder Jack Foote.
Joining de Anda in filing the suit are the Southern Poverty Law Center, based in Montgomery, Ala., and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, based in Los Angeles.
The suit was filed on behalf of six undocumented immigrants — four Mexican and two Salvadoran — who allegedly were terrorized and abused by Sutton and Ranch Rescue volunteers this spring.
According to the suit, one of the Salvadorans was pistol-whipped by Nethercott and attacked by Nethercott's dog.
Both Nethercott and Conner were charged with assaulting the man. Nethercott is awaiting trial. Charges against Conner were dropped.
The suit also claims four Mexicans caught crossing Sutton's ranch were robbed and forced to "walk barefoot through cactus and rattlesnake infested country" after having their shoes confiscated.
Contacted Thursday, Sutton, Foote and Nethercott all said the various allegations of abuse are completely false.
"It's total hogwash. I interviewed all six (of the plaintiffs) and they made it crystal clear to me they were not hungry, were not abused, and they weren't thirsty," Sutton said.
He said the four shoeless Mexicans merely had to sit on the pavement by his ranch gate while federal agents came to pick them up. And Sutton complained about having to do the government's job in detaining them.
"They're all trespassers and they're all illegal, but did any law enforcement officers ever call me up offering to put them in jail? They don't care," he said.
Nethercott, who's free on bond, said of the suit: "It's not only a lie, it's a creative lie. It's fiction. Not only did I not touch these people, I didn't even get close to them."
Foote, 45, said he was present when the two Salvadorans were apprehended but knows nothing about the Mexicans. He said the Salvadorans were well treated.
"No one was hit, assaulted or robbed. They were given food and water, and a warm ride in a van to the front gate," Foote said.
And he said all the actions taken by Ranch Rescue volunteers were both legal and justified, and were not motivated by racism.
"We're dealing with criminals, not illegal immigrants, and where they are from is irrelevant," he said. "Under state law, the landowner has the right to evict trespassers, and has the right to ask for help."
Foote said the lawsuit isn't really about the six undocumented immigrants. Rather, he said, it's about a systemic refusal to prosecute undocumented immigrants for crimes they commit in the United States.
"Look who is filing it. They've got millions. We've got nothing. They've also got an agenda, which is to promote a criminal status quo in our border counties, where border county attorneys grant blanket amnesty to anyone who happens to be an illegal alien," he said.
"By not prosecuting these people, it creates an environment of lawlessness," he added.
According to Morris Dees, however, Ranch Rescue is little different from other racist, hate groups that the Southern Poverty Law Center has battled in court over the years.
"The Neo-Nazis, the Klan and the Aryan Nation have always claimed they took only defensive actions, they were trying to defend the interests of white people, they were not violent and they followed the law. But it's just a façade," said Dees, chief trial counselor of the SPLC.
"This private property thing (of Ranch Rescue) is their public front, but we intend to strip that away and show their private side."
As evidence of Foote's alleged racist attitudes, the SPLC this spring published a story about Ranch Rescue that included an e-mail sent by Foote to a man identified only as Gonzalo.
The e-mail, which Foote acknowledged Thursday as his, began: "You and the vast majority of your fellow dog turds are ignorant, uneducated and desperate for a life in a decent nation because the one you live in is nothing but a pile of dog (excrement), made up of millions of little dog turds like you."
It continued, "You stand around your entire lives, whining about how bad things are in your dog of a nation, waiting for the dog to stick its ass under our fence and (defecate) each one of (you) into our back yards. Just be careful where the dog (defecates), pal, because sooner or later we will be there."
Dees said the SPLC has won large civil judgments against hate groups, including the Texas Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, the United Klans of America, the Aryan Nations, and put them out of business.
And he says they intend to do the same to Ranch Rescue, its volunteers and the landowner who invited them.
"Jack Foote and his organization have to have funds to operate, equipment, bank accounts and homes, and anything they have of material value can be taken and stripped away," he said.
Laredo lawyer de Anda said Foote misplayed his hand when he decided to conduct "Operation Falcon" on a ranch in deep South Texas.
"They made one serious mistake here. He did this in Jim Hogg County, which is about 98 percent Mexican-American. He's not going to find much sympathy for his pretexts which we'll prove are to hide a racial animus," de Anda said.
Foote also sounded skeptical about receiving a fair trial in Hebbronville.
"The facts are on our side, and as long as there is still a system of justice in the American courts — which doesn't include Jim Hogg County, obviously — then we'll prevail," he said.
"Keep in mind there are no white people or people of any other race working in the county government there. It appears to be a requirement you have to be Hispanic," he said. "That's a result of the ethnic cleansing they've done there."
Kinda says it all, doesn't it?
I wouldn't even give them that much of a chance. People who are here illegally shouldn't be able to sue in our courts. Let the Mexican government take it up with our government.
These people should be locked up as an invasion force. Then sent home to Mexico. Then let the US troops come home from whereever and protect our borders.
"They made one serious mistake here. He did this in Jim Hogg County, which is about 98 percent Mexican-American. He's not going to find much sympathy for his pretexts which we'll prove are to hide a racial animus," de Anda said.
So, if the situation was somewhat altered - replace Mexican for white, etc - how long do you think this crap would be tolerated:
Local lawyer Smith said that the black man misplayed his hand when he decided to do what he did here."He made one serious mistake here. He did this in Jim Crow County, which is about 98 percent White. He's not going to find much sympathy," Smith said.
Morris Sleaze is so far to the left I'm surprised his sorry, slimy butt hasn't fallen off the planet yet. There ought to be a law against his ilk. He's a sick person, IMO. He's probably backing that bunch of wackos in Tucson known as the Border Action Network. Maybe the vile Isabel Garcia and her 'Derechos Humanos' Aztlanistas, too.
If the feds were doing their job... defending the borders against invasion and investigating clowns like Sleaze... things like this wouldn't happen.
The "crap" that is happening in Jim Hogg County - local attorney brags that Ranch Rescue is going to get screwed because 98% of the county is Mexican-American and Foote is white.
Yes, but not new. When the hard-core Left discovered that they could not foment Class Revolution in America, even in the great Depression, they adopted racial politics as a metaphor for Class Warfare. The idea that people cannot defend their cultural heritage and way of life, if they are affluent and White, is all part of this attack. It is just that it is not new.
Of course, to understand the SPLC further, see How To Recognize The Bigot In The Argument. They are one of the most Leftwing organizations in America today.
William Flax
Wait until Al Sharpton starts using it to shame whites into voting for him. Campaign slogan: "A vote against Sharpton is a vote for racism."
-PJ
Marxists are known to lie.
If he's really concerned about rights, he'd move back to Mexico and start working on the causes of massive immigration from Mexico which is Mexican corruption. Obviously fixing Mexico isn't on his agenda, it's to destroy the US ---starting with private property rights. No one is to keep trespassers off their property, the Mexican government has declared this.
In other word, plain murder. This is not a civil case, this is a criminal case, yet the government will let it wilt. I sure hope BUsh is not going to let a crime get comited without saying anything. There is a limit to ridiculous cowardice. Of course a hostage situation set up could be a trap for Bush too, but I do not even see this type of caution. Bush does not see the political land mines ahead, it's like he is blind. I can only pray for him to wake up.
Unless the Southern District holds a Federal circuit court in Hebronville, which is theoretically possible, the suit will heard in Laredo. The court itself is located there.
Not that it would change the makeup of the jury much, but the population of all of Jim Hogg County is less than 5,500.
Please keep us updated on this. If you have a ping list, please add me.
This is a serious abuse of the legal system, but unfortunately it takes money to fight money in the courts.
And, unfortunately, the tail end of Texas is almost solidly liberal Democrats.
According to Morris Dees, however, Ranch Rescue is little different from other racist, hate groups that the Southern Poverty Law Center has battled in court over the years.
Mr. Sleeze, I mean Dees, I want to know how much you are being paid by the Mexican government to harass those Americans who want a secure border. I also want to know why you don't just admit you're a left-wing shill with a Marxist agenda.
I want to know how much he is being paid by the Ford Foundation.
I have done a quick search without sucess for an article alleging that the Ford Foundation has been financing lobbying efforts and,I think, legal efforts to frustrate control of ILLEGAL immigration. If true, it is likely they would enlist Morris Dees as a fellow traveler who has made a personal fortune bringing race baiting law suits. These suits were used to galvanize his mail solicitations for contributions for millions of dollars from good hearted liberals who thought they were doing something against a real, instead of a contrived, threat from the Klan or Neo-Nazis or what have you.
If there is a Ford Foundation connection, this will grow into a serious effort which will serve as the cause celibre, the means to frustrate bona fide efforts to control illegal immigration. I would be grateful to anyone who can come up with this article alleging that Ford is actively supporting ILLEGAL immigration by frustrsating LEGAL remedies against it. A suggestion has been made on this thread that a counter RIcO suit be brought. On the surface this sounds possible given the statement:
"The object of the suit is to bankrupt Ranch Rescue and to bankrupt Joe Sutton, so other landowners will not be willing to work with Ranch Rescue," Laredo lawyer Ricardo de Anda said. "We feel if we get the landowners to stop cooperating with these Ranch Rescue paramilitary types, they will wilt on the vine."
The problem is that Ranch Rescue is not a business and no property has been taken from it. This deficiency could perhaps be cured if it were set up to gain rewards for capturing illegals. A reward system could be set up for that purpose. Probably the best route is to show an old fashioned conspiracy to do harm with malice.
If a RICO could be sucessfully brought, it could be very significant because it could go a long way to rein in Ford which, as a tax exempt organization, is using tax payer money to finance illegal activity and Morris Dees and his ilk as their button men. If Ford is involved, their access to publicity and favorable editorials will be so great as to extinguish whatever glimmer of courage George Bush might have to address this issue.
If you have contact with those being harassed by this law suit, you might pass on a suggestion. Moris Dees and his vile SPLC has, according to the article at the head of this thread, openly stated that the purpose of the suit is to ruin those who are resisting this invasion. Since he has announced a virtual vendetta against people simply trying to protect what is theirs, they really ought to get a Conservative Alabama lawyer, and sue the SPLC in Alabama, for this misuse of the Courts, etc.. Turn about is surely fair play!
William Flax Return Of The Gods Web Site
ping
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.