Militia Militia Militia!
SPLC Says the Center for Immigration Studies is a hate group
The website “Know your meme” is increasingly becoming indispensable as we shuffle into middle age and beyond. It’s tough keeping up with the kids and internet culture these days.
“Marcia Marcia Marcia,” was the line uttered by Jan Brady, in the 1970s schmaltz TV Classic the Brady Bunch, in a moment of sibling rivalry or jealousy.
In online culture, it’s become a shorthand to express the notion that someone is jealous of another’s success, or is sometimes used to mock those making what they perceive as an illogical or ridiculous argument.
It is tempting to deploy the meme on some of those descending upon Kinney County, wanting to know about the activities of militia groups in the area— consumed with daydreams and fantasies about roving bands of heavily armed, untrained and unqualified men, who are ready to pot-shot poor, thirsty immigrants that have been struggling their way north to find a better life.
It just isn’t so, as most locals can attest, as well as longtime subscribers here. Are there some active in the county? Yes. Are there liable to be some that the Dispatch, and perhaps also the local Sheriff’s office are unaware of? Maybe, perhaps even certainly, if they are quiet enough to say they are simply Hunters visiting their lease, or whatever.
It should come as no shock to anyone that the militia groups and the operations down here are what everyone is interested in. It’s alarming. It’s also a little “sexy” by newsroom standards. It gets attention. It compels coverage. It is a concrete, indelible signal of how ridiculous the present situation is, in a way that cannot be waved away so easily.
Record setting statistics? So what. Alarming numbers of migrants from alarming locations? So what. Almost mutinous Border Patrol and CBP Employees? So what.
A bunch of concerned private citizens with scary black rifles, plate carriers, and tattoos? What in the world!
In this respect, even if the Patriots for America militia group has failed to apprehend large numbers or even any aliens that we are personally aware of, they have succeeded in helping to get people to take a more serious look at what’s happening along the border and here in Kinney County. So, in that sense, perhaps one can consider this a case of job well done.
It is perhaps illustrative of what sort of assumptions some will leap to when they consider a rural county like Kinney County. Obviously the people living here must be uncultured swine, consumed with xenophobia, and ready to gun down anyone that looks different.
Ultimately, what is happening here— the ad hoc nature of these trespassing prosecutions and the overwhelmed local judiciary— the sometimes confusing actions taken by the State of Texas as the Governor tries to find a safe course between the perception of public safety, and the needs of the state’s economy, and the requirements of the law—and the legal agitations over the poor immigrants locked up in Dilley and elsewhere, are all symptomatic of what happens when the State of Texas and local counties are forced to try and stand in the gap left by a Federal Government that seems determined to encourage even more out-of-control illegal immigration.
The actions of the ACLU and other organizations are simply a part of this ridiculous process that we all find ourselves embroiled in. Realistically speaking, America decides all matters in two ways: Legislation & Litigation. And this is what that looks like with the sort of clear, decisive leadership that’s been missing from the border.
So, let us all welcome the input of the ACLU and others. In their way, after a fashion, they are contributing to the same mission as the Patriots for America militia group: Focusing real, meaningful attention to what is happening on the border— bringing it onto the radars of so many folks who are otherwise lost to the magical spells of Netflix, professional sports, and the other distractions and sedations of modern life.
They are part of the process of hashing these matters out, in a way that hopefully, we all can live with.
For a good, mostly solid example of recent efforts at documenting militia efforts in Kinney County, please see this recently published piece by the Wall Street Journal’s Elizabeth Findell.
Readers may be locked out by the Journal’s paywall. We will try to be fair in summarizing her reporting, while also pointing out a couple of elements where she may have strayed a little far from events she is reporting second or third hand and wasn’t present for.
In private communications with Ms. Findell, we told her we thought her piece was quite fair, and we still feel so— keep that in mind, even as we nitpick a couple of things.
BRACKETTVILLE, Texas—As this South Texas border county has seen a jump in illegal border crossings, Sheriff Brad Coe is cooperating with groups of armed private citizens to help patrol the border and arrest migrants for trespassing. The Kinney County sheriff has been in regular contact for months with a group of men donning body armor and rifles while patrolling to look for migrants. Another armed group offered use of a high-tech drone, and went on a patrol along with the sheriff. It has also pursued potential partnerships with private security firms.
In this quote block, Ms. Findell appears to be referencing the militia group Patriots for America, led by a man named Sam Hall, who we have been reporting on steadily here at the Dispatch. He and his group are easily the most visible in Kinney County. She may be overstating the amount of contact between the Sheriff and Mr. Hall. To our knowledge, the pair communicate on an occasional face-to-face basis, since Mr. Hall’s efforts began. The Sheriff has told us repeatedly that he is unaware of any successful detainments or captures by Mr. Hall and his organization.
The second armed group mentioned, appears to be a reference to a private company that was offering drone surveillance services to the County and Sheriff, led by a woman named Christie Hutcherson. Ms. Hutcherson makes an appearance on the Southern Poverty Law Center’s list of nogoodniks associated with the January 6th incident at the U.S. Capitol.
Ms. Hutcherson is apparently also the founder of an organization called “Women Fighting For America.” Is she some kind of a horrible racist? She didn’t seem to be. Truthfully, we assumed some of her expressions of patriotism in our presence were cynical attempts to capitalize on a bunch of country bumpkins’ sensibilities and get some drone services sold. Apologies to her for that assumption and a few others on our part. We are not perfect. To end up on the SPLC’s list suggests she believes in what she says. Is she a racist? Didn’t seem to be to us, but who knows, perhaps we are horrible racists too, and are incapable of recognizing this loathsome flaw in others.
Contrary to Ms. Findell’s reporting above, Ms. Hutcherson and her employees were not armed in our presence— unless one of them happened to be carrying a concealed handgun beneath his coat. Most of them seemed like earnest, polite, and talented young men that loved to talk about racing their drones and doing 3D terrain mapping with their drones for disaster rescue applications. Upon reflection, we should also note that they appeared to be multi-ethnic, which is something we wouldn’t bother noting, if it weren’t for the spectre of bigotry being raised by the SPLC’s involvement in this story. By the way, their efforts on that night, with a thermal optic-equipped drone located 2 separate groups of illegal aliens on one single ranch, in less than 2 hours of work. We’ve slept a few nights since that happened, but seem to recall the groups totalling something like 30 individuals. In both cases, members of the Department of Public Safety’s brush team were directed by telephone to the locations of both groups. Perhaps the DPS troopers were misidentified and someone along the way assumed they were associates of Ms. Hutcherson’s, leading to the accusation that they were a heavily armed group taken on patrol by the Sheriff. It seems unlikely, but that’s the best we can come up with when trying to make sense out of the impression that the Sheriff was bombing around the county with a pack of outsiders armed to the teeth.
It is entirely possible that Ms. Findell is referencing an entirely different group and occasion, but we doubt it. We have not asked her for the source of her details regarding Ms. Hutcherson’s presence in the county. It doesn’t really matter. It’s just more grist for the mill of getting some more attention to the troubles along the border.
Mr. Coe, a former Border Patrol agent, said he is looking for any help he can get in trying to drive migrant traffic elsewhere. “The whole premise is if [migrants] know they’ll be arrested, they’ll go somewhere else,” he said. State authorities have resisted these private operations, saying they are concerned about armed civilians trying to act as law enforcement. On Wednesday, the ACLU and nine other organizations filed a complaint to the U.S. Department of Justice, requesting that it investigate Texas state agencies and local governments involved in the effort to arrest immigrants. Among their concerns, they said, is the support, tacit or open, Kinney County has given such private groups.
It isn’t clear how many migrants the private groups have stopped or arrested. Over the summer, county leaders and Gov. Greg Abbott declared the border situation a disaster, a classification typically used for events such as hurricanes. Mr. Abbott, a Republican, began an experimental state effort to enforce federal immigration law by using state troopers to arrest and jail migrants on misdemeanor trespassing charges. Of some 2,000 arrests by state troopers under the program, named Operation Lone Star, the majority have occurred in Kinney County. The volume has overwhelmed courts in the small community, which has had just one jury trial in the past seven years, leaving migrants in jail for months before seeing a judge. The arrests have resulted in few convictions.
Samuel Hall, leader of a North Texas based group called Patriots for America Militia, said his group of volunteers conducts patrols on public property, looking for migrants who may have crossed the border illegally, administering humanitarian aid when necessary and calling authorities when needed.
Mr. Hall said he doesn’t forcibly detain anyone, which would be illegal. That said, he said he realizes that foreigners encountering heavily armed people may not understand that. Mr. Coe meets with Mr. Hall periodically, Mr. Coe said, but hasn’t worked with him officially. “I don’t know if they’ve caught anything or not,” Mr. Coe said of the group’s efforts to intercept migrants. Mr. Hall said he has worked closely with Mr. Coe and has called his office whenever the group has encountered immigrants.
That last paragraph is a classic case of he said she said. Or he said he said, in this case. Is it in the Sheriff’s interest to de-emphasize his interactions with Militia groups? Perhaps. Is it in a Militia group’s interest to over-emphasize their interactions with the local Sheriff? Absolutely. Having the approval of local authorities makes efforts to fundraise much easier. As Mr. Hall is known to point out— he and his confederates have left their jobs and income behind in order to come to the border.
What is the truth? Don’t know and can’t tell from here.
When Patriots for America arrived in October, the sheriff welcomed the group and considered deputizing some of its members to his department, he said. But the plan received pushback from the Texas Department of Public Safety, he said. That made some county officials worry that the state would pull resources from the county if it partnered with private militias, some officials said. Travis Considine, a spokesman for Texas Department of Public Safety, said the agency doesn’t support partnering with militia-type groups. He said the agency had never threatened to pull resources from the county. “We do not want to work with [militias], but we do not control the sheriffs,” he said.
Readers may recall our coverage from this period— it’s when most of our subscribers subscribed, in fact. We leave it to them to judge between their recollection of events and what is being reported. Personally it seems accurate enough— certainly closer to the truth than most horseshoes and government work.
At a county commissioners meeting this week, Patriots for America’s Mr. Hall thanked them for their support. After the meeting, County Judge Tully Shahan, the local elected executive, told Mr. Hall, “Don’t come here and use us as a photo op.” Mr. Shahan, outside the meeting, said Mr. Hall’s group was uninvited in county efforts and said he supports Texas DPS. He declined to comment further.
We are surprised Ms. Findell managed to get so much as this from the County Judge. He is well known around the state for his general refusal to speak with reporters, feeling burned from too many negative interactions with them over the years. At the time of this interaction, Mr. Hall was speaking vigorously— alleging that he and his people were being harassed by the Department of Public Safety. What some call harassment, others might call prudent surveillance. We have no doubt that if Mr. Hall had broken any laws, he would already be in custody— arrested by federal agents or the Department of Public Safety. The County Judge appeared to be upset, as Mr. Hall’s people immediately whipped out cameras and began recording his address to the court— and cut it short— making the comments you see in Ms. Findell’s reporting.
Another commissioner, Mark Frerich, stopped Mr. Hall outside the meeting to express a different view, that he supports having the group there. “Don’t take it to heart, you’re doing good,” Mr. Frerich said. The county has sought out other private, armed groups to do immigrant patrols. In July, officials approved a letter of intent to hire operatives from Garrison Trading Associates, a private security contractor which cited work in Iraq and Afghanistan. The deal fell through, in part because of a leadership shift at Garrison and in part because the county couldn’t afford it, those involved said.
This is mostly accurate, though our understanding is that Garrison Trading approached the county first, on their own. Again, it makes little difference. Ms. Findell then returns to discussing Ms. Hutcherson and her organization:
Mr. Coe said the county couldn’t afford Ms. Hutcherson’s proposal, which he described as a cost higher than the Sheriff Department’s annual operating budget. Instead, he this week asked commissioners for permission to fund a similar drone from the online donations the county has collected.
The Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks extremist groups, flagged Ms. Hutcherson’s group for spreading extreme conspiracy theories. Ms. Hutcherson said that her organization isn’t a militia.
It believes in working through law enforcement channels, she said. She had not seen how the SPLC characterized her, and said “I’m not an extremist. I’m a patriot.”
…
Kate Huddleston, a staff attorney with the ACLU, said the organization is concerned about both the actions of private organizations and the movement of the county toward potentially partnering with one of them. A group interfering with anyone’s free travel based on a suspicion that they might be migrants is an interference in others’ rights, Ms. Huddleston said. “Kinney County has not just sought to partner with militias, but also war contractors,” she said. “That indicates a level of militarization that is particularly concerning and alarming in the potential for violence.”
Mr. Hall said objections won’t dissuade him. “We’re here because God called us and we’re going to keep operating,” he said.
Ms. Huddleston appears to be referencing Garrison Trading, when speaking of “war contractors.” That’s an accurate descriptor. Here at the Cavalry - Dispatch we called them “mercenaries,” and a “PMC,” or “Private Military Contractor.”
Her piece ends with that quote from Mr. Hall. As a side note, we’ve been told that Mr. Hall is deeply religious, and has objected to past profiles by other organizations that have omitted mentions of his faith.
Ms. Findell seems a committed journalist, and it doesn’t require the Oracle of Delphi to predict she and her editors at the Wall Street Journal will be far from done with covering Kinney County and the Border Crisis.
Video this morning from Webb County— it looks like chest camera footage from law enforcement as they discovered another 18-wheeler with a load of immigrants piled into it.
The video comes to us from independent journalist Ali Bradley, who appears to have gotten it from the Department of Public Safety. In all, about 100 people were piled into the trailer, 82 men, and 18 women from Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador.
A 17 year old Laredoan named Paulino Diaz was arrested in connection with the incident.
Sadly, if you go up on google and search for “Laredo trailer immigrants” a huge long list of different incidents from this year and others pop up. It is clearly very common even to a casual observer, and we can tell you on the basis of our own experience covering news in Webb County, that it’s been common for many years.
Drivers face the permanent loss of their Commercial Driver’s Licenses when caught smuggling aliens.
In the past, groups of aliens have been left abandoned in trailers— sweltering to death in many cases. It is a horrible facet of immigrant smuggling and has been for years.
We mentioned the SPLC’s disdain for Christie Hutcherson, earlier. We should also note, that apparently the Center for Immigration Studies is also on their list of hate-adjacent groups.
This comes as some surprise to us— at a glance, the CIS seems reasonable enough, offering a forum for the work of Todd Bensman, who we have found to be an excellent journalist and analyst of border issues. Perhaps he is merely confirming our own biases.
Readers will have to judge for themselves. His most recent piece is in “The Federalist.”
He highlights how US Taxpayer money is used to support organizations that are encouraging illegal immigration. In other words, how we are funding our own border crisis.
Ordinarily, I would call it a must read, but, you know— racisms. Maybe it isn’t a must read. You probably shouldn’t check it out. Once you catch racisms, it takes crazy amounts of carbolic acid, shampoo, and re-education to cure. It’s worse than athlete’s foot.
Kinney County recently hosted veteran reporter Melissa del Bosque for a long visit.
While here, she found time to take in the Frontier Christmas Celebration, and conduct research and interviews for a future report. Longtime subscribers can probably recall a past dispatch where we singled some of her past reporting out and gave it some mostly negative attention, while also agreeing on certain points.
She’s a big girl. A veteran reporter. She can take it. Odds are, she’s taken her lumps from much bigger figures than we.
In person, she is delightful. We personally anticipate that her reporting on matters here will be largely fair but perhaps also uncomfortable for some. And we anticipate that we may strongly disagree with some elements.
That’s how it is supposed to be, when folks have strongly held opinions and in some cases opposing convictions. But it also says something about the impersonalization of society today— where people may attack each other freely online and in print, but when face-to-face, have little-to-no trouble getting along. Are we all just a pack of two-faced-savages? Maybe. But one hopes it isn’t so simple.
Perhaps it’s a matter relative to the monkeysphere theory. Also known as Dunbar’s number, the monkeysphere suggests that there is a limit to the number of people any given individual can conceptualize as someone they relate to at any given time.
Story goes that scientists studying monkeys found that the optimal number for any tribe seemed to be somewhere in the neighborhood of 50. When they got too big, co-operation broke down, and degenerate behavior would manifest in greater and greater numbers until the overlarge tribe split into smaller numbers that would go their own way and sometimes later go to war with each other.
Applying this notion to society today— there would seem to be a limit to how much we all are willing to care about others as distinct individuals, enabling the most rude behaviors directed toward those that are not in our tribe— those that are not in our monkeysphere.
It’s a nice little idea. It may even be true!
In any event, Ms. del Bosque tells us it may be a few months before her material from Kinney County sees publication anywhere. We hope she reaches some of the same conclusions we have when examining differences in varying places along the border: One size does not fit all. And, it perhaps says something about the State of Texas and Federal Government in trying to apply one-size solutions to the entirety of the border over the years.
If she happens to read this, and she very well might, we hope she and others will join us in the newly forming, and largely ceremonial “TBJMS,” short for “Texas Border Journalist Monkeysphere” so that we may all keep it civil and as open-minded as possible as debates rage.
You’ve made it to the end! Congratulations. We did not sit down with the intention of writing such a long dispatch this Friday night— betraying perhaps, a gulf in our social life. We hope it finds you with plenty of time for reading. As always we should mention our employment with the Kinney County Sheriff’s Office, and reiterate that any opinions and errors and inaccuracies expressed here are ours alone and not indicative of policy at Kinney County, or the Sheriff’s Office.
Have a great weekend, and we’ll see you again soon.
Great example of analytical journalism devoid of sensational hyperbole.
Edited to remove incorrect use of the word 'seen,' and replaced with 'see.'