Vigilante violence

Former Mexican President Vicente Fox was touring the United States, hawking his new book (in English) to the American public. In an AP interview he made reference to "The xenophobics, the racists, those who feel they are a superior race ... they are deciding the future of this nation," but he didn’t specify who they were.

So, later on O’Reilly asked him what he meant by that statement. Here’s how it went:
FOX: Minutemen, Minutemen…aggressive, violent, xenophobic...
O'REILLY: The Minutemen on the border?
FOX: Yes.
O'REILLY: I'm not aware of any violence they've done.
FOX: I mean, that's my claim...
O'REILLY: …I don't think the Minutemen are racist. I don't know of any violence. I don't think they're racist. I think what they're doing is protesting. They're protesting.
70 percent of Americans want the illegal immigration thing brought under control. The Minutemen go out there. And they are protesting. They say, we have to stop this. I don't see that as racist.
FOX: I see it as xenophobic. I see it violent. I see that — that fear is dominating the scene here in the United States. And that we must deal with that problem. Let's move now into drugs. (end of transcript quote)

Well, that led me to investigate the question, Are Minutemen violent? I can say that I paid $50 for a Minuteman card and they checked me out for any past criminal history or gun violations. I’d have to say it was a more complete background check than the one I went through to become a Boy Scout leader.

So, I searched for Minuteman violence and came up with two references. Here they are:
1) A USA masked vigilante with an assault rifle and military fatigues attacked a group of 18 Mexican immigrants on the border near Columbus, New Mexico yesterday. According to a report today by the Attorney General of Chihuahua, Patricia Gonzalez, one or more armed vigilantes, from the US side of the border, stopped a vehicle carrying 18 Mexican immigrants attempting to cross the border near the "Palomas, Chihuahua/Columbus, New Mexico" port of entry.

The vigilante in a ski mask forcefully stopped their car and ordered the immigrants out of the vehicle and then proceeded to shoot the driver point blank, killing Apolinar Ortega Sanchez. The murderer who spoke in "broken Spanish" then ran to a vehicle waiting for him and raced to the USA side of the border according to the survivors. Attorney General Patricia Gonzalez is investigating the possibility that the assault was part of the Minutemen operations that took place along the Mexico/Arizona border and that are now moving westward.
The attack by a gringo in military fatigues and with a military assault rifle brings memories of the attack on Mexican women and children by James Oliver Huberty on July 18, 1984 at a McDonald's Restaurant at the SanYsidro/Tijuana border. According to Huberty's wife, the mass anti-Mexican murderer said to her in the morning of the massacre, "Society's had their chance. I'm going hunting. Hunting humans." Huberty open fire on unsuspecting Mexican families killing 22, mostly women and children. The racist Huberty had blamed Mexican immigrants for his inability to get a job. In June, the Minutemen vigilantes are planning to commence anti-Mexican operations in the vicinity of the "McDonald's Massacre". If the anti-Mexican hate campaign by the English language media continues, we will certainly experienced worse hate crimes against our community. There are many mentally deficient gringos that believe everything they read, view or hear in the printed media, television and hate radio such as Disney owned KABC 790 AM in Los Angeles and they can be easily stirred into a "killing frenzy" by racist propaganda.
Source: La Voz de Aztlan, Sunday, Jun. 19, 2005

2) While none of the Minutemen themselves were charged with any crimes of violence, during the vigilante exercise an Army reservist, Sgt. Patrick Haab, illegally detained seven undocumented Mexican immigrants at gunpoint after confronting them at a rest stop in Arizona on April 10. While he was initially charged with assault with a deadly weapon, right-wing Arizona prosecutors declined to prosecute him. He has since become a fixture on the conservative talk radio circuit and has been celebrated by the Minutemen and other anti-immigrant groups.
Source: The World Socialist Website, May 20, 2005 wsws.org

La Voz de Aztlan is a strange website. It is a mix of anti-Semitism, conspiracy theories, archeology, and anti-Iraq War items. One thing is for sure; they are pro-Latino.
The World Socialist Website is just what it says.

So, I don’t see the violence, unless you count Rick Biesada, age 63, a Minuteman who was roughed up at a protest and knocked to the ground. Perhaps he will be charged with damaging public property for hitting his hard head on the sidewalk. One of the Latino protesters said, “I wished he fell to the ground harder.”

I was hoping to find something from a reliable news source, but couldn’t come up with anything.

Now, there is plenty of press about the Minutemen and organizational infighting, so I know the MSM wants to cover the group. Funny how there isn’t any documented violence from these redneck vigilantes.

And yet there is a general sentiment that being a Minuteman is a kiss of death politically. The problem with a Minuteman sitting on the Park Board in Kansas City (76 year old Frances Semler) has caused La Raza and NAACP to cancel their upcoming conventions unless the city boots her off the Park Board.

And Mayor Alan Mansoor in Costa Mesa California is in trouble because the Minutemen made him an honorary member for his efforts to crack down on illegal aliens in town.

I’ve heard all sorts of people say they support the cause but please don’t associate them with the Minutemen.

Personally, I think we are buying the hype the Latino activists are selling. The Minutemen are no more dangerous than a neighborhood watch group.

As a disclaimer, I do have a Minuteman membership card but I resigned from the group over a year ago because I refused to sign an agreement whereby they own my writings. I simply wouldn’t do that and they wouldn’t negotiate the point.

I support their message, their intent, and their methods.