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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsConcern rises after border-vigilante standoff
PHOENIX -- The arrest of a border vigilante accused of pointing a gun at a Maricopa County sheriff's deputy during a confrontation in a desert smuggling zone shows that the "minuteman"-militia-style movement is still active in Arizona and a growing threat to public safety, law enforcement officials say.
(snip)
Deputy Pat Arend, who reported staring down the barrel of Malley's AR-15, said it is a small miracle that neither he nor Malley was shot in the brief encounter.
Arend said he initially assumed that Malley, dressed in tactical gear, was another law-enforcement officer working in the area when they encountered each other after 9:30p.m. outside Gila Bend.
"The reason there wasn't a shooting is because, to me, he was passing himself (off as) law enforcement, so the last thing I'm going to do is shoot a cop," Arend said.
"If I would have pulled my gun, and he's thinking I'm a drug smuggler, he's going to shoot. I asked the guy later, 'What would you have done if I had my gun out?' And there was dead silence."
Read More: http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/08/21/concern-rises-after-border-vigilante-standoff/2680247/
Blue_Tires
(55,445 posts)crime ring member/neo-nazi/smuggler masquerading as an LEO....Damn, I didn't even know any of these clowns were still around after that nazi gunned down his family...
Xipe Totec
(43,888 posts)From the article:
"There is no Minuteman Project anymore, nor anything I know of that exists like a minuteman movement."
Instead, there appear to be small groups that are trying to play a different role than previous organizations, which publicly distanced themselves from vigilantism.
The groups that camped in the desert with some fanfare eight years ago would frequently check in with law-enforcement dispatchers to share their locations and learn of any police operations going on in the area. Now, they want to be the police, Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio said.
The worm has turned on Joe...
Xipe Totec
(43,888 posts)That says a lot.
Blue_Tires
(55,445 posts)because they are cut from the same cloth
Xipe Totec
(43,888 posts)Joe fostered this kind of vigilantism and now it's gotten away from him.