heavily-armed border militia members mistook conservationists .. for illegal immigrants or smugglers

[phantom power]

Authorities say, apparently, a group of heavily-armed border militia members mistook conservationists researching bats for illegal immigrants or smugglers. It happened Aug. 23 in the Gardner Canyon area near Sonoita where the small group of conservationists was out in the middle of the night conducting a wildlife population survey, in this case, counting bats. Nobody was hurt during the confrontation, but the incident has law enforcement taking notice.

How about we have the "authorities" do a little bit more than "take notice"? How about we have them round up these gun-totin' yahoos and send them back to the bait shops and feed lots they came from? We certainly do have a problem "securing the border." It's just not the problem people tell you it is.

Estrada says one of the militiamen apologized to the group of conservationists, who apparently did not want to hear it. "Of course, they weren't very receptive about the apology. They actually told them that's something you should not be doing. There's danger out there.There's other groups of people in campsites," Estrada says.

Unreasonable tree-hugging bat-lovers!

Sheriff Estrada says Santa Cruz County does not welcome border militia groups. "These people that are completely out of their environment. They really don't know the area. They don't know the terrain. They have little knowledge of the dynamics of the border. So it can be a real problem," Estrada says. "We really don't want them here."

So get rid of them. I thought county sheriffs were the only legitimate governmental authority to these clowns, anyway.

http://www.esquire.com/blogs/politics/The_Cafe_Goes_For_Southwest_Cooking

[jberryhill]

1. "So get rid of them"

On what basis?

I don't know the status of the parcel of land in question but if it is legal to (a) walk around, (b) carry a gun and (c) talk to people, then you need something like actual gun-pointing and threatening to get it to the level of an offense of some kind.