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Monday, April 04, 2005

Vigilantism in America
Posted by Jill | 6:48 AM

The Bush Administration has sure been lucky the past couple of weeks. First we had the circus going on outside Terri Schiavo's hospice, and then the Papal Death Watch, occupying the 24 x 7 news cycle. This allowed the Iraq WMD intelligence report to be released unnoticed after having been held until after the election, and the attack by Iraqi insurgents against the Abu Ghraib prison to be buried at the bottom of page A11 of yesterday's New York Times.

Now, also buried under Papal Death Ritual, is the appalling Minuteman Project, also known as legal vigilantism. As the U.S. military relies more and more on contractors and mercenaries in their desperate attempt to avoid having to institute a draft, it was perhaps inevitable that the Border Patrol would similarly end up relying on unpaid "volunteers":

The Minuteman Project -- an effort by citizens who have volunteered to patrol the Mexican border for illegal crossers and smugglers -- has already borne fruit even before its official launch.

Participants helped federal agents make 18 arrests near Naco, authorities said Sunday. The volunteers were surveying the border to familiarize themselves with the area before starting their regular, monthlong patrols Monday.

``You observe them, report them and get out of the way,'' said Mike McGarry, a spokesman for the project that will concentrate on 23 miles of the San Pedro Valley.

McGarry said about 200 people would be in place for Monday's patrols, although human rights activists and some authorities have questioned whether the project will attract as many volunteers as organizers expect.

Law enforcement officials said the volunteers were keeping the peace, despite concerns they might become confrontational with immigrants. Many of the volunteers were recruited over the Internet and some plan to be armed.


The New York Times article excerpted above describes quiet, law-abiding guys who simply point out to border guards a few guys trying to cross the border from Mexico. But David Neiwert, which unlike the Times, is unfettered by fears of the Wrath of Rove and therefore able to rip aside the veneer of civility in this project, points out that residents of Tombstone, Arizona, have received recruitment flyers from the National Alliance, a "white separatist" group. National Alliance chairman Erich Gliebe was quoted as saying, "We have found that a lot of people in the area are sympathetic to our message, but won't admit it," Gliebe said.

Oh, I'm quite certain he's right. Yup, that's America, buddy -- the U.S. government recruiting the modern equivalent of the KKK to patrol the borders.
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