16 illegals sue Arizona rancher

**vector7** · February 10th, 2009, 16:51

The Washington Times
Monday, February 9, 2009
16 illegals sue Arizona rancher

Jerry Seper (Contact)

An Arizona man who has waged a 10-year campaign to stop a flood of illegal immigrants from crossing his property is being sued by 16 Mexican nationals who accuse him of conspiring to violate their civil rights when he stopped them at gunpoint on his ranch on the U.S.-Mexico border.

Roger Barnett, 64, began rounding up illegal immigrants in 1998 and turning them over to the U.S. Border Patrol, he said, after they destroyed his property, killed his calves and broke into his home.

His Cross Rail Ranch near Douglas, Ariz., is known by federal and county law enforcement authorities as "the avenue of choice" for immigrants seeking to enter the United States illegally.

Trial continues Monday in the federal lawsuit, which seeks $32 million in actual and punitive damages for civil rights violations, the infliction of emotional distress and other crimes. Also named are Mr. Barnett's wife, Barbara, his brother, Donald, and Larry Dever, sheriff in Cochise County, Ariz., where the Barnetts live. The civil trial is expected to continue until Friday.

The lawsuit is based on a March 7, 2004, incident in a dry wash on the 22,000-acre ranch, when he approached a group of illegal immigrants while carrying a gun and accompanied by a large dog.

Attorneys for the immigrants - five women and 11 men who were trying to cross illegally into the United States - have accused Mr. Barnett of holding the group captive at gunpoint, threatening to turn his dog loose on them and saying he would shoot anyone who tried to escape.

The immigrants are represented at trial by the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF), which also charged that Sheriff Dever did nothing to prevent Mr. Barnett from holding their clients at "gunpoint, yelling obscenities at them and kicking one of the women."

In the lawsuit, MALDEF said Mr. Barnett approached the group as the immigrants moved through his property, and that he was carrying a pistol and threatening them in English and Spanish. At one point, it said, Mr. Barnett's dog barked at several of the women and he yelled at them in Spanish, "My dog is hungry and he's hungry for buttocks."

The lawsuit said he then called his wife and two Border Patrol agents arrived at the site. It also said Mr. Barnett acknowledged that he had turned over 12,000 illegal immigrants to the Border Patrol since 1998.

In March, U.S. District Judge John Roll rejected a motion by Mr. Barnett to have the charges dropped, ruling there was sufficient evidence to allow the matter to be presented to a jury. Mr. Barnett's attorney, David Hardy, had argued that illegal immigrants did not have the same rights as U.S. citizens.

Mr. Barnett told The Washington Times in a 2002 interview that he began rounding up illegal immigrants after they started to vandalize his property, northeast of Douglas along Arizona Highway 80. He said the immigrants tore up water pumps, killed calves, destroyed fences and gates, stole trucks and broke into his home.

Some of his cattle died from ingesting the plastic bottles left behind by the immigrants, he said, adding that he installed a faucet on an 8,000-gallon water tank so the immigrants would stop damaging the tank to get water.

Mr. Barnett said some of the ranch´s established immigrant trails were littered with trash 10 inches deep, including human waste, used toilet paper, soiled diapers, cigarette packs, clothes, backpacks, empty 1-gallon water bottles, chewing-gum wrappers and aluminum foil - which supposedly is used to pack the drugs the immigrant smugglers give their "clients" to keep them running.

He said he carried a pistol during his searches for the immigrants and had a rifle in his truck "for protection" against immigrant and drug smugglers, who often are armed.

A former Cochise County sheriff´s deputy who later was successful in the towing and propane business, Mr. Barnett spent $30,000 on electronic sensors, which he has hidden along established trails on his ranch. He searches the ranch for illegal immigrants in a pickup truck, dressed in a green shirt and camouflage hat, with his handgun and rifle, high-powered binoculars and a walkie-talkie.

His sprawling ranch became an illegal-immigration highway when the Border Patrol diverted its attention to several border towns in an effort to take control of the established ports of entry. That effort moved the illegal immigrants to the remote areas of the border, including the Cross Rail Ranch.

"This is my land. I´m the victim here," Mr. Barnett said. "When someone´s home and loved ones are in jeopardy and the government seemingly can´t do anything about it, I feel justified in taking matters into my own hands. And I always watch my back."

**vector7** · February 10th, 2009, 16:52

16 illegal immigrants sue border hero for $32 million

February 9, 1:40 PM
by Scott Martin, Phoenix Conservative Examiner

Illegal immigrants pick up trash. (AP Photo:Ross D. Franklin)

This would almost be comedic in its audacity if it weren't so contrary to all that America stands for. 16 felonious, lawbreaking, illegal immigrants are suing an Arizona rancher who has captured 12,000 trespassing illegal immigrants on his property over the last decade. The illegals seek $32 million for "conspiring to violate their civil rights when he stopped them at gunpoint on his ranch on the U.S.-Mexico border."

Roger Barnett, 64, began rounding up illegal immigrants in 1998 and turning them over to the U.S. Border Patrol, he said, after they destroyed his property, killed his calves and broke into his home. His Cross Rail Ranch near Douglas, Ariz., is known by federal and county law enforcement authorities as "the avenue of choice" for immigrants seeking to enter the United States illegally.

Trial continues Monday in the federal lawsuit, which seeks $32 million in actual and punitive damages for civil rights violations, the infliction of emotional distress and other crimes...

The lawsuit is based on a March 7, 2004, incident in a dry wash on the 22,000-acre ranch, when he approached a group of illegal immigrants while carrying a gun and accompanied by a large dog.

Attorneys for the immigrants - five women and 11 men who were trying to cross illegally into the United States - have accused Mr. Barnett of holding the group captive at gunpoint, threatening to turn his dog loose on them and saying he would shoot anyone who tried to escape.

This is ridiculous. Here we have a man who has been forced to do the government's job of protecting our borders, and more importantly to him, his property from the damaged caused by illegal immigrants. And they have the nerve to sue him? And our court system allows this disgraceful miscarriage of justice? Barnett should bill the federal government the amount for his past services. This guy is a true American hero.

A former Cochise County sheriff´s deputy who later was successful in the towing and propane business, Mr. Barnett spent $30,000 on electronic sensors, which he has hidden along established trails on his ranch. He searches the ranch for illegal immigrants in a pickup truck, dressed in a green shirt and camouflage hat, with his handgun and rifle, high-powered binoculars and a walkie-talkie. His sprawling ranch became an illegal-immigration highway when the Border Patrol diverted its attention to several border towns in an effort to take control of the established ports of entry.

That effort moved the illegal immigrants to the remote areas of the border, including the Cross Rail Ranch.

"This is my land. I´m the victim here," Mr. Barnett said. "When someone´s home and loved ones are in jeopardy and the government seemingly can´t do anything about it, I feel justified in taking matters into my own hands. And I always watch my back."

The government admits that Barnett's ranch is a known crossing-point for illegals. And yet instead of protecting his property from alien invasion, they do nothing. He needs to spend his time and his money protecting his property, and then the same government allows the very people who victimize him daily to sue him for emotional damages. What a country this is turning into.

**Toad** · February 10th, 2009, 19:25

F^%$ing stupid. He was making a citizen's arrest in my book. Give the man a medal.

**vector7** · March 30th, 2010, 14:01

Updated March 29, 2010
Arizona Rancher's Killing Sparks Calls to Beef Up Border Security

FOXNews.com

Three members of New Mexico's congressional delegation have asked for an increase in the Border Patrol's presence, and former Colorado Rep. Tom Tancredo called on Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano to dispatch the National Guard to the Arizona border

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano is under pressure to beef up border security in the Southwest in the wake of Saturday's killing of a rancher in southeastern Arizona.

Three members of New Mexico's congressional delegation have asked for an increase in the Border Patrol's presence in the Boot Heel of New Mexico, about 10 miles from where the rancher was shot to death over the weekend. U.S. Sens. Jeff Bingaman and Tom Udall, along with Rep. Harry Teague, say Napolitano's agency needs to take more security steps.

And former Colorado Rep. Tom Tancredo, an outspoken opponent of illegal immigration, called on Napolitano to "reject politics and do the right thing" by dispatching the National Guard to the Arizona border.

Cochise County Sheriff's Office deputies and detectives responded to an area northeast of Douglas on Saturday after searchers found the body of 58-year-old Robert Krentz inside his all terrain vehicle on his property.

Detectives were able to determine that Krentz apparently came upon one person when he was fatally shot and his dog was wounded.

Cochise County investigators said Monday that Krentz likely was killed by an illegal immigrant, but there's no evidence to suggest there was any confrontation that led to the shooting.

Bingaman, Udall and Teague urged a forward operating station for the Border Patrol in the region. Such outposts put agents closer to the international border. Teague -- whose district includes the border area -- says a station in the Antelope Wells area would better protect people and property.

Tancredo, who attended a Tea Party event over the weekend in Arizona, blasted Napolitano for not doing more to secure the border.

“As governor of Arizona, Napolitano deployed the National Guard to help the Border Patrol do its job… Three days ago, Napolitano told an audience at Arizona State University that the border is more secure than ever," Tancredo said Sunday through his Rocky Mountain Foundation. "I challenge her -- no, I dare her -- to come to this community and try to sell that lie.”

U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., whose Congressional district covers the area, described the rancher as a pillar of the community who was recently inducted into the Arizona Farming and Ranching Hall of Fame.

"The cold-blooded killing of an Arizona rancher is a sad and sobering reminder of the threats to public safety that exist in our border communities," Giffords said. "It has not yet been determined who committed this atrocity or why, but I know that federal and local authorities are mobilizing every possible resource to locate and apprehend the assailant."

Giffords said if Krentz's killing is connected to drug cartels or smugglers, the federal government must respond appropriately.

"All options should be on the table, including sending more Border Patrol agents to the area and deploying the National Guard," Giffords said.
Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard said government has a clear responsibility to aid law enforcement resources at all levels along the border.

"I call on our federal and state governments to work together to bolster the law enforcement resources needed to better protect Arizonans living on the border," Goddard said.

U.S. Border Patrol spokesman Omar Candelaria told the The Arizona Daily Star that if Krentz's killing was tied to such border crime, it would be a first for the area, to his recollection.

At a news conference Monday, Cochise County Sheriff Larry Dever said Krentz was out checking water line and fencing on the land Krentz's family has ranched since 1907. Dever says Krentz had weapons with him in his all-terrain vehicle but didn't use them.

Investigators say Krentz apparently came upon one person when he was shot. While Krentz was still in his vehicle, mortally wounded, he managed to drive the ATV away from the scene at a high rate of speed before becoming unconscious.

Sheriff's deputies, U.S. Border Patrol trackers and Department of Corrections dog chase teams followed footsteps approximately 20 miles south to the Mexican border. No suspects have been apprehended.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

**Ryan Ruck** · February 9th, 2011, 18:38

FNC covering this now with some blithering liberal idiot beaming about how wonderful this was.

AZ Rancher Ordered to Pay Damages to Illegals he Found on his Property

February 4, 2011

The U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court verdict ordering Arizona rancher Roger Barnett to pay damages of $87,000 for holding a group of undocumented immigrants at gunpoint.

The incident occurred in March 2004 when the gun-toting Barnett detained a group of 16 unauthorized immigrants -- none of them carrying weapons -- on public land near the border town of Douglas, Arizona.

He held the group captive with threats that his dog would attack them if anyone moved or tried to escape. Barnett also kicked an woman while she was on the ground.

A federal court jury in Arizona ruled in 2009 that Barnett had no cause to plead self-defense, since he admitted that no one had attacked or threatened him, the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund noted.

Barnett appealed to the Nirth Circuit, which upheld the original verdict.

"We're very happy with the verdict of the Court of Appeals - the decision sends a strong message that vigilantes will not be tolerated in Arizona," MALDEF's David Hinojosa said in a statement.

Presiding over the original trial was Chief Judge John Roll, who was killed in the Jan. 8 attack on Rep. Gabrielle Giffords at a Tucson shopping center.

This is the second verdict against Barnett.

On Sept. 8, 2008, the Arizona Supreme Court upheld a verdict against the rancher after a jury awarded close to $100,000 in compensation to a Hispanic family, all with U.S. citizenship, who were threatened by the rancher as they were hunting on state land.

This is bullshit. Hopefully this will be successfully appealed to SCOTUS.