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| Texas Governor Rick Perry (R) who wants to be President some day, and Faux News anchor dude Sean Hannity riding their version of the Welcome Wagon for desperate immigrant women and children. Can we sink any lower than this? |
The
conservative meltdown over unaccompanied Central American children showing up
at the border reached a new, but inevitable peak: armed, “Bundy Ranch”-style
militias waving guns at them.
These
gunmen were moved to action not because of the plight of these poor, desperate
children who’s parents sent them north in the hopes that they might escape the
violence, civil unrest, and crushing poverty in their home countries.
No,
instead, they are just livid that America has to deal with them. So, they
grabbed their guns, packed up their American flags and headed to the border.
According
to a YouTube video (since deleted) posted by one of the activists organizing
the group, they are now operating under strict kill orders if they see any
“illegals.” At one point in the video, the activist, identified by The Monitor
as Chris Davis, tells prospective immigrants: “Get back across the border or
you will be shot.”
Operation
Secure Our Border already has members in Texas but they also ask that more
“patriots” join them in the coming weeks.
A spokeswoman for the group, Denice Freeman, said the operation is a call for civilian militia members — both armed and unarmed — to voluntarily guard private property in the Laredo area and other Texas locations where owners feel threatened by “drug cartels and from gangs, particularly the MS-13 gangs,” a Salvadoran-based gang that is considered among the most dangerous in this country by law enforcement.[source]
According
to another group organizer, these militias weren’t meant to use violence: “This
is not a ‘go-in-guns-blazing’ kind of thing.”
Davis
begs to differ.
“You see an illegal. You point your gun dead at him, right between his eyes, and you say, ‘Get back across the border or you will be shot.’”
It’s
not clear how Davis thinks he will know an illegal immigrant when he sees one.
From the looks of it, just being Hispanic is enough to be interrogated by this
mercenary army. The potential for disaster is extremely high.
According
to The Monitor, Hidalgo County Sheriff Eddie Guerra is not cool
with this call-to-arms.
“We
don’t need their services on our border. If we ever did I’m sure we have enough
good people in Hidalgo County that I can call up,” Guerra said.
Operation
Secure Our Border isn’t the only right-wing group currently stockpiling guns on
the border.
In fact, you might say they are being encouraged by their governor.
Yesterday, we brought you the
story of Texas Gov.
Rick Perry and his grandstanding near the border. Hanging out with his good
friend Fox News host Sean Hannity, Perry posed for several pictures next to a
mounted machine gun while cruising down the Rio Grande.
It
isn’t hard to see how some people might assume that that sort of behavior is
being endorsed by government leadership.
Amazingly,
the saga of Operation Secure Our Border took another twist, when – after
posting his threatening video to YouTube – Davis cancelled his interviews with
Fox News, deleted his YouTube account and has since been unheard from other
than to tell other group
members that he was
“going black” due to security threats against him.
Now,
other right-wing militia groups are bashing Davis as being insufficiently dedicated to the cause. Doing a complete reverse, several groups are
telling their members to stay away from Operation Secure Our Border.
We
can only hope that this implosion of leadership means the other “patriots” stay
at home as well. I don’t think I could handle a kid getting shot on the border
because a self-described militiaman ordered her to turn around and she didn’t
understand him.
Author: Jameson Parker - I cover US politics, social justice issues, and other current
events which aren't getting the attention they deserve. Feel free follow or
drop me a line on twitter.
