Well it was
only a matter of time, I suppose . . .
A Border Patrol agent pursuing a group of immigrants in a wooded area near the Texas-Mexico border on Friday fired several shots at an armed man who later identified himself as a militia member.
Border Patrol spokesman Omar Zamora said agents had been chasing a group of immigrants east of Brownsville Friday afternoon when an agent saw a man holding a gun near the Rio Grande. The agent fired four shots, but did not hit the man. The man then dropped his gun and identified himself as a member of a militia.
Needless to say, the distraction created by the "militia" member, allowed the group of immigrants to get away from the Border Patrol agent.
Nice work, Militia Guy! count yourself lucky that the mess in your pants was the worst that happened.
More hot pursuit below the fold . . .
As for the sheriff involved in the subsequent investigation:
[Sheriff] Lucio said, "We really don't need the militia here." He recognized they have the right to carry weapons, but noted that with the Border Patrol, Texas Department of Public Safety and local law enforcement, there are enough agencies working to secure the border. Gov. Rick Perry also called as many as 1,000 National Guard members to the border.
"It just creates a problem from my point of view, because we don't know who they are.
And, earlier this month, this thing happened:
This month, the Border Patrol warned its agents about militia members after seven of them dressed in camouflage and carrying rifles appeared out of the dark and began helping to apprehend immigrants around a canal near Mission.
But it looks like reinforcements are on the way -- whether Texas law enforcement wants them or not -- because, apparently our Constitution protects the rights of clueless fools to pursue their American Dream of being real-life action heroes.
Speaking of which, meet Derek Poe, proud owner of Golden Triangle Tactical of Beaumont, TX. GTT is an ammosexual wet dream, a superstore selling all of the gear necessary to make powerless punks feel like soldiers without having to do all of that "yes, sir/no sir" stuff.
As a matter of fact, there are so many goodies at GTT that Derek Poe is starting his own army because the Border Patrol, DPS and National Guard at the Texas border are not quite up to snuff, in Poe's opinion:
. . . it's "disgusting" that there are so few Texans patrolling our border with Mexico.
So, yesterday, Poe held a meeting, after hours, at GTT, to lay out his plan to prospective recruits in his militia and today he'll be on the road scoping out potential sites for his HQ. The militia will call itself "Golden Triangle Tactical Border Project," and be funded by Poe's business. Poe, himself, will be paying his "volunteers," on a per deployment basis, and expects deployments to run 4 or 5 days at a time, depending on volunteer's day-job schedules.
The best part? every recruit gets $5K worth of guns and stuff -- Troy AR-15s will be standard issue, along with military-grade night vision goggles and a 30 pound plate carrier.
But don't expect instant mobilization because Poe isn't going to take "just anybody." He's going to have high standards that include background checks and physical fitness tests for prospective recruits:
We're not going to allow any felons," Poe said. "We're not going to let people join just to have members. We'll have a certain quality of guys."
[The "no felons" part is probably a good idea since, being in the gun business and all, Derek Poe probably knows that giving felons AR 15s is sort of illegal.]
So, once the selection process is complete there'll be the "basic infantry style training." According to Poe, no one goes near that border without training! Combat training, apparently, for a non-combat zone? Oh, well, you have to start somewhere . . .
Poe said he's going to go over general rules for camping and patrolling at the border at the meeting on Friday. This includes not being able to detain people, not firing at anyone (unless it's self-defense) and no consumption of alcohol at the campsite or while on patrol.
Color me naive but . . . so, what exactly are these guys going to do there? And why do they need $5K worth of gear to do nothing . . . ? They could probably have a lot more fun, for less at a Laser Tag course.
Whatever . . . deployments probably won't happen until after October 20, though, because Poe has a trial date then, in Beaumont, for a disorderly conduct charge related to openly carrying a rifle in Parkdale Mall last December.
Parkdale Mall used to be GTT's "one location worldwide" but three days after Christmas last year, our hero decided to stroll through the mall with his trusty AR 15, because . . . FREEDOM! This unusual expression of holiday cheer happened to terrify some post-Xmas shoppers, several of whom called 911. Maybe he was just showing off his Christmas present and the public got it all wrong? At any rate, police action ensued and Poe was charged with misdemeanor disturbing the peace.
Good thing, too, that it was a misdemeanor, otherwise Poe wouldn't qualify for his own army. Scarred by that incident, Poe decided that Parkland Mall was no longer a safe place for him to do business, so he moved his store to another location.
Unfortunately, the Grand Opening of the new GTT was similarly marred by police action when a "Tactical Banana" brandishing an AK- 47, was cited for carrying a commercial sign without a permit. Banana Man was a Poe employee trying to attract customers to the new location.
The sad fact of the matter is that Derek Poe is not alone. There are lots of Americans harboring such anti-social aspirations out there egged on by self-interested politicians who exploit their malaise.
Might be time to vote them out of office and find people who are more competent, rational and able to represent the vast majority of Americans who don't condone wild-West vigilante justice.