MADness
Home invasion robberies are among the more violent of crimes committed in this country. When such crimes are coupled with an extremist political agenda, the crime is somehow even more horrifying, as the people of Arivaca, Arizona discovered May 30 when such an invasion resulted in the murder of a father and his ten year old daughter and the wounding of his wife. From the NY Times:
The killings, last month, have terrified this small town near the Mexican border, in part because the authorities have now tied them to what they describe as a rogue group engaged in citizen border patrols.
The three people arrested in the crime include the leader of Minutemen American Defense, a Washington State-based offshoot of the Minutemen movement, in which citizens roam the border looking for people crossing into the country illegally. Former members describe the group’s leader, Shawna Forde, 41, as having anti-immigrant sentiments that are extreme, at times frightening, even to people accustomed to hard-line views on border policing.
The authorities say that the three suspects were after money and drugs that they intended to use to finance vigilantism, and that members of the group may have been involved in at least one other home invasion, in California. [Emphasis added]
The acronym for this group certainly fits, especially given the tactics adopted by Ms Forde and her cohort. Just how crazy these people are was underscored by some of the people who quickly grew disenchanted with the group, among them Ms. Forde's half-brother.
Merrill Metzger, who worked for the group for six months just as it was getting started in 2007, said Ms. Forde had often traveled from Washington to Arizona with weapons. In March, while stopping over at his home in Redding, Calif., she presented a plan for the group to undertake, Mr. Metzger, her half-brother, said in a telephone interview.
“She was sitting here talking about how she was going to start an underground militia and rob drug dealers,” he said.
Mr. Metzger quit the group, alarmed, he said, by a number of things, including Ms. Forde’s demand for extreme loyalty, right down to the choice of cuisine.
“I had to take an oath, and part of the oath was that I couldn’t eat Mexican food,” he said. “That’s when red flags went up all over for me. That seemed like prejudice.”
"Seemed like prejudice." You think?
The DHS report about the threat to the nation from right wing terrorists doesn't look so bad anymore. In fact, Republican caviling aside, it looks to have been right on the money. I'll be interested to hear Tom Tancredo's and Lou Dobbs's response to this story, although I won't hold my breath that either man will even mention it.
The killings, last month, have terrified this small town near the Mexican border, in part because the authorities have now tied them to what they describe as a rogue group engaged in citizen border patrols.
The three people arrested in the crime include the leader of Minutemen American Defense, a Washington State-based offshoot of the Minutemen movement, in which citizens roam the border looking for people crossing into the country illegally. Former members describe the group’s leader, Shawna Forde, 41, as having anti-immigrant sentiments that are extreme, at times frightening, even to people accustomed to hard-line views on border policing.
The authorities say that the three suspects were after money and drugs that they intended to use to finance vigilantism, and that members of the group may have been involved in at least one other home invasion, in California. [Emphasis added]
The acronym for this group certainly fits, especially given the tactics adopted by Ms Forde and her cohort. Just how crazy these people are was underscored by some of the people who quickly grew disenchanted with the group, among them Ms. Forde's half-brother.
Merrill Metzger, who worked for the group for six months just as it was getting started in 2007, said Ms. Forde had often traveled from Washington to Arizona with weapons. In March, while stopping over at his home in Redding, Calif., she presented a plan for the group to undertake, Mr. Metzger, her half-brother, said in a telephone interview.
“She was sitting here talking about how she was going to start an underground militia and rob drug dealers,” he said.
Mr. Metzger quit the group, alarmed, he said, by a number of things, including Ms. Forde’s demand for extreme loyalty, right down to the choice of cuisine.
“I had to take an oath, and part of the oath was that I couldn’t eat Mexican food,” he said. “That’s when red flags went up all over for me. That seemed like prejudice.”
"Seemed like prejudice." You think?
The DHS report about the threat to the nation from right wing terrorists doesn't look so bad anymore. In fact, Republican caviling aside, it looks to have been right on the money. I'll be interested to hear Tom Tancredo's and Lou Dobbs's response to this story, although I won't hold my breath that either man will even mention it.
Labels: Immigration, Racism, Right Wing Terrorism
posted by Diane at 3:57 AM
1 Comments:
Oddly enough, what we call "Mexican food" was being eaten by people on the American continents long, long before hot dogs and hamburgers.
Mexican food IS American food.
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