Stan de SD
2009-02-09 17:14:28 UTC
16 illegals sue Arizona rancher
Claim violation of rights as they crossed his land
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.
ASSOCIATED PRESS DEFENDANT: Roger Barnett said he had turned over
12,000 illegal immigrants to the Border Patrol since 1998.
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."
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/feb/09/16-illegals-sue-arizona-rancher/
I haven't figured out what's worse: a scumbag brown racist lawyer, an
out-of-control legal system, or dumb lefties who don't understand the
meaning of "illegal"... :O|
Claim violation of rights as they crossed his land
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.
ASSOCIATED PRESS DEFENDANT: Roger Barnett said he had turned over
12,000 illegal immigrants to the Border Patrol since 1998.
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."
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/feb/09/16-illegals-sue-arizona-rancher/
I haven't figured out what's worse: a scumbag brown racist lawyer, an
out-of-control legal system, or dumb lefties who don't understand the
meaning of "illegal"... :O|