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<font size=3>Illegal immigrants awarded ranch in border-justice
twist<br>
By
<a href="http://narcosphere.narconews.com/story/2005/8/21/22020//user/uid:70">
Bill Conroy</a>, <br>
<a href="http://narcosphere.narconews.com/story/2005/8/21/22020/4276" eudora="autourl">
http://narcosphere.narconews.com/story/2005/8/21/22020/4276<br><br>
</a>Posted on Sun Aug 21st, 2005 at 10:00:20 PM EST<br>
Back in the spring of 2003, an Arizona ranch owner stood guard along the
U.S./Mexican border in South Texas. <br><br>
He was there to protect his land from the onslaught of illegal immigrants
who might cross the border to work on ranches like his, or maybe in the
exoburb homes of wealthy people further north. <br><br>
The rancher was standing his ground with like-minded zealots
participating in the xenophobic militia-like group called Ranch Rescue.
If the wrong person "invaded" America, he and his cadre of
armed "patriots" were prepared to take the law into their own
hands. <br><br>
And it seems the rancher from Arizona got his man – and then reportedly
bashed him with his gun. <br><br>
The
<a href="http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/nation/3318259">
Associated Press</a> reports: <br><br>
</font>
<dl>
<dd>In March 2003, (Casey) Nethercott was accused of pistol-whipping an
illegal immigrant as he and other people from Ranch Rescue patrolled a
ranch in Hebbronville, Texas. A jury deadlocked on the charge. <br><br>
<dd>Edwin Alfredo Mancía Gonzáles, the man who accused Nethercott of
hitting him, and another immigrant traveling with him from El Salvador,
Fátima del Socorro Leiva Medina, filed a civil lawsuit last year saying
they were harmed while being held.<br><br>
</i>
</dl>Ranch Rescue and like-minded vigilante groups, such as the Minuteman
Civil Defense Corp., have garnered a lot of mainstream press for displays
of gun-toting machismo along the U.S./Mexican border. <br><br>
Rarely, though, do those reports discuss the history of violence that has
accompanied such forms of
<a href="http://www.legendsofamerica.com/LA-Lynching6.html">mob
“justice”</a> in Texas: <br><br>
<dl>
<dd>In the American Southwest, people of Mexican descent were also prey
to mob violence, as evidenced by the lynching of Antonio Rodriquez on
November 3, 1910, in Rock Springs, Texas. Allegedly, Rodriquez had
killed a white woman by the name of Mrs. Clem Hernderson after the two
had had an argument. <br><br>
<dd>Rumors circulated that he had committed the murder in front of Mrs.
Henderson's five year old daughter. <br><br>
<dd>His guilt was based solely upon her husband's third-hand description
of the suspect delivered over the telephone and most likely Rodriquez was
the victim of a tragic case of mistaken identity. In any event, the
young cowboy was captured, taken a mile outside of town, tied to a
mesquite cactus, doused in kerosene, and burned alive. <br><br>
<dd>Widely publicized in the Mexican press, the lynching in Texas led to
large anti-American demonstrations in both Mexico City and
Guadalajara. <br><br>
<dd>Coverage of the lynching and the reaction to it was wildly
sensationalized. The newspapers at the capitol of Mexico demanded
'Where is the boasted Yankee civilization?'" <br><br>
<dd>In Texas, the publicity of the lynching provoked even more attacks on
Mexicans. Because Mexicans "displayed an impudent attitude"
they were attacked in Galveston. In construction camps and ranches in
Webb, Duval, LaSalle, Dimmit and Starr Counties, Anglos attacked Mexicans
who were reportedly "sullen and threatening since the burning of
Rodriquez at Rock Springs."<br><br>
</i>
</dl>Still, seemingly ignorant of this history of injustice, or maybe
even recklessly unconcerned with whether it is repeated, these borderline
fascist groups continue to broadcast their skewed, inflammatory rhetoric,
which is usually reported uncritically and without historical context by
the media. <br><br>
More from the AP story: <br><br>
<dl>
<dd>"If the federal government was doing its job, ranchers would not
be living in fear," said Chris Simcox, president of the Minuteman
Civil Defense Corp., which watches for illegal immigrant crossings and
reports them to the U.S. Border Patrol.<br><br>
</i>
</dl>Now, does that mean the illegal immigrants are reported before or
after a good pistol whipping? <br><br>
At least in the Ranch Rescue case, it appears that the pistol-whipping
was part of a pre-reporting border-protection protocol. <br><br>
AP reports: <br><br>
<dl>
<dd>Named in the (civil) suit were Nethercott; Jack Foote, the founder of
Ranch Rescue; and the owners of the Hebbronville ranch, Joe and Betty
Sutton. <br><br>
<dd>The Suttons settled for $100,000… . In April, a Texas judge issued
default judgments of $850,000 against Nethercott and $500,000 against
Foote.<br><br>
</i>
</dl>But it seems Nethercott was not exactly flush with case. So his
little display of border-patrol machismo cost him the ranch. <br><br>
In order to satisfy the judgment against him, according to AP, Nethercott
was forced to turn over his ranch in Douglas, Az., to the two border
crossers he allegedly “terrorized.” Ironically, AP reports, the Douglas
ranch once served as the headquarters of Ranch Rescue – ouch! <br><br>
Again, from the AP story: <br><br>
<dl>
<dd>The land transfer is being done to satisfy a judgment against the
ranch's owner, Casey Nethercott, member of a border-watch group that
seeks to protect private property from illegal immigrants entering the
southern U.S. border. Nethercott had been accused of terrorizing the
immigrants when they were caught in Texas. <br><br>
<dd>... Nethercott (had) transferred ownership of his Douglas ranch to
his sister. But the sister gave up ownership to settle the
judgment.<br><br>
</i>
</dl>Border-watch groups were “outraged,” AP reports. But not everyone
sees it that way. <br><br>
“Morris Dees, co-founder and chief trial counsel of the Southern Poverty
Law Center, which represented the immigrants, said he hoped the ruling
would serve as a cautionary tale to land owners or civilian patrols
considering hostile measures against border crossers,” the AP story
reports. <br><br>
But regardless of how the media paints it, the bottom line is that the
price for the ranch in this case was paid in blood. It’s just another
reminder that if Texas history could be poured into the Rio Grande, the
river would run red across the border. <br><br>
In that context, it's clear that human rights have to trump property
rights, if we are to have any hope of changing the course of that
history.<br><br>
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