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Man pleads not guilty to threatening Patriot member
A man who allegedly threatened to shoot a member of the Yuma Patriots in the head pleaded not guilty to a misdemeanor Thursday morning in Somerton Justice Court. Harry Brooks Norris, 59, a U.S. citizen who says he has lived in Mexico for the past decade, entered the plea to a charge of threatening and intimidating when he was arraigned before Somerton Justice of the Peace Manny Figueroa. Norris is out on a $1,004 bond that he posted.Adam Sharrar, whom Norris allegedly threatened, attended the hearing along with three members of the Yuma Patriots and their legal representative, attorney John Minore. The Yuma Patriots are a local group of about 40 volunteer civilian border-watchers. Their aim is to assist Border Patrol agents by calling them on radios or cell phones to report illegal immigrants crossing into the U.S. Sharrar said the group, which is unarmed, has made 19 successful patrols along the levee road near the border and hasn't ever had a serious incident occur. Sharrar said he's still upset over the incident because his mother and a friend were involved in location scouting that day. Flash Sharrar, Adam's father, founded the group following the reported armed robbery of another of his sons, Matthew, on Easter Sunday in the Imperial Sand Dunes Recreation Area. But Sharrar, who decided to take legal action against Norris, wasn't the only member of the group who sees the danger in what happened. "I've been shot before, so when someone threatens to shoot me, I take them at their word," said Yuma Patriot member Jack Choate. According to court records, on June 18, Sharrar had been driving along the levee scouting the area, along with several other members of the Patriots, looking for a place for the group's next patrol. As he was coming off the levee onto 3rd Street in Gadsden, Norris allegedly approached his vehicle and asked him a question, court records indicated. After that, Norris supposedly asked Sharrar what he was doing on the levee. When Sharrar told the man he was involved in surveillance efforts for the Yuma Patriots, Norris responded by asking him if he was part of the "racist and anti-immigration (expletive)" and threatened to shoot him in the head and anyone he associates with, according to court records. Sharrar said Norris drove by the entire group a short time later while they were parked outside the sheriff's substation on 4th Street and Highway 95 in Gadsden and pointed at them while honking his horn. "I'm not surprised at all by this," Minore said. "There is a lot of ignorance out there." Norris, who denied he threatened Sharrar, could be sentenced to up to six months in jail, receive a $4,059 fine and as much as five years of probation if convicted of the misdemeanor charge. When asked by Figueroa if he had a mailing address of any kind in Arizona, Norris provided the number of a post office box in San Luis, Ariz., saying, "I haven't lived in this country in the past 10 years and don't ever intend to again." In addition to setting a trial date of Sept. 6, Figueroa also appointed Norris, who receives approximately $3,300 a month in disability and social security, a public defender. Norris, who said he a psychologist, also asked the judge to exonerate his bond, saying he needed the money to pay for naturalistic cancer therapy, but Figueroa declined the request saying he felt it would ensure Norris' continued attendance at any future proceeding. Figueroa also issued a court order that Norris not have any contact with Sharrar or any other member of the Yuma Patriots. Posted by: Anonymoose 2005-07-23 |
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