Illegal aliens and their supporters surrounded the 4th street jail in Phoenix today as they showed their disdain for law enforcement and the rule of law. Sheriff Joe Arpaio said earlier in a press conference that he had taken into custody 20 individuals for not obeying police directives.
With shouts of all kinds of hate they seemed to threaten to storm the jail. I'm not really sure why they are protesting a jail, they seem to be protesting Arpaio himself, but what they plan to accomplish by delivering themselves into the hands of law enforcement is beyond me.
Arpaio said in the press release that those who have broken the law outside the jail have helped police, "save on gas".
Update (3:55PM)
Just a word to remind everyone that these are not all illegal aliens and supporters from the Phoenix area. Many of these people were bussed in from out of town. Many from LA as I reported yesterday. Does this make them more likely to be violent since it is not their city they would destroy? Who knows?
Update 2 (5:25PM)
Some video coming in of the illegals today in Phoenix and a quick interview with Sheriff Arpaio. The reporter on the ground, Jodi Heisner of ABC 15, is quoted as saying "what were expected to be peaceful protests today, are definitely turning in another direction". Arpaio says "I'm not gonna let them hold my jail hostage".
I was absolutely flabbergasted and still sit here stunned as I read the latest news. It is if aliens have come down and somehow switched Lindsey Graham's brain with that of Tom Tancredo and the vast majority of the American People. On Greta Van Susteren, Lindsey Graham announced that he has "got to" introduce a constitutional amendment to end "birthright citizenship" and the continued practice of "anchor babies". This is an issue that most politicians have avoided like the plague. I have actually asked some in interviews and they have at that point ended the interview or ignored the question. For Graham to come out on this... well read and watch for yourself.
“They come here to drop a child. It's called 'drop and leave.' To have a child in America, they cross the border, they go to the emergency room, have a child, and that child's automatically an American citizen. That shouldn't be the case. That attracts people here for all the wrong reasons,” Graham said.
This is the same Lindsey Graham that has called for amnesty for illegal aliens and stood beside John McCain as he introduced legislation with Ted Kennedy to "legalize" illegal aliens by the millions.
This is simply unbelievable and there has to be a trick to it. I simply cannot believe that Graham has come to his senses after all of these years. What is the trick?
Graham went on to state something that may come out of the mouth of another immigration enforcement politician Steve King.
“I'm a practical guy, but when you go forward, I don't want 20 million more 20 years from now,” Graham said. “I want to be fair. I want to be humane. We need immigration policy, but it should be on our terms, not someone else's. I don't know how to fix it all. But I do know what makes people mad, that 12 million people came here, and there seems to be no system to deal with stopping 20 million 20 years from now.”
“I may introduce a constitutional amendment that changes the rules if you have a child here,” Graham said. “Birthright citizenship I think is a mistake ... We should change our Constitution and say if you come here illegally and you have a child, that child's automatically not a citizen.”
This is your WTF moment of the day (maybe even the week or month).
“This fight is far from over. In fact, it is just the beginning, and at the end of what is certain to be a long legal struggle, Arizona will prevail in its right to protect our citizens. I am deeply grateful for the overwhelmingly support we have received from across our nation in our efforts to defend against the failures of the federal government.
“I have consulted with my legal counsel about our next steps. We will take a close look at every single element Judge Bolton removed from the law, and we will soon file an expedited appeal at the United States Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit.
“For anyone willing to see it -- the crisis is as clear as is the federal government’s failure to address it.
“The judge herself noted that the stash houses where smugglers hide immigrants from Mexico before bringing them into the country's interior have become a fixture on the news in Arizona and that, ‘You can barely go a day without a location being found in Phoenix where there are numerous people being harbored.’”
“When I signed the bill on April 23rd, I said, SB 1070 – represents another tool for our state to use as we work to address a crisis we did not create and the federal government has actively refused to fix. The law protects all of us, every Arizona citizen and everyone here in our state lawfully. And, it does so while ensuring that the constitutional rights of ALL in Arizona are undiminished – holding fast to the diversity that has made Arizona so great.
“I will battle all the way to the Supreme Court, if necessary, for the right to protect the citizens of Arizona. Meanwhile, I also know we still have work to do in confronting the fear-mongers, those dealing in hate and lies and economic boycotts that seek to do Arizona harm.
“We have already made some progress in waking up Washington. But the question still remains: will Washington do its job, and put an end to the daily operations of smugglers in our nation, or will the delays and sidesteps continue? I believe that the defenders of the rule of law will ultimately succeed with us in our demand for action.”
Is SB1070 dead? As we hear now that a preliminary injunction has been put down by Judge Bolton against Arizona's new law, illegal aliens outside the state's Capitol building were weeping with joy. No doubt they feel that they will be allowed to remain in the state unchallenged as they continue to leech off of the state and federal taxpayers. Don't get too sullen though my fellow patriot's because the injunction is only against parts of the law and it is only preliminary until they go to trial. SB1070 is not dead and we do have some victory here as sweetness on our tongues.
According to what I can determine right now having looked around and in reference to things of note at the Arizona Republic, there are several things that Bolton has put an injunction on. As this has just happened recently it is hard to go into too much on what this means "on the street" with law enforcment.
Probably the biggest part of the injunction is the part that puts on hold making it a state crime to be in the country illegally. This portion of the law states it is a crime for an immigrant to not have applied for, or be carrying, "alien-registration papers" (i.e. "green card", visa). To the common man this sounds ignorant, "why wouldn't it be a crime? It's the law that they must apply to come here and carry documents.". Well it still be against the law, federally, but with this portion being temporarily struck down, they cannot be held on the state charge. They can still be turned over to ICE on the federal charge.
It declares that officers can not be required to check immigration status if they suspect someone stopped is an illegal alien, but it does not prevent them from doing so.
It also strikes down the portion making it a crime to solicit, apply or perform work as an illegal alien. I am reading that this does not include the portion related to day laborers, so I'm not sure how that plays out on the ground.
Things that the injunction did not strike include - the requirement that law enforcement must enforce federal immigration laws; And individuals can sue "Sanctuary Cities".
Accordingly, Sanctuary Cities are dead in the state of Arizona
I hope patriots are warming up their attorneys to go after places in the state that refuse to comply. I can think of one place they can start, in Phoenix Proper where Mayor Phil Gordon has smugly thumbed his nose at law enforcement.
Also Bolton did not halt the state from making it a misdemeanor for harboring and transporting illegal aliens. So churches who have been facilitating the exploitation of illegal aliens, for their own donations and greed, you have been put on notice you scoundrels!
Sheriff Joe Arpaio had this response to the Republic
Arpaio said he was not surprised by Bolton's ruling, but it will have little impact on his planned "crime-suppression" operation scheduled for Thursday.
"That's not going to affect our human-smuggling or employer-sanction investigations, that wasn't addressed in that law," he said.
Arpaio said the only thing Bolton's ruling changed is the ability for Arizona law enforcement to use a state charge - willful failure to carry documents - to book someone into jail. Now, Arpaio said, the agencies can continue to contact Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials to determine if federal agents will take custody of the suspect.
Everyone booked into Maricopa County Jail will continue to have their immigration status screened by federally trained sheriff's deputies through an agreement with ICE. " We're going to determine on our 287(g) (agreement), whether they're illegal anyway," he said.
While this injunction seems to have taken some of the teeth out of the law, there is still the lawsuit itself to be resolved. Meanwhile, illegal aliens and their supporters feel that they have won a victory, but nothing could be further from the truth. If they thought they were unwanted in that state before, this little "cheering moment" for them will be their last little taste of joy.
Law-abiding people are mad and angry... and no injunction can be put on that.
Update: 4:48PM
There is some excellent discussions in the comments section of Legal Insurrection. In particular is the reading of Bolton's ruling which states that running suspected illegal aliens through the system would be too costly to do. As commenters point out, that is not what the basis of law should be determined on. In essence what it comes down to is basically stating that if funding is inadequate for any law that that law - or portion of the law - should be ignored. That is not the job of a judge to determine, that is not within the judicial branch. They are simply to rule on whether a law is legally within its rights.
In this case it seems that Bolton has decided to pull out ridiculous reasoning to make her decision and not fulfilled her job as a judge. In essence she is legislating from the bench.
Of particular note is commenter "Prode" who brings up this valid point:
The judge has a problem with the following sentence:
“Any person who is arrested shall have the person’s immigration status determined before the person is released.”
If that is inappropriate, wouldn't it also be inappropriate to require the police to check whether there are any outstanding federal arrest warrants before releasing an arrestee?
If an influx of immigration checks is an undue burden due to a lack of resources, what other crime or violation reporting should be halted due to a lack of resources by the federal government? I heard the SEC is understaffed. Should we not report a Ponzi scheme if we see one?
The judge insists that the above sentence be interpreted separately from the first sentence of the statutory provision, but then proceeds to strike the entire provision. Shouldn't she have stricken just that sentence, if indeed it stands alone? Personally, I think her parsing of the statute is a little too clever by half.
There are excellent responses so be sure to head over there and read them.
This was tipped to me by BloodSpite who has his own analysis of the results of this judge's ruling at Registered Evil.
The union leadership in California are ramping up their support of illegal aliens in the United States by sending busloads of "astroturf" to Phoenix, Arizona. They plan to stand with illegal aliens against Arizona's implementation of SB1070 which begins Thursday July 29, 2010. And yes, the unions involved include the SEIU.
While Americans have held rallies in Arizona - at their own travel and organizing expenses (this is known as grassroots), the union leadership is spending member's dues to bus all of these people in (which is known as "astroturf"). The sad thing is that many union members will eventually lose their jobs to these same illegal aliens if the union leadership has its way. Union leaders hope to have an amnesty passed so that they can force these illegal aliens to pay union dues.
In the end of course the union leaders will make out, damn the American union worker!
Michelle Malkin is reporting that some union members are pissed at how their union dues are being used. One received an email from leadership describing how he could get a free bus ride to Phoenix.
More than 550 people plan to ride on 11 buses to Arizona to stage a protest and launch a partnership with Arizona groups to boost voter registration. During the one-day trip, sponsored by the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, participants will meet with Phoenix Police Chief Jack Harris, march to the state Capitol and hold a vigil. The participants represent 32 unions.
Yes, astroturf. However, leave it to the Los Angeles Times to do the work of the pro-illegal alien groups in this country by finding one older black gentleman to try and tie this to the civil right's movement. Obviously this man is believing what he is told and being tricked, because SB1070 does not say "you are guilty because of how you look".
Rob Robbins, 71, a home care worker in Long Beach, said he grew up black in segregated Alabama in the 1940s and '50s and sees parallels between the racism of that time and now.
"Anytime I see signs of that coming alive in our country, it rises my indignation," he said. "SB 1070 basically says you are guilty because of how you look. That, to me, is not American."
I'd like to ask Robbins to point out where it says that in the law.
There is an excellent article on the dangers and illegality of "Sanctuary Cities" over at Human Events. I think it is well past time that these cities be sued into enforcing the law. They force the taxpayer, many of them in the rural and suburb parts of states, to foot the bill for the large illegal alien populations within the cities within those states. That is through state taxes. The most immoral part is that the rest of the money comes from federal taxes which are funneled to those cities that are mostly outside of the states the taxpayer lives in.
If you live in Kansas, your federal dollars are going to educate illegal alien children in California and emergency health care in Texas for instance. What good is that doing for you? Your taxes should be benefiting you in some way and they most certainly are not when they are used in that fashion.
While the Department of Justice ignores these cities that are flagrantly violating federal law, they have mounted their attack on Arizona, whose law does not supersede federal law in any way. Obama called Arizona's law creating a "patchwork", but the reality is that our current enforcement in this country is a "patchwork" of enforcement. Sometimes the law is enforced and sometimes it is not. It really is quite a disgrace.
Kris Kobach, constitutional lawyer and principal author of Arizona's SB1070, explains exactly where and what it states in federal law that "Sanctuary Cities" are illegal.
Sanctuary cities are against the law. In fact they violate two federal statutes.
"The case against sanctuary cities is very straightforward," Kris Kobach, principal author of the Arizona SB 1070 enforcement law told HUMAN EVENTS in an exclusive interview. "There are two laws that Congress passed in 1996 that expressly forbid sanctuary cities and they are found at Title 8 Section 1373 and Title 8 Section 1644 of the U.S. Code. Those statutes say in plain English that a city may not have a policy that prohibits its officers from communicating with the federal government about a person’s immigration status."
Where are all the enterprising young lawyers that want to make a name for themselves by suing these cities? I'm sure you could get a good backing of the American people to step forward and cover your costs. For after all, in the end it would be saving them money.
Americans for Legal Immigration PAC (ALIPAC) sent out a notice yesterday to all of its members via email and Facebook that the Laredo Los Zetas Ranch Seizure story was possibly bogus and that they will no longer be using Digger's Realm stories on ALIPAC. I lost no sleep over this announcement because all that ALIPAC has been doing for years, and as they continue to do today, is steal entire articles from news sources and post them to their website with no link back to the original source - and no permission from the authors. This is better known as copyright infringement and I have put up with it for years in order to get the news out to the people regarding illegal immigration.
The fact is Gheen knows me and wasn't willing to outright call the Zetas story a lie because he knows I research and report what I find to be true. He didn't want to set himself up for the fall when the truth comes out.
Today, we are issuing an advisory that the story being circulated on many blogs titled "Mexican Cartels Invade Texas" or "LOS ZETAS TAKES OVER TEXAS RANCHES" that was written by blogger Dan Amato aka Digger is unconfirmed. In fact, it is starting to look like it is completely false.
While we will hold the door open for the possibility there's some fire with this smoke...
In the past, materials from Dan Amato were welcome at ALIPAC, but his materials are no longer allowed in our archives after we observed Digger writing and attempting to publicize false information on multiple occasions.
I would like to know what the other times were that he claims are "false information" other than the Zetas story.
It is quite clear who the target of his spewing of garbage was aimed at and it wasn't the Los Zetas story. ALIPAC was targeting me, as the name "Dan Amato" and "Digger" were mentioned 9 times and my website "Digger's Realm" multiple times out of the whole 481 word "notice".
Furthermore, no new materials by Dan Amato or Digger's Realm are allowed in ALIPAC's archives because those materials do not meet our quality standards...
William Gheen, ALIPAC President, has been chomping at the bit for the most opportune moment to strike at me ever since I released an expose on his greedy attempts to sabotage all of the support rallies in Arizona on May 29, June 5, and June 12 by labeling them, their organizers and Tom Tancredo as racists and working with Neo-Nazi's. The real story was that ALIPAC would not be allowed to jump in and steal the top sponsorship billing - and then use it to raise funds - when they have no previous track record or practical ability to organize and hold successful rallies.
Self-Inflicted Fund Raising Trouble
ALIPAC is having trouble raising funds after burning so many bridges with leaders throughout the movement and members who have realized the truth and fled from the organization in droves.
So after releasing their notice yesterday, I was actually kind of shocked that ALIPAC would send out a blast today saying they were going into "emergency mode". They call for volunteers to travel to their "headquarters" to man phones and call donors.
On top of that they use the Los Zetas story as a scare tactic to get people to donate.
This is truly quite disgusting.
We are possibly going to enter an emergency mode here at ALIPAC for several reasons.
...
We are also concerned that special circumstances could arise from either the explosive violence that is starting to spill over our border with Mexico or a possible violent reaction from some illegals in response to the SB 1070 implementation.
It is quite clear the mission of ALIPAC. They want the front and center spotlight at all costs. If they don't get their way they will yell at you on the phone until you comply. If you don't comply to their demands, they will try to discredit you or try to destroy you by spreading false and vicious rumors as they did with Dan Smeriglio of Voice of the People USA in the expose I mentioned above. They attempted to tie him to neo-Nazis, whom he had no connection with, based off of information provided by the SPLC and pro-illegal alien groups who have been working against Voice of the People USA in Pennsylvania.
"The allegations against one of the rally’s organizers, Daniel Smeriglio, have been examined and are not only without merit, they are the worst kind of character assassination that no decent person in politics, left, right or center, should condone.
“One can only speculate about the motives behind this transparent smear campaign..."
I know the motives and now you do as well, no speculation is needed anymore. Please spread the word to others so that they don't get suckered in.
In this specific case ALIPAC - and in particular Mr. William Gheen - have tried to discredit me. Then they have turned around and used my story that they say is false to try and scare people into volunteering for them and donating money.
This is a disgusting tactic and I hope more people wake up to this before they are taken for a ride, all for the greed of one man. Sometimes you must call a greedy pig a greedy pig, and in this case the call has been made.
When the story was first posted it was not a fully confirmed story as Kimberly Dvorak had only one source within law enforcement. The story remained posted that way for hours as I awaited confirmation. From 4AM until 1PM EST it received little attention as it was not 100% confirmed.
I then received word that Kimberly has a second source within law enforcement and it was 100% confirmed.She posted her story and I updated my story with the fact it was confirmed and spread it around at that point. I sent it out to others at around 1:45 PM On July 24.
At first it was picked up by several other blogs and started to spread quickly, making its rounds of Facebook and Twitter as well. During the spreading the story took on a life of its own. The story was exaggerated to the point where it seemed like thousands of Los Zetas had stormed across the border shooting everyone in their path and taking on law enforcement head-on.
This was simply not the case and not what was reported in the story. Here is what was known and reported in the story of which anyone can read clearly.
the highly trained killers formerly with the Gulf Cartel, have crossed into the United States and taken over at least two ranches in the Laredo, Texas area. I am receiving word that the owners of the ranches have evacuated without being harmed.
...
Whether it is lone members or squads is not certain.
...
Anonymous sources in law enforcement in the Laredo area tonight have passed on word that US law enforcement agencies are in the area and are weighing their options regarding the ranches.
There is no claim that there was any gunfire, any wounded, the size of the Zetas at the ranches, nor the size of law enforcement on the scene. That is because at the time it wasn't known. I reported what was passed on by the sources in law enforcement through Kimberly Dvorak.
There was no comment made that the standoff even was a continuing event at the time the story went wide at 1:45 PM. When it was reported at 4AM there was no knowledge whether it was an event that happened over an hour or whether it was still ongoing. It was said that law enforcement was in the area. I did make speculation that they may be waiting for federal assistance, but that was speculation on my part assuming that it was ongoing. It was not stated as fact. I responded to other claims that afternoon in the article "Why The Los Zetas Ranch Story Matters - Confirmation And Why A Media Blackout?".
The fact that the scenario is completely plausible is what made the story spread with others. That and my credibility.
Websites who had posted the story started demanding that the sources be produced and "outed" immediately - within hours of the story being spread. In an uncaring fashion as to the sources, their jobs or their livelihoods, they demanded if Kimberly didn't reveal them, they were going to retract their stories. Prior to the story going wide people had called law enforcement in the area and were receiving mixed messages from the area. Some claimed that they received affirmation of "something going on", but no specifics. Others claimed that they were told "we cannot confirm", but they did not receive a denial. After the story went wide some said they were receiving denials and disavowing of knowledge on any of it. Later in the day an FBI source said they don't reply to rumors, which to many seemed to be a little odd.
When Kimberly did not reveal her sources out of journalistic integrity - within hours - these same websites decided to go the slanderous route of not simply retracting the story, but of declaring it an outright lie and an outright hoax. I personally take offense to those claiming this was either.
For nearly 8 years I have been covering illegal immigration here at this website. I have always made sure to wait before publishing a story and making sure it is confirmed. That is why I waited all night and all day for other sources to confirm before I sent the story out in the first place. There are several things I would like to address that have floated around on this story.
First, anyone who claims that I intended this as some wide-scale hoax to fool the internet or scare people or militias into action, absolutely has no idea of who I am. A hoax is a planned event meant to fool others. There was no such planning in this to fool others, I reported the story. Those who would spread such vile rumors did not look beyond this story to see the past work I have done and their lack of intellectual curiosity and "reporting" of their own is severely flawed and questionable. You can look around on the net to see who those individuals are right now.
Second, anyone who claims that this was an outright lie is also asserting that I intentionally did not tell the truth. It does not take much effort to go read my initial report and to see that I in no way exaggerated the story. I reported what was available from information at the time.
Third, there are those who are claiming this is some sort of setup to take me down. That there was a conspiracy from either the Obama administration or those who are for open borders to plant the story and trick me into publishing a false story so that they could discredit me. I disregard this out of hand. For them to plan this and to know ahead of time that the sources would go to Kim and then myself and be spread so far and wide - and then to know that they would all turn on me within hours - is beyond consideration to anyone who actually stops to think for a minute. No one has that much control.
Fourth, some are claiming this is racist and that I reported this because I hate Hispanics. It has nothing to do with race. I didn't know what race the ranchers were, the law enforcement, nor the Los Zetas. It was a national security issue.
Fifth, "Come on, just admit it you were lied to. This is all a lie, just come clean. If it wasn't a lie you were mislead and you should just admit it. ADMIT IT NOW! I'M WARNING YOU!". The absolute vicious attacks on me - that seem to escalate as time goes on - and the constant badgering for me to come out against a story which is true and backed up by sources, just to apparently go along with the crowd, quite honestly disgusts me.
I STAND BY THE STORY
To those of you out there who have decided to turn on this story, the reporter, the sources and myself with vicious lies, rumor and innuendo I have no pity for you. Your attacks have gone beyond the pale and I'm sure your readers can see that for themselves.
It is one thing to question a story, to come to your own conclusions and to state them as such. It is quite another to try to add things to the story, or to what the initial reports were, in order to support your opinion - making up things about those who passed the story on to fulfill your own fantasies. The fairest of all who question seems to be Mondo at Death By 1000 Papercuts where he has filed several reports such as questioning the story with integrity not slander. He questions, but does not condemn.
I can see from the point of view of those looking in from the outside. I do not live in a bubble. The sources have not come forward as yet, that would leave the story up for doubt as to its truthfulness to those not in direct contact with the sources, those who have not looked at Dvorak's work and those who have not been following the violence along the border and its impact on the United States. A story refuting the story can report as such, but vicious attacks of hoax, liar and racist? You have no integrity at all.
Many of those reporting this have no contact with me, have never met me and do not follow immigration or homeland security except for sensational news they think they can use to gain readership.
To those who demand that the sources come forward just for their own wants and needs, have you no shame? These sources in law enforcement would put their jobs, livelihoods, futures and possibly even their lives at risk by coming forward. But in your eyes they must do so immediately simply because you want your fancies fulfilled. They also would sacrifice Kimberly Dvorak and her integrity on the pyre of their own self-interest.
I have more honor than that and am willing to stand here and take the heat and accusations and give them time to make their own decisions. For demands to be made that they make such a decision within hours is ludicrous. To those who claim as such, they should put themselves in their shoes for just a bit. The border is dangerous. Being in law enforcement on the border is dangerous. Politicians are dangerous when threatened that they have not been doing their jobs. All of these and more would be turned on these sources if they choose to come forward.
Those who know me, have met me and have worked with me and have followed my work for year are sticking beside me and I thank them for that. It is not easy to do so when such accusations are being hurled around.
As for myself and Kimberly - and to some extent Jeff Schwilk, we have born the brunt of the attacks and continue to do so. We have been vilified. The sad thing is that if and when the sources come forward, those that are showing hate would then turn to despising us. In having to report that the story was true after such vicious attacks, they would despise us because they will have to tell their readers that they were wrong. I was not looking for any kind of attention or having some sort of "win" in reporting this.
There is no win in the end except that the truth comes out. And I believe it will, with time.
I am receiving many messages of concern that they don't believe that the story of the Los Zetas seizing multiple ranches in Laredo, Texas is true. They keep questioning the confirmation. They question why there are no visuals or pictures. "Where is the video!" they scream. So I will address those issues in this post.
First, let me clarify that I was also skeptical of the story when I initially heard word. It is certainly not because there haven't been armed intrusions into the United States before from Mexico. There have been a ton in the last decade, but there have not been any where they would hold onto a position. They usually leave after a standoff or upon discovery.
The situation has become different in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico over the last few days. There have been gun-battles through the streets and fragmentation grenades used as the government of Mexico tries to run the Los Zetas out of their stronghold there. People died and were wounded. The city was on lockdown and the US government issued warnings to US citizens in the area to remain indoors. With our lack of border security and porous borders, it is not beneath my intellect to believe that the Los Zetas could be forced into a retreat into US territory and attempt to seize a hideout.
Not only that, but "first contact" with me of the initial story was from none other than Jeff Schwilk, founder of the San Diego Minutemen, who had a confirmed source in the area of Laredo. With this in mind I decided to go with the story, but to remain cautious. I clearly stated on the story that it was not 100% confirmed. It remained that way all night.
I put out my feelers throughout the night to try and collect information and other credible sources to confirm the occupation of ranches in Laredo. I did not receive actual confirmation until this morning when I got word that Kimberly Dvorak of the Examiner had made multiple confirmations within the Laredo Police Department. Up until this point the story had not spread wide. There was no reason for the Laredo Police Department to crack down hard and keep things truly blacked out as there was no heavy interest from media.
However, upon that second confirmation and her running her story "Los Zetas drug cartel seizes 2 U.S. ranches in Texas" the story to me at that point was 100% confirmed. I changed my story to reflect that and released it to the world - spreading it wide. It has since gone viral.
(Since then I have learned Kim has no less than three sources inside law enforcement. Kim was also involved in the Acorn investigation with Breitbart, so she's no whipper snapper.)
Since that time many journalists have tried to get information from law enforcement in the area. With the flood of calls to the Laredo Police Department, others are now starting to receive dodgy kind of answers to their questions. This leads me to believe that there may indeed by a bona-fide news blackout as they try to resolve the situation.
We do have people looking into it and digging further; other things behind the scenes are going on for additional confirmation other than the current sources.
The question remains, what is a news blackout and why would it occur?
A news blackout is basically an order from the top down to disavow any knowledge of a situation or story. Deflect, disavow and deny. There are many reasons for this. They range from the legitimate tactical reasoning to the downright nefarious "cover up" reasoning.
Tactical reasoning is an easy one. It is so they can perform their duties with minimal intrusion. That one is very simple to understand.
Let us analyze the nefarious reasons though just for the heck of it shall we?
1. This would make the Obama Administration look horrible. Their lack of security along the border is well known. A breech of national security this large would create a firestorm of anger at the administration. Their aims to pass an amnesty for illegal aliens would be shot to pieces and all of their arguments against building true security in the form of a fence would go down with it. This would have ramifications in the upcoming November elections for congress.
2. There is currently a gubernatorial race going on in Texas. The current sitting governor, Rick Perry, is looked at as being weak on immigration. He stood up for in-state tuition for illegal aliens and has done little to crack down - or push for a crackdown - on illegal immigration in his state. This would destroy his "tough guy" and "tough on crime image".
3. Local congressional races in Texas. As everyone knows all of the members of The House are up for election. Some of those are open borders supporters. This breach of security would show that their continued fight against closing down the border in any way is flawed logic (as if it took this story to actually show that - the same story could happen again tomorrow).
4. Local sheriffs and elected officials could be made to look bad. There could have been mistakes made during operations that they don't want revealed. Or they could have not been properly prepared for them and this intrusion showed their incompetence.
5. Businesses. It's no secret that some agriculture and other businesses use low-skilled illegal alien labor to operate. They do this to avoid taxes so that they can make a hefty profit and avoid all of the hassles of insurance and the like. Strong business interests and wealthy individuals with influence could bring their power to bear down and cover things up to keep their cheap labor flowing.
6. General corruption. Some people in our government are beholden to or on the take from the cartels, Los Zetas or the Mexican government itself. After all, we seem to hear stories daily of someone or another being busted for being on the take. Imagine how many actually are on the take and just haven't been discovered.
Those are most of the nefarious reasons that I can think off of the top of my head as to why it would be covered up or blacked out.
I don't truly believe any of them.
Let me make that entirely clear.
I don't truly believe any of them.
I believe there is a blackout because local law enforcement and the Border Patrol are waiting for backup and authorization from the Federal Government to make any moves. Something like this does have cross border and international impacts. Things like that generally are handled by the federal government, as that is the primary reason we have a federal government in the first place.
The situation is relatively young and if they have the Los Zetas contained in one spot, there really is no reason to go all cowboy and charge into an unknown situation.
This sums up the current state of the situation and the path of how the story broke. I have no other knowledge at this time that is not contained here. We will find out soon the extent of this situation as it develops further. As I stated in the article - and it still remains - we don't know if it's only several members or a squad.
The story is still developing and I'll report more as I find out.
The bloodbath continues along our southern border and now word is coming in that Los Zetas, the highly trained killers formerly with the Gulf Cartel, have crossed into the United States and taken over at least two ranches in the Laredo, Texas area. I am receiving word that the owners of the ranches have evacuated without being harmed. The source is law enforcement in the area.
(Update 2 story is now 100% confirmed by second source within the Laredo Police Department)
Founder of the San Diego Minutemen Jeff Schwilk tipped me off to this story and passes along the following information on the location. The ranches are said to be "near Mines Rd. and Minerales Annex Rd about 10 miles NW of I-35".
Update 1 (Statement from Mr. Schwilk)
I can personally vouch that this info came in late last night from a reliable police source inside the Laredo PD. There is currently a standoff between the unknown size Zeta forces and U.S. Border Patrol and local law enforcement on two ranches on our side of the Rio Grande. The source tells us he considers this an "act of war" and that the military is needed on the border now!
Whether it is lone members or squads is not certain.
Anonymous sources in law enforcement in the Laredo area tonight have passed on word that US law enforcement agencies are in the area and are weighing their options regarding the ranches. The media has been silent on this incident and some law enforcement in the area say that they are furious that the media is not reporting the whole story of the continued violence along the border. Their frustrations are understandable because keeping the truth suppressed continues to hamper law enforcement from receiving the true support they need along the border.
The ranch assaults come on the heels of attacks in Nuevo Laredo that shut the city down as a gun-battle raged in the streets. Los Zetas blocked off intersections with vehicles and used fragmentation grenades to attack Mexican law enforcement. In the end 12 were killed and 21 injured in the assaults. Citizens in the area were told to stay in their homes and bullets whizzed all around.
The U.S. Consulate in Nuevo Laredo had posted warnings on its website hours before the gunfire was reported by Texas citizens, “We have received credible reports of widespread violence occurring now between narcotics-trafficking organizations and the Mexican army in Nuevo Laredo.”
The U.S. Consulate went on to say, “The consulate confirmed that fragmentation grenades were used in the attacks and that suspected drug-gang members had blocked several roads, adding that it advised ‘all U.S. citizens in Nuevo Laredo to remain indoors until the security situation improves.’”
US Citizens in Laredo called 911 after hearing gunfire and explosions just across the border. Laredo police spokesman Joe Baeza deflected the concerns of citizens with what I see as utter contempt. He said there was no spillover violence onto the US side and "We were getting reports from people who live on the river's edge that they could hear gunfire and explosions from the Mexico side," Baeza said, "We didn't have any incidents on the American side. It's hard for people to understand who don't live here ... They're not Vikings, they're not going to invade us, it doesn't work that way."
This was said just a day before the reported breaking news on the ranches being taken above.
The Los Zetas are highly trained killers initially trained by United States Special Operations forces to combat the drug cartels within Mexico. As the drug war heated up the Zetas saw more money in working for the cartels and joined up with the Gulf Cartel.
In March, 2010 there was a fracture between the Los Zetas and the Gulf Cartel when a Zetas leader was said to have been assassinated by the Gulf Cartel. They demanded that the killer be turned over to them. When the Gulf Cartel refused the Zetas captured 16 Gulf Cartel members.
Since March Los Zetas abandoned their stronghold in Reynosa and moved to Nuevo Laredo, just across from the border with Laredo, Texas. There are estimated to be over 1,000 Zeta members there.
