Minuteman Project: Week 2
This last weekend was the second weekend I spent with the Minuteman Project. I'll go on a rant or two before I get into my experiences and photos for the weekend.
Media bias reached its low thus far. A reporter from the Arizona Star (As I am not 100% sure of the name I won't post it yet) decided that he was going to create news. He rapidly approached one of the Minuteman groups, parked his car so that it was blocking their way out and became very confrontational. The Minutemen there did not know this man, so they were immediately suspicious that he may be one of the drug runners. The reporter kept fiddling with something, trying to make it look like he might pull a gun. The intent- to get a Minuteman to pull a gun on him (I know this particular Minuteman and spoke directly to him about the incident). It didn't work, so he decided to accuse one of them of pulling a gun anyway. This isn't reporting, this is criminal. This is provocation and illegal detainment- if this had been a Minuteman acting this way toward an illegal, he would be in jail right now.
Another Minuteman I spoke to told me about another incident. He was helping Border Patrol by holding a flashlight while some illegals climbed out of a drainage tube and up onto the street above. As one of them climbed out, he slipped and just about fell onto the Minuteman. The Minuteman instinctively reached out and held him up so he didn't fall. Apparently this is assault. I don't know if charges materialized, but they were considered.
On a lighter note, one couple was able to photograph a few ACLU in their car rolling and smoking pot. Well, we are down there to report illegal activity to the proper authorities, so that's exactly what they did.
And here is a very interesting quote from the Minuteman Project website:
"Jim Gilchrist spoke with two Border Patrol agents today. They said they tremendously appreciate what we are doing to bring attention to our porous borders and they very much appreciate our help. They said that in the 23-mile area that MMP is observing, Border Patrol apprehensions have dropped from approximately 1,000 per day to less than 20 per day during this past week. The agents both insisted that their names not be mentioned because they would be fired if it was known that they were releasing this information to the MinuteMan Project. Jim has had similar very supportive conversations with about half a dozen other agents."
Now, on to my experiences for the weekend!
We arrived early at the location I was told to meet at. We waited until 15 minutes after the specified time, but no one showed up. So we went back to the Bible College and security told us that a group had just left 10 minutes before we got there. This time we were told the right time, but wrong location. I think we got it all figured out for the next time though.
Luckily there was someone that knew where everyone was and we followed him out. We were placed at a bridge that went over a wash. The illegals and drug runners like to go under the bridges because it provides cover and they can't be seen from the road. We parked off the road on top of the bridge.
My brother Mike watching the wash and listening:
It's hard to stay awake without a constant supply of sugar:
That night was uneventful, which is actually a good thing. I always prefer no illegal activity, even if it does make it difficult to stay awake.
We went to sleep for the morning, and woke up at about 9:00 to find a location that had cell phone access so that I could interview with Ted Robertson on his show "Springs Talk Live" (www.springstalklive.com), a talk radio show based in Colorado Springs. I figured this was a good location:
So we parked, raised our flag and spotted while waiting for the call.
While spotting, we got a good feel for what the locals think of us. We got about one car a minute honking and waving at us in support as they drove my. Only two times did someone say "Go home- you don't belong here," and I am pretty sure it was the same car full of Mexican kids. WE don't belong here? Now I have no problem with legal immigration; we have several legal Mexican immigrants on MMP. From what I have seen, the LEGAL immigrants are as mad about this problem as we are. So my educated guess is either those kids were illegal immigrants or were upset that the price of their crack has doubled in the last week because the supply has completely stopped. And somehow WE don't belong here. But we just laughed it off and focused on the hundreds of cars that were honking their support.
Here I am talking on the phone to Ted. I found the exact square inch that had cell phone access and didn't move. It was very windy so I had to shield the phone with my jacket. I was worried that my voice sounded nervous, but actually I was just shivering- it was cold!
About 15 minutes after I got off the phone with Ted, Mike spotted at least two illegal aliens in the wash behind our car. He called me over to verify:
We called the Border Patrol, and simply kept an eye on things. A couple minutes later they left the wash and began to walk down the access road. Apparently there were three:
Mike kept an eye on them as they tried to sneak away...
...but it is exciting knowing that the time and effort has been worth something.
Border Patrol showed up and looked for a while. With the help of another Minuteman group a few hundred yards away they were able to track them down and pick them up.
We continued to watch for a while, then went back to the Bible College for a meeting. Mostly we talked about how important the "no contact" policy is in light of the recent "incidents."
Culpeper Minuteman flag at MMP HQ:
Mike and me at the meeting hall:
After the meeting we went back to the trading post. If you work all night, you gotta sleep some time:
The next night we were stationed at the same location we had found the illegals the night before. This location is the heaviest traveled part of the Huachuca Mountains sector, which is where most of the drug runners are. Armed with one 9mm Beretta between the two of us, we kept as quiet as possible and made sure to listen for any movement. I kept the key in the ignition ready to start the car and book out of there at a moment's notice. Early on we heard voices across the street, but it ended up being Minutemen.
Mike and me listening carefully for any sound that may be a person moving (It's too dark to see much, so sound is our best friend):
We listened carefully all night, but not so much as a twig cracking. Apparently word had made it out that we had spotted three people the morning before and no one was willing to risk trying to get by us that night! Nearing morning, another Minuteman was nice enough to drop by and get us some much needed hot coffee. It was COLD!
We will be returning on this Wednesday for a nice long 4-day weekend, so make sure you bookmark this site and check back for an update!
Media bias reached its low thus far. A reporter from the Arizona Star (As I am not 100% sure of the name I won't post it yet) decided that he was going to create news. He rapidly approached one of the Minuteman groups, parked his car so that it was blocking their way out and became very confrontational. The Minutemen there did not know this man, so they were immediately suspicious that he may be one of the drug runners. The reporter kept fiddling with something, trying to make it look like he might pull a gun. The intent- to get a Minuteman to pull a gun on him (I know this particular Minuteman and spoke directly to him about the incident). It didn't work, so he decided to accuse one of them of pulling a gun anyway. This isn't reporting, this is criminal. This is provocation and illegal detainment- if this had been a Minuteman acting this way toward an illegal, he would be in jail right now.
Another Minuteman I spoke to told me about another incident. He was helping Border Patrol by holding a flashlight while some illegals climbed out of a drainage tube and up onto the street above. As one of them climbed out, he slipped and just about fell onto the Minuteman. The Minuteman instinctively reached out and held him up so he didn't fall. Apparently this is assault. I don't know if charges materialized, but they were considered.
On a lighter note, one couple was able to photograph a few ACLU in their car rolling and smoking pot. Well, we are down there to report illegal activity to the proper authorities, so that's exactly what they did.
And here is a very interesting quote from the Minuteman Project website:
"Jim Gilchrist spoke with two Border Patrol agents today. They said they tremendously appreciate what we are doing to bring attention to our porous borders and they very much appreciate our help. They said that in the 23-mile area that MMP is observing, Border Patrol apprehensions have dropped from approximately 1,000 per day to less than 20 per day during this past week. The agents both insisted that their names not be mentioned because they would be fired if it was known that they were releasing this information to the MinuteMan Project. Jim has had similar very supportive conversations with about half a dozen other agents."
Now, on to my experiences for the weekend!
We arrived early at the location I was told to meet at. We waited until 15 minutes after the specified time, but no one showed up. So we went back to the Bible College and security told us that a group had just left 10 minutes before we got there. This time we were told the right time, but wrong location. I think we got it all figured out for the next time though.
Luckily there was someone that knew where everyone was and we followed him out. We were placed at a bridge that went over a wash. The illegals and drug runners like to go under the bridges because it provides cover and they can't be seen from the road. We parked off the road on top of the bridge.
My brother Mike watching the wash and listening:
It's hard to stay awake without a constant supply of sugar:
That night was uneventful, which is actually a good thing. I always prefer no illegal activity, even if it does make it difficult to stay awake.
We went to sleep for the morning, and woke up at about 9:00 to find a location that had cell phone access so that I could interview with Ted Robertson on his show "Springs Talk Live" (www.springstalklive.com), a talk radio show based in Colorado Springs. I figured this was a good location:
So we parked, raised our flag and spotted while waiting for the call.
While spotting, we got a good feel for what the locals think of us. We got about one car a minute honking and waving at us in support as they drove my. Only two times did someone say "Go home- you don't belong here," and I am pretty sure it was the same car full of Mexican kids. WE don't belong here? Now I have no problem with legal immigration; we have several legal Mexican immigrants on MMP. From what I have seen, the LEGAL immigrants are as mad about this problem as we are. So my educated guess is either those kids were illegal immigrants or were upset that the price of their crack has doubled in the last week because the supply has completely stopped. And somehow WE don't belong here. But we just laughed it off and focused on the hundreds of cars that were honking their support.
Here I am talking on the phone to Ted. I found the exact square inch that had cell phone access and didn't move. It was very windy so I had to shield the phone with my jacket. I was worried that my voice sounded nervous, but actually I was just shivering- it was cold!
About 15 minutes after I got off the phone with Ted, Mike spotted at least two illegal aliens in the wash behind our car. He called me over to verify:
We called the Border Patrol, and simply kept an eye on things. A couple minutes later they left the wash and began to walk down the access road. Apparently there were three:
Mike kept an eye on them as they tried to sneak away...
...but it is exciting knowing that the time and effort has been worth something.
Border Patrol showed up and looked for a while. With the help of another Minuteman group a few hundred yards away they were able to track them down and pick them up.
We continued to watch for a while, then went back to the Bible College for a meeting. Mostly we talked about how important the "no contact" policy is in light of the recent "incidents."
Culpeper Minuteman flag at MMP HQ:
Mike and me at the meeting hall:
After the meeting we went back to the trading post. If you work all night, you gotta sleep some time:
The next night we were stationed at the same location we had found the illegals the night before. This location is the heaviest traveled part of the Huachuca Mountains sector, which is where most of the drug runners are. Armed with one 9mm Beretta between the two of us, we kept as quiet as possible and made sure to listen for any movement. I kept the key in the ignition ready to start the car and book out of there at a moment's notice. Early on we heard voices across the street, but it ended up being Minutemen.
Mike and me listening carefully for any sound that may be a person moving (It's too dark to see much, so sound is our best friend):
We listened carefully all night, but not so much as a twig cracking. Apparently word had made it out that we had spotted three people the morning before and no one was willing to risk trying to get by us that night! Nearing morning, another Minuteman was nice enough to drop by and get us some much needed hot coffee. It was COLD!
We will be returning on this Wednesday for a nice long 4-day weekend, so make sure you bookmark this site and check back for an update!
posted by Calan at 00:31
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home