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| -Lurid Crime Tales- |
| 16 Illegals Sue Arizona Rancher |
| 2010-05-18 |
| An Arizona man who has waged a 10-year campaign to stop a flood of illegal immigrants from crossing his property is being sued by 16 Mexican nationals who accuse him of conspiring to violate their civil rights when he stopped them at gunpoint on his ranch on the U.S.-Mexico border. Roger Barnett, 64, began rounding up illegal immigrants in 1998 and turning them over to the U.S. Border Patrol, he said, after they destroyed his property, killed his calves and broke into his home. His Cross Rail Ranch near Douglas, Ariz., is known by federal and county law enforcement authorities as "the avenue of choice" for immigrants seeking to enter the United States illegally. Trial continues Monday in the federal lawsuit, which seeks $32 million in actual and punitive damages for civil rights violations, the infliction of emotional distress and other crimes. Also named are Mr. Barnett's wife, Barbara, his brother, Donald, and Larry Dever, sheriff in Cochise County, Ariz., where the Barnetts live. The civil trial is expected to continue until Friday. The lawsuit is based on a March 7, 2004, incident in a dry wash on the 22,000-acre ranch, when he approached a group of illegal immigrants while carrying a gun and accompanied by a large dog. Attorneys for the immigrants - five women and 11 men who were trying to cross illegally into the United States - have accused Mr. Barnett of holding the group captive at gunpoint, threatening to turn his dog loose on them and saying he would shoot anyone who tried to escape. The immigrants are represented at trial by the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF), which also charged that Sheriff Dever did nothing to prevent Mr. Barnett from holding their clients at "gunpoint, yelling obscenities at them and kicking one of the women." In the lawsuit, MALDEF said Mr. Barnett approached the group as the immigrants moved through his property, and that he was carrying a pistol and threatening them in English and Spanish. At one point, it said, Mr. Barnett's dog barked at several of the women and he yelled at them in Spanish, "My dog is hungry and he's hungry for buttocks." The lawsuit said he then called his wife and two Border Patrol agents arrived at the site. It also said Mr. Barnett acknowledged that he had turned over 12,000 illegal immigrants to the Border Patrol since 1998. In March, U.S. District Judge John Roll rejected a motion by Mr. Barnett to have the charges dropped, ruling there was sufficient evidence to allow the matter to be presented to a jury. Mr. Barnett's attorney, David Hardy, had argued that illegal immigrants did not have the same rights as U.S. citizens. Mr. Barnett told The Washington Times in a 2002 interview that he began rounding up illegal immigrants after they started to vandalize his property, northeast of Douglas along Arizona Highway 80. He said the immigrants tore up water pumps, killed calves, destroyed fences and gates, stole trucks and broke into his home. Some of his cattle died from ingesting the plastic bottles left behind by the immigrants, he said, adding that he installed a faucet on an 8,000-gallon water tank so the immigrants would stop damaging the tank to get water. Mr. Barnett said some of the ranch´s established immigrant trails were littered with trash 10 inches deep, including human waste, used toilet paper, soiled diapers, cigarette packs, clothes, backpacks, empty 1-gallon water bottles, chewing-gum wrappers and aluminum foil - which supposedly is used to pack the drugs the immigrant smugglers give their "clients" to keep them running. He said he carried a pistol during his searches for the immigrants and had a rifle in his truck "for protection" against immigrant and drug smugglers, who often are armed. A former Cochise County sheriff´s deputy who later was successful in the towing and propane business, Mr. Barnett spent $30,000 on electronic sensors, which he has hidden along established trails on his ranch. He searches the ranch for illegal immigrants in a pickup truck, dressed in a green shirt and camouflage hat, with his handgun and rifle, high-powered binoculars and a walkie-talkie. His sprawling ranch became an illegal-immigration highway when the Border Patrol diverted its attention to several border towns in an effort to take control of the established ports of entry. That effort moved the illegal immigrants to the remote areas of the border, including the Cross Rail Ranch. "This is my land. I´m the victim here," Mr. Barnett said. "When someone´s home and loved ones are in jeopardy and the government seemingly can´t do anything about it, I feel justified in taking matters into my own hands. And I always watch my back. |
| Posted by:Sherry |
| #18 Right you are, Frank. If he doesn't wanna dig holes, maybe he could buy a vice. |
| Posted by: tu3031 2010-05-18 23:23 |
| #17 Casino, for $100 |
| Posted by: Frank G 2010-05-18 23:14 |
| #16 Let's play "Guess the movie"... A lot of holes in the desert, and a lot of problems are buried in those holes. But you gotta do it right. I mean, you gotta have the hole already dug before you show up with a package in the trunk. Otherwise, you're talking about a half-hour to forty-five minutes worth of digging. And who knows who's gonna come along in that time? Pretty soon, you gotta dig a few more holes. You could be there all fuckin' night. I guess Rancher Roger didn't see it... |
| Posted by: tu3031 2010-05-18 23:05 |
| #15 You aren't whistling Dixie about environmental damage and littering. At our reptile society some gave a talk about looking for snakes in the AZ / Mexico border area. The area is strewn with plastic water bottles and cheap back packs. |
| Posted by: Guillibaldo Unusing2147 2010-05-18 19:27 |
| #14 We have the most inept, traitorous government in history. If the Fed won't control the borders or make any attempt to protect it's legal citizens, it has no justifiable reason to f'ing exist! |
| Posted by: Jefferson 2010-05-18 19:21 |
| #13 Deputize all these border ranchers. |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2010-05-18 15:59 |
| #12 This lawsuit is so wrong. Barnett is a citizen making a citizen's arrest. Arizona should now pass a law giving immunity to citizens for upholding the law and making citizen arrests. Got to slap this stuff down. |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2010-05-18 15:57 |
| #11 Dead men file no lawsuits. Especially if you have 15,000 acres to hide the bodies in. |
| Posted by: mojo 2010-05-18 14:56 |
| #10 Lets see they were tresspassing on his land. In some places (don't know about AZ) that is enough to have them detained - no matter what their immigration status is. Why is this even in court? Some activist |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2010-05-18 14:56 |
| #9 1,100 a year? He's a one man police force! I'm surprised he's lasted this long. I wish him good fortune. |
| Posted by: KBK 2010-05-18 14:04 |
| #8 I'm starting to think there is that the issue here is not about what the rancher did, it is about intimidating anyone who doesn't line up with the present administration. This is a non news item that the MSM has pushed to the forefront. It seems like there are at least 3 news articles every day about people who really didn't do anything illegal but are not blindly following Obummer's policies on specific issues that are controversial. They are being prosecuted or sued in Federal Court. The courts are always full controversial litigation. This issue as presented should have been dismissed. This rancher has made a lawful citizens arrest. He held the felons until they could be taken into custody by law enforcement. I'm sure the Judge was told not to dismiss this case. The MSM picks up the cases on which they can put their spin for propoganda. The rancher will win but it will cost him a fortune. I believe this is a form of malicious prosecution in the courts designed to be publicised incessantly to intimidate opposition to his federal policies. These cases are insignificant but selected to get top headlines by Obummer's MSM. This article followed all of the hoopla about enforcing the federal illegal immigration law in Arizona that Obummer opposes. |
| Posted by: Dave 2010-05-18 13:37 |
| #7 The traditional alternative is to hire gunslingers to drive out the trespassers. This can get pretty mean in Arizona. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pleasant_Valley_War Also known as the Graham-Tewksbury feud, it rates right up there with the Hatfield-McCoy feud, and the Lincoln County (NM) War. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2010-05-18 13:21 |
| #6 To heck with electronic sensors and attempting to play "nice", bring out the claymores. Of course, warning signs (bilingual of course) would have to be posted. Or give the Mexicans coming in illegally, the same respect and dignity they bestow upon those who infiltrate their southern border. |
| Posted by: Everyday a Wildcat(KSU) 2010-05-18 12:40 |
| #5 Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF) Another CAIR by practice. Special Interest Groups interchangeable. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2010-05-18 12:32 |
| #4 I suggest counter-suing them using the litter and environmental damage angle to confuse their lib sympathizers. |
| Posted by: Dar 2010-05-18 12:18 |
| #3 What is the problem here! Has it become against the law for a US citizen to make a citizens arrest of someone committing a felony on his own property. Illegally entering the United States is a felony. Why is this in court? |
| Posted by: Dave 2010-05-18 11:55 |
| #2 Perhaps Mr. Barnett can countersue these greedy idiots for all the damage ever done on his ranch. The legal discovery process can be a real b***h. |
| Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 2010-05-18 11:28 |
| #1 You are illegal, you don't have any civil rights or constitutional protection. Rancher just should have shot these wastes of skin. Another judge waste of skin will just make up a rule on the bench and give illegals "rights". |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2010-05-18 10:50 |