Minutemen plan to patrol AZ border

[Liberty Belle]

'Minutemen' plan to patrol Arizona border
Volunteers want to stop illegal immigrants entering U.S.

Monday, February 21, 2005 Posted: 2:10 PM EST (1910 GMT)

U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Robert C. Bonner is keeping a close eye on Minutemen plans.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Intent on securing the vulnerable Arizona border from illegal immigrant crossings, U.S. officials are bracing for what they call a potential new threat this spring: the Minutemen.

Nearly 500 volunteers have already joined the Minuteman Project, anointing themselves civilian border patrol agents. They plan to patrol a 40-mile stretch of the southeast Arizona border throughout April when the tide of immigrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border peaks.

"I felt the only way to get something done was to do it yourself," said Jim Gilchrist, a retired accountant and decorated Vietnam War veteran who is helping recruit Minutemen across the country.

Full article:

http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/02/21/border.minutemen.ap/index.html

[Fridays Child]

1. Has any vigilante movement ever turned out well?

I can't thibk of a time in this country when vigilantism solved more problems than it caused.

[Liberty Belle]

2. Next I'm sure Bush will have the KKK joining the patrol,

along with the neo-Nazis. Oh, wait. They're already busy running the country.

[phantom power]

3. I agree, this will eventually get somebody killed.

I have to admit that the organizers of the "minutemen" appear to be committed to keeping everything non-violent. They have a no-tolerance policy for gun nuts or other wack jobs.

But sooner or later, somebody is going to slip thru the cracks. Or one of the coyotes (who are definitely *not* committed to non-violence) is going to open up on some minute-man who's at the wrong place at the wrong time.

It won't end well.

[colonel odis]

4. i keep thinking of the movie "1941" when i read about this. n/t