A Garbage Take
Careful What You Take Onboard
Hello Friends,
We didn’t expect to be writing you so quickly, but we felt the urge after consuming a garbage take on the Border Crisis in Kinney County.
Frequent fliers with the Cavalry-Dispatch can freely attest that we do not usually dump all over journalism from sources that tend to go against our biases. Indeed, we are more easily accused of heaping plaudits at the feet of certain practitioners of journalism who we feel are making an effort at objectivity.
Not so much the “Texas Signal,” which we have been largely unfamiliar with before now.
To be fair, the marketplace on that side of the political street in Texas is rather crowded. Between the Texas Observer, the Texas Tribune, NPR of Texas, and many other publications, one imagines the pretenders over at “Texas Signal” feel the need to turn the knob up to 11 and really push that progressive slant in order to get some attention. Well, mission accomplished.
One of their most recent pieces, published here, highlights recent legal filings and efforts by the ACLU of Texas and other activist organizations who argue that in so many words Operation Lone Star is a corrupt and racist effort, championed by racists, for racism. That’s fair enough— it’s like golf— it’s in the game.
But the presentation of matters at Texas Signal begins in very shady territory right from the very start with their choice of “cover photo.”
At first glance, you might think the above is a random, average photo of presumably Texas troopers conducting operations related to Operation Lone Star— all jackbooted up and ready to stomp some brown people.
Well it’s not. It’s a stock photograph purchased from an on-line source called “Alamy.com.”
And we’d be willing to bet $5,000 dollars the individuals depicted in it are not even American— it is almost certainly a photo taken in a foreign location. That’s right readers— when it comes to jackbooted thuggery, accept no foreign imports— that’s our firmly stated belief here at the Dispatch.
But how do we know for sure that it’s not a photo of American jackboots? Several clues, one of the biggest is the simple fact that Alamy.com is Euro-centric, with its headquarters in Great Britain. Also too— U.S. Riot police tend not to actually be quite that uniform, with snappy creases, blousy trousers, and what appear to be jaunty holsters, just above the knee, ready for struggling protesters to grab and fish out their firearms.
Don’t just take our word for it. Here’s an actual photo, taken by an actual Associated Press photographer, of actual riot police in Washington D.C., complete with former President Trump for that chef’s kiss of perceived facism, actually:
Look at how sloppy they look from the knee down, right? Nothing at all like those fashion mavens chosen by the Texas Signal. What a fashion disaster. Even second-rate eurotrash like Mussolini’s Squadrismo Blackshirts managed to dress better. These American jackboots need a fashion intervention, yesterday.
But that’s just a cover photo issue, guy— what about the meat of the article? Scared?
Not even a little bit. Don’t think for a second that the problems with this article end with the choice of cover photo.
There are some nitpicky typos and things that would never fly at a professional outfit, but we don’t pretend to be one of those here at the Dispatch, so we would normally avoid pointing them out, if it weren’t for the fact that a basic spell-check should’ve caught an act of blatant violence on the English language, spelling “discrimination” as “discriminationon.” Maybe we’re wrong— maybe DPS troopers actually give it that extra effort when they discriminate, making the additional letters a requirement. Why not, when everything’s bigger in Texas.
In their latest complaint, civil rights groups have focused on the racial profiling seen in traffic stops, as well as the deadly consequences from high-speed police chases in the region.
“There is significant evidence that DPS is engaged in racial profiling — discriminating against Latinx drivers and passengers — in these stops,” the complaint reads. “And, troublingly, the stops turn into deadly vehicle pursuits with alarming frequency: we have linked DPS vehicle pursuits in South Texas to 30 deaths since the start of OLS, a startlingly high number.”
—Fernando Ramirez, Writing for Texas Signal, quoting recent ACLU of TX legal Complaint
Obviously we are not attorneys here at the Dispatch— but it seems difficult to argue out-and-out racism associated with Operation Lone Star when a significant portion of those being arrested for smuggling immigrants, and being jailed down in Dilley are actually white.
One of the few things one can credit the Texas Signal for is getting an interview with an actual Kinney County resident who is echoing concerns we ourselves were quoted recently raising in the Texas Tribune— something that we took our share of friendly ribbing for from local ranchers and other associates. Whatever, in the end, we were quoted accurately and that’s all anyone can hope for, as we noted the prevalence of cloned license plates being used by the cartels.
Kinney County resident Gage Brown was also presumably quoted accurately, though she seems less charitably inclined toward local law enforcement. Fair enough— she’s not employed at the Sheriff’s Office.
Gage Brown, a resident of Brackettville in Kinney County, told the Signal she’s experienced the high-speed chase on the road where she lives.
Brown said she’s also heard from residents in town that they are stalked repeatedly by police despite being born and raised there.
“Police will stop them for their license plate, claiming it was like a flagged plate number but it turns out not to be,” Brown said.
“For a community like Brackett where many of the people living there are living below the poverty line and just trying to make it day to day,” Brown said, “the stress of being constantly pulled over or worried about being issued a citation by police thats gonna set you back a whole month, that really can be debilitating for people who are just trying to survive and make it everyday.”
Brown says it’s frustrating that so many resources are going to Operation Lone Star instead of serving her community. She says climate change will continue to cause people to flee from unlivable conditions.
“We’d be much better off if we could focus on how to adapt to this reality, and mitigate the people who are hurt and the dangers, rather than just play into the politics of it, play into Abbott’s hand, and make this about demonizing people,” Brown said.
—Fernando Ramirez, Writing in the Texas Signal
Ms. Brown is of course entitled to her opinion, as is anyone. But it’s the height of naivety to think that money being spent on Operation Lone Star would be directed to Kinney County or any other spot on the border if it wasn’t in crisis. No— sad to say, but at least some of the money and manpower for Operation Lone Star is being stripped from other state agencies and other locations around the state. Couple that with the historic neglect of the border region and one can’t help but acknowledge this as an awkward but insurmountable fact. To some it is a testament to how urgent the need is. To others, it is a testament to how deranged Texas Republicans are. How is one to reconcile such wildly divergent positions?
It is good that Ms. Brown feels secure enough amongst her neighbors in Kinney County to give voice to what appears to be the minority opinion in the County. It is the height of irony that the current crisis has compelled some of the biggest and most Anarchic-Libertarians we know to come down on the side of law-enforcement, when ordinarily they are the sorts to tell badges and badge-wearers to take a hike, first, last and always.
One reckons that when you need Police, you *really* need Police, and so it is now.
Instances of profiling detailed in police affidavits include stopping Texans for their perceived ethnicity (an apparent justification to search for smuggling victims) and requiring identity papers from passengers. In one case, a DPS officer claimed that he could detect a “distinct odor” that “undocumented aliens emit” as a reason for a traffic stop investigation.
—Fernando Ramirez, in the Texas Signal again
This is one of the most precious bits taken from the ACLU’s complaint, that like a game of telephone is getting more and more twisted the more it gets massaged and padded as it goes down the line.
Promise you folks— there’s no DPS Trooper out there that said Mexicans stink. What the Trooper was most certainly noting in his report was the strong presence of body odor in a vehicle, consistent with individuals that had been working hard out in the heat. While one could argue that such would be common in a vehicle crewed by lawn care professionals, such would also be common in a vehicle used in the smuggling of illegal aliens, warranting further investigation.
Don’t just take our word for it, however— here’s the relevant quote block, taken from the ACLU of Texas’ own complaint, note that they’re the ones actually trying to say people think Mexicans stink, not the trooper:
Finally, in one affidavit a DPS officer claimed, “I smelled an odor that was emitting from inside the vehicle. . . . I identified the smell as an odor that is associated with human smuggling. Undocumented aliens emit a distinct odor due to sweat and being exposed to the environment.” The officer provided this justification for prolonging the stop to investigate smuggling. This is plainly outrageous, and it is bias-based policing. It is of a piece with the longstanding racist, nativist myths that Latinx people, people from outside the United States generally, and Mexicans specifically are dirty.
—From a recent 18 Page Complaint filed by the ACLU of Texas
See how much it changes in just one or two jumps? Would you still want to bet the house that the trooper’s intention was what activists are trying to claim?
Now let's take a look at the Texas Signal’s take on “white supramcist (sic)” groups.
Civil rights groups are also concerned about the potential for violence in South Texas due to the presence of these white supramcist groups
The latest complaint also asks the Department of Justice to investigate DPS’s conduct as it relates to any ties with white supramist militia groups.
They cite the disturbing case of a North Texas militia member and U.S. Capitol insurrectionist who was helped by a DPS officer while being pursued by the FBI. The Proud Boys member was eventually arrested at a ranch belonging to Kinney County Attorney Brent Smith.
—Fernando Ramirez, in the Texas Signal, struggling with the proper spelling of supremacist
They are basically recycling some of the hysteria surrounding the presence of various militia figures that we’ve covered extensively here at the Dispatch, conflating Texas Patriotism and any use of the word “militia” automagically with white supremacy, white supremacism, and white supremacists. This master class in the various true spellings of supremacy and supremacism is brought to you free of charge, Texas Signal.
Wait. Strike that. Are “master classes” racist? Is that a problematic choice of word? Dang. Also, we chose the word “automagically” on purpose. It is not a typo.
We’re coming to something really egregious here, where the Texas Signal and their reporter take a real divergence from truth. Reread that line— “…and U.S. Capitol insurrectionist who was helped by a DPS officer while being pursued by the FBI.”
Helped. One supposes that in the most technical sense, being talked into surrendering peacefully and allowing an officer of the law to take one into custody is being helped. But the way it is worded, it conjures up images of a DPS trooper somehow attempting to aid and abet a fugitive. Absolute trash. A garbage-tier take meant to arouse outrage in such clumsy fashion that even the laziest, most corrupt desk-rider at Pravda would’ve been ashamed of doing so in the 1980s. No shame in their game at the Texas Signal, folks— pity— some shame would be helpful in their case. We would link to a recent past Dispatch where we covered this ground already, but it was just the other week. Readers probably still have it in their inboxes. If not, visit our online archive at thecavalryman.substack.com, and sort by “new,” for the freshest stuff.
It must also be noted that the writing is also incorrect in stating that the ranch in question belongs to the County Attorney. Steady readers of the Dispatch are already aware of the particulars, and our take on the Texas Monthly article that is being sourced and twisted to these seemingly willfully mistaken ends. Accuse us of nitpicking the writer’s varied spelling of supremacist all you want, but really if they can’t get that right how can you count on them to get anything else correct— you can’t, as we are seeing here.
If anyone at the Texas Signal happens to read this, and one hopes they do, allow us to alert you to a handy website at www.kinneycad.org— it is a repository online for records from the Kinney County tax appraisal district, where one can search to their heart’s content and see what property in the county is actually owned by the County Attorney. Don’t take our word for it, search for yourself— you’ll see he actually owns none. Language is important. At no time has any reputable outlet ever stated that the ranch was owned by the County Attorney. Instead, they’ve used words and phrases like “linked to,” or “connected with.” But that doesn’t stop the Texas Signal!
In their rush to smear, the Texas Signal fails at so many basic standards of journalism that one is obliged to note them all: Misleading photo, check. Easily caught and corrected spelling errors, check. Basic factual errors and mistaken attributional assumptions, check.
If it wasn’t for the fact that we know Gage Brown is a real person and a real Kinney County resident, we might be excused for suspecting that they’ve manufactured her quotes like some wannabe pack of Jayson Blairs.
Good grief.
We also must take issue with a statement from Erin Thorn, an attorney quoted in the piece, speaking of militia efforts along the border on behalf of the ACLU of TX.
“Not just in the state of Texas but in other border states, local law enforcement at the border has had very spacious ties to these border militia groups that come down,” Thorn said. “Their rhetoric is very violent, the way that they operate at the border is very violent, and state and local law enforcement have both courted these groups and then also tried to distance themselves from these groups.”
—Attorney Erin Thorn, as quoted by the Texas Signal
Before we get too far— pretty sure the Texas Signal hacked up this quote. It’s a sure bet that an Attorney like Ms. Thorn actually was using the word “specious” when quoted as saying “…very spacious ties.”
The word “specious” is defined as “superficially plausible, but actually wrong.” Ironic, no?
Spacious ties would seem to mean roomy, comfortable, like a spacious bungalow. Or a spacious interior cabin in the latest Cadillac. Who knows, perhaps we are wrong, and she actually was trying to say something about local law enforcement being extra comfy and relaxed about the militia issue. She’d be wrong, though wrong opinions can still be validly held. But we are confident the word she intended was “specious,” and this is a transcription error by Texas Signal.
In any event, we would be shocked to find any single reliable incident of a militia group acting in a “very violent” fashion in Kinney County. Maybe it’s a matter of degrees. To us, “very violent” suggests a beating at the very least. Some gunplay. Shootouts and savage fighting. And if that is indeed the truth— that volunteers toting rifles are routinely engaged in savage combat around here, then Ms. Thorn is making a much stronger, bolder statement that would call for greater border security in this area and others than we have ever attempted ourselves, personally.
Luckily for the migrants, it is not so, no matter how perversely she might seem to wish it. Not in the way she is attempting to have her cake and eat it too. Any violence along the border is almost entirely the result of cartel-connected criminals enforcing their will on their human cargo— a situation seemingly aided and abetted by the Federal Government and Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, who surely must only be following orders from somewhere else on high.
It is as if we are in some funhouse, surrounded by mirrors showing us distorted reflections. The ACLU of Texas seems to be concerned about the plight of migrants. Us too. They go wrong by seeming to be in favor of the pre-Operation Lone Star status quo— an intolerable state of affairs that would’ve ultimately led to greater abuse of immigrants at the hands of their enslavers. One wonders if they are willing to tolerate such a thing, believing it to be in service of some seemingly higher, eventual, other goal, and if that is the true source of their strangely incoherent objections to the State’s effort to return some sort of sanity to what has been a chaotic, out-of-control situation that was bound to end poorly.
In any event, some months ago, when first covering militia activities in Kinney County, and the resulting attention of the ACLU of Texas, we posited the opinion that their attention was welcome— that it served to amplify the message that the border is in crisis.
Ultimately, we still feel so, even as some of their complaints leave us scratching our heads.
One final nail in the coffin we’ve constructed for Texas Signal here. It must be noted that their reporter’s efforts may’ve gone without the usual oversight. One notes that the co-founder and presumable editor-in-chief, a young man named David Lee is on a leave of absence.
According to his bio on the website, Mr. Lee is working as a Senior Advisor to the Beto O’Rourke campaign.
Repeat the line.
As for the actual reporter, Mr. Fernando Ramirez, we find ourselves overcome with a certain amount of awkward sympathy for the lad as we proofread and edit these words. He seems to be very new to journalism in general, with what appears to be about 2 years experience. The mistakes and errors any one person can make in the course of trying to be a journalist could fill a book. Yours truly is no exception. We physically cringe in the wee small hours of the night, when remembering certain past failures of our own. It is in the effort at being balanced and objective, and corrective, that one separates their identity and self from their mistakes. Hopefully.
We hope young Mr. Ramirez, if he reads any of this at all at some point, will accept a pre-emptive apology on our parts if he feels hard done by. Criticism from complete strangers can feel mean-spirited— fruit of this gilded age of silicon cynicism and hot takes. We hope he will take this all on board— make peace with running the occasional spellcheck— and realize the importance of primary sources vs. quoting quotes of quotes.
It may well be that he was let down by his editors. No such worries here at the Dispatch. “We ain’t got none!”
As always, thanks for reading. We would be remiss not to note our obvious bias, working for the Kinney County Sheriff’s Office. We note it here in the spirit of full-disclosure, and also to stress that no one should construe anything written in this humble newsletter as a statement of Kinney County policy. Any material written here— any mistakes, errors, or other misdeeds are entirely our own.
Indeed, every time we publish, it is with some small concern that it might negatively impact us at the County Courthouse. Scoff at that if you like— if you do, then you probably don’t know jack about small town politics and small town feelings and all the unknowable ways one can run afoul of things.
In any event, if you see any egregious errors feel free to point them out in the comments below. We’ll make the correction. Or at least argue with you about it.
Correction: You knew one was coming. There had to be a typo somewhere in there, after all the typo and grammar nazi behavior on our part. Edited to remove an 'e' from the spelling of Attorney Erin Thorn's name. Thorne vs. Thorn, one imagines is a more anglicized version of the name. Thanks for the notification, happy to make that correction.
I suppose that's the best Beetle O'Rook can do in his effort to become governator.