ARIZONA: Four vigilante border attacks in less than a month
by
Ernesto Cienfuegos
La Voz de AztlanLos Angeles, Alta California - February 23, 2007 - (ACN) The early Spaniards in Aztlan should have named Arizona "Sangrezona" instead. In just one month the state has earned a reputation of being a lawless "tierra sangrienta" or a "land drenched in blood." The spilt blood is today that of natives of the continent but tomorrow it may well be that of the White vigilantes as well.
For all intents and purposes there is now a border war along the Mexico/Arizona border that is showing signs of spreading northward and even though there have been numerous killings by vigilantes of defenseless Mexican immigrants in the recent past, the four brazen attacks that occurred between January 27 and February 21 are clear signs that this war has intensified and that the situation is rapidly spiraling out of control. Worst of all, efforts by conscientious Arizona legislators to implement laws against the violent White supremacist vigilantes, have resulted in the intimidation of the law makers and terrorist threats against them and their families.
This most recent series of 4 vicious attacks began on January 27 when four White gunmen wearing military style fatigues and using assault rifles ambushed a truck carrying 12 undocumented immigrants near Eloy, Arizona. The para-military vigilante group killed the driver and seriously injured 19-year-old Andrés de Jesús of Oaxaca, Mexico. There was so much blood at the scene that a possible third victim may be involved. The attackers who were driving a van were all White men. Three only spoke English and the fourth spoke English and broken Spanish. Eloy is along Interstate 10 between Tucson and Phoenix.
The second brazen attack in the series occurred on February 7 when 18 undocumented immigrants were ambushed by four heavily armed men wearing ski masks near the border at Sasabe. Authorities have released little information on this incident but the border area near Sasabe has been the scene of many gruesome murders of undocumented Mexican immigrants. Some of these killings have been perpetrated by White vigilantes on horseback carrying high powered hunting rifles. The area is also where the body of a badly beaten Mexican immigrant was found that show signs of having been "lynched". A photograph taken at the Sasabe morgue indicates "rope burns" around the victims's neck. (Photo at http://www.aztlan.net/illegalian.gif )
The third recent attack in this series occurred on February 8 when 4 vigilantes in ski masks and with assault rifles attacked a group of 10 undocumented immigrants near Tucson, Arizona. The attackers killed three of the immigrants which included a 15 year old girl. Two other immigrant were seriously injured. The attack began when a vehicle with the four gunmen started shooting at a pickup truck carrying the immigrants and forced it off a dirt road about 20 miles Northwest of Tucson.
The most recent attack occurred on February 21 when three gunman in two pickup trucks ambushed a car carrying 5 undocumented immigrants near Chandler, Arizona, The assailants, in para-military style, open fire on the car and forced it onto the shoulder of the road. The gunmen forced the driver, Jose Guzman, into one of the pickup trucks but failed to start the engine of the car carrying the 5 other immigrants and fled.
It certainly appears that all four attacks are linked. They appear to have been carried out by a group with military style training, possibly a vigilante militia. The purpose is to take the law into their own hands and terrorize and kill undocumented immigrants crossing the Mexican/Arizona border.
Our community is beginning to suspect that these anti-Mexican and anti-immigrant terrorist operations may have the implicit if not the direct cooperation of the White dominated law enforcement agencies in the state. There are just too many things that do not add up. Either the investigators are a bunch of dumb wits or they have been infiltrated by the border vigilantes, or they are one and the same. It is time for the US Department of Justice to step in.
Related La Voz de Aztlan articles:
ARIZONA VIGILANTES: Highway shootings staged to embarrass visiting Mexican President
Another Arizona legislator receives death threats from racist border vigilantes
