2008 Woodie Awards
Via Oliver Willis, it looks like the Minutemen are planning a resurgence. But they’ve already been exposed for what they really are.
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It would be interesting to find out why leftists are so afraid of MinuteMan Project volunteers. Even the Oliver Willis blog entry correctly refers to the volunteers as a "Border Watch" organization. They’re observers, a "citizens’ neighborhood watch along our border." There’s nothing to be feared from observers.
The article at campusprogress.org, however, is a different animal. This hate piece is full of distortions and outright lies. Let’s shine a light on some of the more obvious examples.
The illustration shows a person with an American flag T-shirt holding a shotgun. The MinuteMan Project specifically excluded shotguns and rifles from the allowable firearms that volunteers were allowed to carry while on duty. Also, the illustration shows the person’s finger resting on the trigger. No one who knows how to use a shotgun would walk around caressing the trigger like that. Firearms safety rules state that your trigger finger should be straight along the frame of the weapon until you are on target and ready to shoot.
Tall mountain ranges, swift rivers, jackrabbits, and coyotes create a natural environment like no other in the world.
Please name one tall mountain range and one swift river at the Arizona-Mexico border.
But the Project was not as innocent as it claimed to be. Many members of the National Alliance, the largest Neo-Nazi group in America, attended meetings of the vigilante group, and even distributed flyers to local residents on behalf of the Minutemen stating that "Non-Whites are turning America into a Third World slum."
This is misleading, since the "National Alliance" members were not MMP members. "MMP has no affiliation with, nor will we accept any assistance by or interference from separatists, racists or supremacy groups or individuals, no matter what their race, color, or creed."
Legal observers from the American Civil Liberties Union and other organizations spent the month monitoring the activities of the Minutemen and their allies. They reported several disturbing civil liberties violations by the vigilantes, including one incident where volunteers allegedly held a migrant against his will and photographed him wearing clothing with the slogan "Bryan Barton caught an illegal alien and all I got was this t-shirt," and even occasions where the Minutemen took migrants hostage and tried to attack them with dogs.Bryan Barton is a man from California who was running for public office. He had his own publicist running a video camera to take flattering pictures of him "defending the border." An illegal approached the border fence and was given a bowl of cereal and a bottle of water. Mr. Barton gave him the T-shirt, which he had obviously brought with him, and had him hold it up while the publicist rolled tape. When Border Patrol officers arrived after being called by the MMP, the illegal stated that he had been held against his will. The article is misleading because it only talks about the ACLU report and not the disposition of the event. Sheriff’s Deputies arrived on the scene, interviewed the illegal, and determined that he had not been held against his will. He was sent back to Mexico and no charges were filed against the MMP volunteers. Mr. Bryan Barton, however, was ejected from the MMP and sent home. And the "hostages attacked by dogs" story is a complete lie. I can only conclude that someone made it up out of boredom with the dearth of "immigrant abuse" news stories.
Furthermore, the Minuteman Project’s activities disrupted the work of the legal immigration authorities. Volunteers unfamiliar with the provisions the Border Patrol already has in place tripped sensors, caused false alarms that taxed the efforts of law enforcement agents.
This is true, but specifically worded to be misleading. The MMP volunteers tripped no sensors. The sensors were tripped by the ACLU volunteers and the news media.
In spite of the group’s radical views and racist ties…
If the author can show any "racist ties," I would challenge him to do so. Otherwise this is an outright lie.
The conclusion of the Minutemen’s month of vigilantism…
Please explain how a group of observers reporting illegal acts constitutes "vigilantism."
If there’s anything to be learned from the sorry saga of the Minuteman Project, it’s that efforts to make America a land of exclusion, not freedom, are pervasive even in the age of globalization.
If there’s anything to be learned from the actual saga of the MinuteMan Project, it’s that a small group of law-abiding citizens can assist understaffed law enforcement by observing and reporting violations of Federal law.
It is worth noting here that weblogs gain popularity based on their credibility. Conversely, they lose popularity if they try to score points by referencing distortions and lies. In the future, you should do some research and be careful about your sources before posting a blog entry.
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