Waitone
Member
This article from a site which appears to be friendly to the cause of illegal immigration.
<Editorial comments on>Yep, the guy was guilty of conducting paramilitary operations against poor, unfortunate, uneducated, down-trodden people who only want a tiny sllice of the American dream <Editorial comments off>
http://www.quepasa.com/content/?c=104&id=99517
Arizona anti-immigrant activist cited for weapons violation
Douglas, U.S., January 28, 2003 (EFE) - National park rangers briefly detained for weapons possession the leader of a controversial vigilante group dedicated to the "citizens' arrest" of undocumented immigrants along the U.S.-Mexico border.
Chris Simcox, head of the Civil Homeland Defense, was released Sunday after being questioned for some three hours by rangers in Coronado National Memorial Park about the pistol he was carrying and what he was doing on park grounds.
The gun was confiscated, and Simcox will be fined, authorities said.
Thane Weigand, chief of the park rangers, said Simcox and a companion were searching for undocumented immigrants in the national park, which is located west of Naco, Arizona, near the Mexican border.
Weigand said the rangers confiscated all of Simcox's belongings, including a pistol, two radios, a police scanner, a cell phone and a digital camera.
He said the men appeared to be carrying out a vigilante border-patrol operation, an activity banned on federal lands.
Simcox, who is the owner and publisher of the Tombstone Tumbleweed, wrote an editorial in October calling for citizens to join a militia to patrol Arizona's border with Mexico to stop undocumented immigrants from crossing into the United States.
Weigand said Simcox will not have to appear in court, although he will have to pay a fine that could exceed $500.
Simcox flatly denied claims he was in the middle of an operation to hunt down undocumented immigrants when he was caught.
"We were only hiking in the desert," he claimed.
Simcox said he and his companion, William Dore, were driving along the border road when they came across a fence and decided to continue on foot.
The militia leader said he and Dore did not realize they were on federal lands, stressing they would never have knowingly entered the national park armed.
Francisco Medina, head of the Indigenous Alliance Without Borders, a Native American human rights group, criticized Simcox.
"These people think they own the border," said Medina, referring to the three paramilitary groups that operate on the northern side of the Arizona-Sonora border.
Medina said he hoped the militia leader's arrest would serve as a warning to anti-immigrant groups.
"It's time they realize they can't go around waving guns and arresting immigrants whose only crime is seeking a better life for themselves and their families," said Medina.
Since the advent of the border militias, human rights groups have questioned the legality of the groups' hunt for undocumented immigrants.
The paramilitaries cite their constitutional right to bear arms, while some ranchers, such as the Barnett brothers of Douglas, maintain they only patrol their own or friends' lands to defend these properties against the damage undocumented immigrants leave in their wake. EFE
<Editorial comments on>Yep, the guy was guilty of conducting paramilitary operations against poor, unfortunate, uneducated, down-trodden people who only want a tiny sllice of the American dream <Editorial comments off>
http://www.quepasa.com/content/?c=104&id=99517
Arizona anti-immigrant activist cited for weapons violation
Douglas, U.S., January 28, 2003 (EFE) - National park rangers briefly detained for weapons possession the leader of a controversial vigilante group dedicated to the "citizens' arrest" of undocumented immigrants along the U.S.-Mexico border.
Chris Simcox, head of the Civil Homeland Defense, was released Sunday after being questioned for some three hours by rangers in Coronado National Memorial Park about the pistol he was carrying and what he was doing on park grounds.
The gun was confiscated, and Simcox will be fined, authorities said.
Thane Weigand, chief of the park rangers, said Simcox and a companion were searching for undocumented immigrants in the national park, which is located west of Naco, Arizona, near the Mexican border.
Weigand said the rangers confiscated all of Simcox's belongings, including a pistol, two radios, a police scanner, a cell phone and a digital camera.
He said the men appeared to be carrying out a vigilante border-patrol operation, an activity banned on federal lands.
Simcox, who is the owner and publisher of the Tombstone Tumbleweed, wrote an editorial in October calling for citizens to join a militia to patrol Arizona's border with Mexico to stop undocumented immigrants from crossing into the United States.
Weigand said Simcox will not have to appear in court, although he will have to pay a fine that could exceed $500.
Simcox flatly denied claims he was in the middle of an operation to hunt down undocumented immigrants when he was caught.
"We were only hiking in the desert," he claimed.
Simcox said he and his companion, William Dore, were driving along the border road when they came across a fence and decided to continue on foot.
The militia leader said he and Dore did not realize they were on federal lands, stressing they would never have knowingly entered the national park armed.
Francisco Medina, head of the Indigenous Alliance Without Borders, a Native American human rights group, criticized Simcox.
"These people think they own the border," said Medina, referring to the three paramilitary groups that operate on the northern side of the Arizona-Sonora border.
Medina said he hoped the militia leader's arrest would serve as a warning to anti-immigrant groups.
"It's time they realize they can't go around waving guns and arresting immigrants whose only crime is seeking a better life for themselves and their families," said Medina.
Since the advent of the border militias, human rights groups have questioned the legality of the groups' hunt for undocumented immigrants.
The paramilitaries cite their constitutional right to bear arms, while some ranchers, such as the Barnett brothers of Douglas, maintain they only patrol their own or friends' lands to defend these properties against the damage undocumented immigrants leave in their wake. EFE
You mentioned yourself that:
