Rick Dean
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http://amren.com/news/news04/04/09/ranchrescuesued.html
Civilian Border Watch Group Comes Under Fire
Sarah Ovaska, The Monitor (TX), Apr. 4
HEBBRONVILLE --On the edge of an empty road here, the footprints of undocumented immigrants following ranch fences share space with the wildflowers, whose bloom patterns are on their own northward trek.
The road leads to Hebbronville, the small city that provides a break from the monotonous horizon of brush in this sparsely populated area.
Stemming from an incident that occurred last year at a ranch south of town, Hebbronville, the Jim Hog
County seat, is in the midst of a national controversy on immigration, after a local ranch owner recruited members of Ranch Rescue, an armed civilian border watch group, to patrol his land.
Two Salv
ado
an immigrants claim they were threatened with
death by the ranch owner, Joe Sutton, illegally detained by Ranch Rescue members and that one of the immigrants was pistol-whipped by Casey Nethercott, an Arizona resident and member of Ranch Rescue.
The immigrants, with attorneys from the civil rights organizations Southern Poverty Law Center and Mexican-American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF), have filed a lawsuit against the group and Sutton seeking damages. Attorneys for the immigrants said they have been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder because of the incident. Criminal charges of aggravated assault, unlawful restraint and possession of a firearm by a felon have been filed against Nethercott. Nethercott has pleaded innocent to the charges.
Both the civil case and
criminal charges are pending.
The group, Ranch Rescue, sees itself as the last defenders of the border, protecting America from terrorists, drug runners and illegal immigrants. Critics h
ave
desc
ribed it as
a hate group that uses force and intimid
ation as armed members patrol ranches close to the Mexican border.
"f they (ranchers near the border) need help if they're just getting overrun with illegals, we'll help them out, said Tom Nellist, a 26-year-old member of Ranch Rescue currently running an Arizona ranch for the group. Somebody's gotta stop the problem; the government doesn't seem to do anything about it.
Civil rights organizations are concerned about Ranch Rescue's operations that require camouflage, assault weapons and military-style supplies.
They're hate groups without a doubt, said Tom Selzer, director of the Harlingen-based Valley Movement for Human Rights.
Selzer added that citizen-based groups like Ranch Rescue are encouraged by what Selzer describes
as the federal government's approach to treat undocumented immigrants as criminals. He said, When we do that as a government, we're opening the door for these radical, reactionary g
roups t
o hunt h
uman beings.
<b
r>Nellist
said the U.S. Border Patrol and the federal government have not been supportive of Ranch Rescue's work.
They're trying to stop us, they're calling us a terrorist organization, Nellist said. They just don't want us to do their job and make them look bad.
Asst. Chief Lee E. Bargerhuff of the Laredo sector of the Border Patrol said he could not specifically comment on Ranch Rescue because of pending litigation, but that his agents try to work with ranch owners.
We cannot become the private protection service for one single piece of real estate, Bargerhuff said. "t does come to that point that you can only do that much.
Sutton's Sutton Ranch sits seven miles south of a 24-hour Border Patrol checkpoint in near Hebbronville. Its 4,800 acres are encompas
sed by an 8-foot fence with a barbed wire topping, a video surveillance system and an electric fence just inside the ranch. A cattle farmer who bought the ranch seven year
s ago, Sutt
on said he c
alled Ran
ch Rescue last yea
r after seeing a segment on Fox News about the group.
Ranch Rescue soon came to Sutton Ranch and began work for Operation Falcon, according to a petition filed in court by the two Salvadoran immigrants.
" know what's going on and there's nobody in my government that's able to do anything about this, Sutton said. " truly don't have any rights on my own land.
Sutton said he's had chicken and cattle slaughtered, water pipes broken and fences cut from immigrants crossing his land in an attempt to evade the Border Patrol checkpoint.
Since the alleged assault, Sutton has distanced himself from Ranch Rescue but has found himself unwelcome in the Hebbronville community because the attention brought to the area. He said he still copes with the problem of having im
migrants use his land.
The consensus (in Hebbronville) is that they don't need this type of negative advertising to the community, Sutton said. Every
one wants to te
ll me w
hat not t
o do but I certainly have heard fro
m nobody to tell me what to do.
He also said he never threatened the immigrants and knows nothing about whether or not the immigrants were assaulted.
"f it occurred, it occurred, Sutton said. But I didn't see any of that.
David Almaraz, a former Hebbronville resident and current criminal defense attorney in Laredo, said he understands ranchers' frustration but is concerned about Ranch Rescue being invited to the area.
How can you bring folks like these to our county, to South Texas? Almazar asked. You can't take the law into your own hands.
Almaraz, whose family still lives in Hebbronville, said he's been to many ranches where illegal immigrants passing through are hired as extra hands to work on the ranches. On land in the area he leases fo
r hunting, he said he leaves jugs of water and canned food for immigrants passing through the area.
There's not a single area in South Texa
s that doesnt have
problems with this
wave of humanity making their way through h
ere, Almaraz said. "n a place like Jim Hogg County where most people are used to these folks coming, people leave jugs of water.
Others see the emergence of groups like Ranch Rescue as a reflection of the turmoil from the nation's immigration policies.
"n a perfect world, we wouldn't need these groups, said John Keeley, director of communications for Washington-based Centers for Immigration Studies, a non-profit, non-partisan think-tank. "n the continued absence of the feds to react (to immigration trends), we're going to see more and more of these citizen groups.
Ranch Rescue Member Charged With Threatening Immigrants
Sarah Ovaska, The Monitor, Apr. 4
HEBBRONVILLE --Clad in camouflage pants and combat boots and bound with leg sha
ckles, Casey Nethercott told a judge he will fight charges that he hit a Salvadoran immigrant with a pistol on a private ranch last year
.
nNethercott, an
Arizona ranch owner an
d proud member of the controversial civilian-based
border watch group Ranch Rescue, was extradited from Arizona last week after he failed to make an October court appearance.
" have been a fighter my entire life. I've been a soldier, Nethercott told Judge Alex Gabert on Tuesday during an arraignment hearing at the Jim Hogg Courthouse in Hebbronville. What I don't do is run from a fight.
Gabert is the presiding judge for the 229th state District Court, which covers Duval, Jim Hogg and Starr counties.
Those statements were removed from the group's Web site following Nethercott's court hearing on Tuesday.
Nethercott is charged with illegally detaining a pair of Salvadoran immigrants at gunpoint for more than an hour after the two entered a private ranch to evade a Border Patrol checkpoint. The immig
rants, who have since filed a lawsuit against Nethercott, Ranch Rescue and the ranch owner Joe Sutton, claim that they were
threate
ned with death at gu
npoint and that Nethercott
hit one of the immigrants over the head with a pistol.
Nethercott has denied the accusations and pleaded innocent to the criminal charges of aggravated assault and two counts of unlawful restraint. He faces up to 20 years in state prison.
For bail money, Nethercott offered his Arizona ranch on the Mexican border, which is currently being run by Ranch Rescue and another group called Arizona Citizens Militia.
Prosecutor Rudy Gutierrez said that Nethercott's ranch is being used as a base for the militia groups.
We believe that that the land is not being used as a ranch but as a compound for a vigilante group, Gutierrez said.
Jabobson, the former head of the Texas American Civil Liberties Union, said his client's views on immigration have no basis in court.
That's not on trial, Jacobson sa
id. That's a social issue and a political issue, it's not a legal issue.
On its Web site, Ranch Rescue h
as harshly
criticized Jim Hogg
county and state officials, re
ferred to as the Texas Taliban, for Nethercott's arrest.
While imprisoned on false charges by the Jim Hogg County Texas Taliban, he was placed in solitary confinement, had no TV, no radio, no newspapers, no magazines, no books, not even a Bible, the Web site stated, adding that as a diabetic, Nethercott was denied insulin. This is the behavior of rogue states like Iraq and North Korea, not the United States of America.
In court Tuesday, Nethercott said the Internet postings were made by someone other than himself.
This is made by someone acting like an ass on the Internet, Nethercott told Gabert.
In an impromptu, casual speech in court, Nethercott said his extradition from Arizona has been draining.
Your honor, I've been through hell in the last 48 hours, Nethercott said. He then apologiz
ed for swearing in court.
After Gabert heard him out, Nethercott thanked the judge.
T
ha
nk you, your honor, I owe you one,
Nethercott said.
His tria
l is scheduled for June 7.
http://amren.com/news/news04/04/09/ranchrescuesued.html
Civilian Border Watch Group Comes Under Fire
Sarah Ovaska, The Monitor (TX), Apr. 4
HEBBRONVILLE --On the edge of an empty road here, the footprints of undocumented immigrants following ranch fences share space with the wildflowers, whose bloom patterns are on their own northward trek.
The road leads to Hebbronville, the small city that provides a break from the monotonous horizon of brush in this sparsely populated area.
Stemming from an incident that occurred last year at a ranch south of town, Hebbronville, the Jim Hog
County seat, is in the midst of a national controversy on immigration, after a local ranch owner recruited members of Ranch Rescue, an armed civilian border watch group, to patrol his land.
Two Salv
ado
an immigrants claim they were threatened with
death by the ranch owner, Joe Sutton, illegally detained by Ranch Rescue members and that one of the immigrants was pistol-whipped by Casey Nethercott, an Arizona resident and member of Ranch Rescue.
The immigrants, with attorneys from the civil rights organizations Southern Poverty Law Center and Mexican-American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF), have filed a lawsuit against the group and Sutton seeking damages. Attorneys for the immigrants said they have been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder because of the incident. Criminal charges of aggravated assault, unlawful restraint and possession of a firearm by a felon have been filed against Nethercott. Nethercott has pleaded innocent to the charges.
Both the civil case and
criminal charges are pending.
The group, Ranch Rescue, sees itself as the last defenders of the border, protecting America from terrorists, drug runners and illegal immigrants. Critics h
ave
desc
ribed it as
a hate group that uses force and intimid
ation as armed members patrol ranches close to the Mexican border.
"f they (ranchers near the border) need help if they're just getting overrun with illegals, we'll help them out, said Tom Nellist, a 26-year-old member of Ranch Rescue currently running an Arizona ranch for the group. Somebody's gotta stop the problem; the government doesn't seem to do anything about it.
Civil rights organizations are concerned about Ranch Rescue's operations that require camouflage, assault weapons and military-style supplies.
They're hate groups without a doubt, said Tom Selzer, director of the Harlingen-based Valley Movement for Human Rights.
Selzer added that citizen-based groups like Ranch Rescue are encouraged by what Selzer describes
as the federal government's approach to treat undocumented immigrants as criminals. He said, When we do that as a government, we're opening the door for these radical, reactionary g
roups t
o hunt h
uman beings.
<b
r>Nellist
said the U.S. Border Patrol and the federal government have not been supportive of Ranch Rescue's work.
They're trying to stop us, they're calling us a terrorist organization, Nellist said. They just don't want us to do their job and make them look bad.
Asst. Chief Lee E. Bargerhuff of the Laredo sector of the Border Patrol said he could not specifically comment on Ranch Rescue because of pending litigation, but that his agents try to work with ranch owners.
We cannot become the private protection service for one single piece of real estate, Bargerhuff said. "t does come to that point that you can only do that much.
Sutton's Sutton Ranch sits seven miles south of a 24-hour Border Patrol checkpoint in near Hebbronville. Its 4,800 acres are encompas
sed by an 8-foot fence with a barbed wire topping, a video surveillance system and an electric fence just inside the ranch. A cattle farmer who bought the ranch seven year
s ago, Sutt
on said he c
alled Ran
ch Rescue last yea
r after seeing a segment on Fox News about the group.
Ranch Rescue soon came to Sutton Ranch and began work for Operation Falcon, according to a petition filed in court by the two Salvadoran immigrants.
" know what's going on and there's nobody in my government that's able to do anything about this, Sutton said. " truly don't have any rights on my own land.
Sutton said he's had chicken and cattle slaughtered, water pipes broken and fences cut from immigrants crossing his land in an attempt to evade the Border Patrol checkpoint.
Since the alleged assault, Sutton has distanced himself from Ranch Rescue but has found himself unwelcome in the Hebbronville community because the attention brought to the area. He said he still copes with the problem of having im
migrants use his land.
The consensus (in Hebbronville) is that they don't need this type of negative advertising to the community, Sutton said. Every
one wants to te
ll me w
hat not t
o do but I certainly have heard fro
m nobody to tell me what to do.
He also said he never threatened the immigrants and knows nothing about whether or not the immigrants were assaulted.
"f it occurred, it occurred, Sutton said. But I didn't see any of that.
David Almaraz, a former Hebbronville resident and current criminal defense attorney in Laredo, said he understands ranchers' frustration but is concerned about Ranch Rescue being invited to the area.
How can you bring folks like these to our county, to South Texas? Almazar asked. You can't take the law into your own hands.
Almaraz, whose family still lives in Hebbronville, said he's been to many ranches where illegal immigrants passing through are hired as extra hands to work on the ranches. On land in the area he leases fo
r hunting, he said he leaves jugs of water and canned food for immigrants passing through the area.
There's not a single area in South Texa
s that doesnt have
problems with this
wave of humanity making their way through h
ere, Almaraz said. "n a place like Jim Hogg County where most people are used to these folks coming, people leave jugs of water.
Others see the emergence of groups like Ranch Rescue as a reflection of the turmoil from the nation's immigration policies.
"n a perfect world, we wouldn't need these groups, said John Keeley, director of communications for Washington-based Centers for Immigration Studies, a non-profit, non-partisan think-tank. "n the continued absence of the feds to react (to immigration trends), we're going to see more and more of these citizen groups.
Ranch Rescue Member Charged With Threatening Immigrants
Sarah Ovaska, The Monitor, Apr. 4
HEBBRONVILLE --Clad in camouflage pants and combat boots and bound with leg sha
ckles, Casey Nethercott told a judge he will fight charges that he hit a Salvadoran immigrant with a pistol on a private ranch last year
.
nNethercott, an
Arizona ranch owner an
d proud member of the controversial civilian-based
border watch group Ranch Rescue, was extradited from Arizona last week after he failed to make an October court appearance.
" have been a fighter my entire life. I've been a soldier, Nethercott told Judge Alex Gabert on Tuesday during an arraignment hearing at the Jim Hogg Courthouse in Hebbronville. What I don't do is run from a fight.
Gabert is the presiding judge for the 229th state District Court, which covers Duval, Jim Hogg and Starr counties.
Those statements were removed from the group's Web site following Nethercott's court hearing on Tuesday.
Nethercott is charged with illegally detaining a pair of Salvadoran immigrants at gunpoint for more than an hour after the two entered a private ranch to evade a Border Patrol checkpoint. The immig
rants, who have since filed a lawsuit against Nethercott, Ranch Rescue and the ranch owner Joe Sutton, claim that they were
threate
ned with death at gu
npoint and that Nethercott
hit one of the immigrants over the head with a pistol.
Nethercott has denied the accusations and pleaded innocent to the criminal charges of aggravated assault and two counts of unlawful restraint. He faces up to 20 years in state prison.
For bail money, Nethercott offered his Arizona ranch on the Mexican border, which is currently being run by Ranch Rescue and another group called Arizona Citizens Militia.
Prosecutor Rudy Gutierrez said that Nethercott's ranch is being used as a base for the militia groups.
We believe that that the land is not being used as a ranch but as a compound for a vigilante group, Gutierrez said.
Jabobson, the former head of the Texas American Civil Liberties Union, said his client's views on immigration have no basis in court.
That's not on trial, Jacobson sa
id. That's a social issue and a political issue, it's not a legal issue.
On its Web site, Ranch Rescue h
as harshly
criticized Jim Hogg
county and state officials, re
ferred to as the Texas Taliban, for Nethercott's arrest.
While imprisoned on false charges by the Jim Hogg County Texas Taliban, he was placed in solitary confinement, had no TV, no radio, no newspapers, no magazines, no books, not even a Bible, the Web site stated, adding that as a diabetic, Nethercott was denied insulin. This is the behavior of rogue states like Iraq and North Korea, not the United States of America.
In court Tuesday, Nethercott said the Internet postings were made by someone other than himself.
This is made by someone acting like an ass on the Internet, Nethercott told Gabert.
In an impromptu, casual speech in court, Nethercott said his extradition from Arizona has been draining.
Your honor, I've been through hell in the last 48 hours, Nethercott said. He then apologiz
ed for swearing in court.
After Gabert heard him out, Nethercott thanked the judge.
T
ha
nk you, your honor, I owe you one,
Nethercott said.
His tria
l is scheduled for June 7.