Ranch Rescue
Ranch Rescue is a volunteer organization that claims to assist American ranchers and owners of property near the United States-Mexico border in the protection of their property. The organization claims that the protection is necessary due to damages caused by unauthorized border crossers, which it characterizes as terrorist. It also claims that the government has willfully and intentionally failed to protect property owners.[1] At one time, Ranch Rescue featured a web site with links to news articles and opinion pieces regarding the U.S.-Mexico border. It also served as a recruitment tool for future members of the group.[2][3]
Ranch Rescue | |
---|---|
Leader | Jack Foote and Casey Nethercott |
Dates of operation | 2002-~2006 |
Active regions | Arizona, California, Colorado, Kentucky, New Mexico, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, and Virginia United States |
Ideology | American nationalism Nativism Libertarianism Paleoconservatism Survivalism |
Ranch Rescue has had chapters in the states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Kentucky, New Mexico, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, and Virginia. As of 2003, its largest chapter in Arizona had disbanded.[4] Generally, Ranch Rescue operates on private property at the behest of the owners. When a landowner requests protection from the organization, Ranch Rescue operatives set up a military-style operation on the property and terms it as such. The operatives use electronic surveillance equipment, binoculars, flares, two-way radios, trained dogs, and firearms and other weapons.[4]
Legal issues
An operation at Sutton Ranch in Jim Hogg County, Texas, was termed "Operation Falcon". On March 18, 2003, Fatima Del Socorro Leiva Medina and Edwin Alfredo Mancia Gonzales, illegal immigrants from El Salvador, alleged that they were chased, detained, threatened, robbed and assaulted by Ranch Rescue operatives after being caught trespassing on the property in the town of Hebronville Texas.[5][6] One operative, Henry Mark Conner, allegedly aimed a rifle at Leiva and Mancia during the incident. He and Casey James Nethercott, another operative, were indicted on charges of aggravated assault and unlawful restraint. Nethercott was additionally indicted on charges of unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon.[7] In 2011 the New York Times reported that Nethercott "has a string of assault and weapons convictions, and was once mentioned in Congressional testimony on abuses by bounty hunters for detaining at gunpoint two Southern California high school students on their way home from a football game."[8]
Subsequent to the attacks, Leiva and Mancia sued the Texas chapter of Ranch Rescue. They were represented by attorneys from the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund, among others. They sued for damages relating to their physical injuries and emotional distress.[9][10]
The judge in the case ruled in their favor. Joseph Sutton settled for $100,000, but neither Nethercott nor Ranch Rescue leader Jack Foote defended themselves in court. Nethercott was ordered to pay a default settlement of $850,000.[11][6] Unable to pay the settlement, Nethercott was ordered to surrender his only asset —a 70-acre (280,000 m2) ranch near the Arizona-Sonora border.[12]
In an action considered by some to be in response to this civil award, Arizona voters passed, in a favorable vote of 74.2% of votes cast, the Arizona Standing in Civil Actions, Proposition 102 (2006), preventing illegal immigrants from collecting punitive damages.[13] This law, however, did not aid Ranch Rescue and, in 2011, Nethercott was quoted as saying, "If something happens with an illegal, and they try to sue you and get visas and amnesty, it won't work anymore. Nobody else will lose their home. That's what's important."[14]
In 15th september of 2004 a FBI agent shot an Nethercott group while trying to carry out an arrest warrant against one of his associates, ending one wounded. FBI officials said. The shooting happened around 11:15 p.m. Wednesday in the parking lot of a grocery store in Douglas.[15][16][17] Nethercott and Riddle were former members of Ranch Rescue, because recently they broke with his founder Jack Foote. Following the split they tried to recruit volunteers for a new militia called Arizona Guard.[18] After the arrest Nethercott and Riddle, both denies links with white nationalist in this militia.[19]
References
- "ARIZONA EXTREMISTS START ANTI-IMMIGRANT CITIZEN MILITIAS". Southern Poverty Law Center. Retrieved 2020-02-05.
- Hendricks, Tyche (2004-05-31). "DANGEROUS BORDER / Militias round up illegal immigrants in desert / Migrant advocates say deceptive patrols increase peril, seldom face legal scrutiny". San Francisco Chronicle. Archived from the original on 2014-06-25. Retrieved 2012-08-23.
- "ARIZONA EXTREMISTS START ANTI-IMMIGRANT CITIZEN MILITIAS". Tucson.com. Retrieved 2020-02-05.
- Korosec, Thomas (2003-09-11). "Soldiers of Misfortune". Dallas Observer. Retrieved 2012-08-23.
- {{citeweb|url=http://archive.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2005/08/20/arizona_ranch_turned_over_to_immigrants/%7Ctitle=Arizona ranch turned over to immigrants|work=Boston Globe Archive|accessdate=2020-02-05}
- "Leiva v. Ranch Rescue". Southern Poverty Law Center. Archived from the original on 2012-08-20. Retrieved 2012-08-23.
- "Vigilante assault case ends in mistrial". My Plainview. Retrieved 2020-02-05.
- Lacey, Mark (May 27, 2011). "Arizona Man Looks to Law in Bid to Retrieve Ranch". New York Times. Archived from the original on 2011-06-02. Retrieved 21 August 2012.
- "Justicia inusual". Proceso. Retrieved 2020-02-05.
- "2 Illegal Immigrants WinArizona Ranch in Court". The New York Times. Retrieved 2020-02-05.
- "Two immigrants take formal possession of seized ranch". My Plain View. Retrieved 2020-02-05.
- Pollack, Andrew (2005-08-19). "2 Illegal Immigrants Win Arizona Ranch in Court". New York Times. Retrieved 2012-08-23.
- Lomonaco, Claudine (2006-08-30). "3 propositions would impact lives of illegal migrants here". Tucson Citizen. Retrieved 2012-08-23.
- Beard Rau, Alia (2011-05-31). "Judge rules against Arizona rancher in immigrant case". azcentral.com. Retrieved 2012-08-23.
- "FBI agent shoots man while serving warrant". My Plainview. Retrieved 2020-02-06.
- "Arizona Neo-Nazi Shot During Arrest Attempt". The Anti Defamation League. Retrieved 2020-02-06.
- "FBI shoots militia member". San Pedro Valley. Retrieved 2020-02-06.
- "DANGEROUS BORDER / Militias round up illegal immigrants in desert / Migrant advocates say deceptive patrols increase peril, seldom face legal scrutiny". SF Gate. Retrieved 2020-02-06.
- "Militia Group Near Douglas Denies White Supremacist Ties". Kold News.13. Retrieved 2020-02-06.