No vigilantes at Camp Vigilance?
I vacation in Arizona's Altar Valley about 30 miles from Arivaca. When learning of the murders of the Flores family members including a nine-year-old girl, my curiosity about Minuteman groups was piqued. I read many news reports and visited quite a few websites. I learned that the Minuteman movement is by no means monolithic; many groups names include "Minuteman".
Dig a little further, and I found some alarming attitudes:
The San Diego Minutemen, which maintains an "enemies list" that includes President Obama, the Mayor of Los Angeles, and Governor Bill Richardson,
states on their website that they denounce the Arivaca murders.... And they publish an enemies list on the web?
http://www.sandiegominutemen.com/...
Jim Gilchrist perhaps one of the best known spokesmen for the Minutemen movement as recently as January endorsed Shawna Forde, leader of the Arivaca assassination trio. I question his judgement and his authority to "defend the US border".
http://www.alipac.us/...
The Minutemen Civil Defense Corps website contains a memorial gallery of victims of
"illegal alien" murders and traffic deaths. Looks like a recruiting instrument to me. There's no mention of the many Mexicans who have come to America to seek a better life and harm no-one.
http://www.minutemanhq.com/...
"Forde has attended training at Camp Vigilante, (author's note: it's Camp Vigilance) a high-desert training camp operated by Minuteman Civil Defense near Boulevard in San Diego’s East County in 2008, East County Magazine has learned....
....Congressmen Duncan Hunter (R-Alpine) took $10,000 in political contributions from The Minuteman PAC, the political action arm of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps (MCDC)."
http://eastcountymagazine.org/...
Each of these groups are proud of their mission to do what they claim the US Government fails to do.
Minutemen Civil Defense Corps statement:
"Mission: To secure United States borders and coastal boundaries against unlawful and unauthorized entry of all individuals, contraband, and foreign military."
Don't we pay taxes to support the DHS and the armed forces for protection? DHS and the military are bound by laws passed by Congress. To whom are these groups legally accountable?