Minute Man News – Commentary by Jim Dean Dear legal Americans,
It looks like the ACLU and Mexican gangs have not had much success catching the armed Minutemen vigilantes taking the law into their own hands. So they are having to reach a bit to find something.
Below you will read how a free T-shirt, a bowl of milk and cereal and $20 was spun into a forcible detention incident claim. This one will go down in history. Even the sheriff's office joined in by making a foolish statement.
News videos have been made for years of illegals coming over the border in droves. I am not aware of law enforcement ever claiming they were promoting a 'circus.' So what we have here is what we see so often with government and particularly law enforcement, a very selective concern about what makes who look silly.
Notice the statement below about being within the law but questioning their motives. Mind you, the border folks have the situation so in hand that they now have time to look into the motives on non illegal events. Someone in the sheriff's office needs a two day PR seminar course ASAP.
What we have here is nothing more than a law enforcement agency trying to paint law abiding citizens in a negative light. Certainly their only motivation could be they want a diversion away from the 'circus'...and THEIR participation in it over all of these years.
Jim Dean is the producer of Heritage TV and a member of the Georgia Heritage Council.
Minuteman Video Controversy April 8, 2005, 03:06 AM Email to a Friend Printer Friendly Version
Marianne Martinez, KOLD News 13 Reporter
A Minuteman volunteer gave an illegal immigrant a t-shirt Wednesday that read, " Bryan Barton caught me crossing the border and all I got was this lousy t-shirt."
The Cochise County Sheriff's Department says the Minutemen volunteers were within the law, but now questions their motives.
"We do not have the time nor the patience for anyone attempting to turn this situation into a three-ring circus," Sheriff Larry Dever said in a press release.
The sheriff's department also investigated the 26-year-old illegal immigrant's claim he had been forcibly detained. The department found no evidence of that after reviewing a video tape of the incident the Minutemen shot.
"After the illegal immigrant was taken to the Border Patrol station is when the complaint was issued," said Carol Capas, Cochise County Sheriff's Department spokeswoman.
But, Minuteman co-organizer Chris Simcox sees nothing wrong with the t-shirt, and calls the encounter a humanitarian effort.
"They saw the man on the side of the road, pulled over and were concerned," Simcox said. "I think this is one incident. It's been over-blown, over-sensationalized."
The video shows Barton giving the illegal immigrant water and a bowl of cereal. He also gave the man $20 from his wallet before handing him over to the Border Patrol.
"Bryan represents the kind of volunteer we were looking for -- compassionate, understanding of humanitarian issues and he wants to make a political statement," Simcox said.