Residents of a small border town banded together to de-platform the leader of a border vigilante group and other hostile actors from their midst. Mother Jones reports on the townspeople of Arivaca, Arizona, who grouped together to take on Veterans on Patrol, a border vigilante group led by non-veteran Michael Meyer.
The group’s presence brought up painful memories for the townspeople: Arivaca was the site of the brutal murders of two residents, including nine-year-old Brisenia Flores, by violent border vigilantes a decade ago. “The whole town has those emotional scars,” said resident Alan Wallen. He said his daughter knew Brisenia.
So when Meyer and others began taking it upon themselves to “patrol” the area—“these people come to town and they’re threatening,” said Megan Davern, a bartender who kicked Meyer and his volunteers out of her bar and then banned them from returning—Arivaca grouped together to hold a town meeting and figure out what to do:
It was held on September 9, and about 60 people came. Terry Sayles, the retired teacher from Green Valley, was there. He suggested that the town report Veterans on Patrol’s page to Facebook. The residents set up a phone tree in case they needed to quickly rally aid—local law enforcement is at least an hour away.
The townspeople succeeded in getting the group’s page shut down, “stripping Meyer of his audience.” Bryan Melchior, a gun enthusiastic who led a group dedicated to harassing survivors of the Parkland shootings before becoming allied with Meyer, cried that “Arivaca is the most unwelcoming town I’ve ever been to in my life.” Both are now in legal trouble. While townspeople say that they aren’t completely rid of these types, “there’s a lot less fear going around, which is great.”