Minuteman National Blog

Minutemen and Supporters:

Just finishing up another great weekend at Operation Block Watch in Pima County Arizona! This weekend, we hosted Boy Scout Troop #141 out of Tucson for a clean up of the North end of Kings Ranch. For those that are familiar, we all know that Coleman Rd ends in a Cul-de-Sac which backs up to the King Ranch. Illegal Aliens use this location as a massive load area where they discard their clothing, backpacks, hygiene gear to load into cars headed for interior portions of the USA. This area of the Kings Ranch has literally tons upon tons of litter left behind. It was the mission of Troop #141 to clean up an environment in their community as part of one of their members Eagle Scout status.

20 young men and a few hardy parents joined with us for Friday PM and camped out at our Minuteman camping area. They were given a brick radio so they could hear the Minuteman activities on the lines/post that night. Saturday at 8AM we met at the ranch house and caravanned out to the lay up spot for a day cleaning up! By noon, they had filled 75 large garbage bags, 3 trucks filled with trash! The photos below show the hard work they put into the days events, they are to be commended.

Out on the lines, the radios were going wild both Friday and Saturday nights. Post Bravo 2 spotted 6 come up to the post. The Minutemen on post lit-them up, 5 scattered and one lone soul stood in the spotlight wondering what just happened! One other IA was found, and USBP was unable to locate the other 4. However, the one that stood his ground upon being lit-up was in fact.........the coyote! He was wearing American Army camo pants, really nice hiking boots and a Mexican Army canvas backpack. USBP agent inspected his gear and came across his cell phone! Oooops! Forgot to ditch that did ya! When an agent finds the cell phone, hes found the guide (Coyote) of the group and can charge them with smuggling, which the agent assured us would be done. The coyote spoke English, and of course denied that he could. But as we waited an hour for USBP to come to pick him up, he laughed at the jokes the Minutemen were telling on post!

We are learning a bit more about coyotes and how to spot them in a group. They are typically heavier in weight, no visible signs of exhaustion, better dressed with better gear. Minutemen do not inspect gear or pat down IAs, that''s done by USBP agents when they take them into custody. As we watch the agents inspect their gear, we are seeing that the guides have not only cell phones, but better food and clothing in their packs. They are different in appearance to the typical IA as they usually appear drawn, exhausted and not dressed for miles of hiking in the desert.

Saturday PM out on the Kolbe Line, our fearless Tucson Chapter Leader Lance Altherr had 15 come across his post! In fact, he lit them up and they immediately stopped and sat down all by one light! With only two Minutemen on post, it was a bit overwhelming and other Minutemen from the next post over came to help ensure that the area was safe for everyone. USBP agents made their way to the Kolbe Line with 2 vehicles to pick them up. All was well as 15 IAs were quickly deported back to Mexico only to make another try sometime later this week!

Today, our numbers are 322 sightings and 144 apprehensions by USBP from those sightings for the month. Yes, the numbers are far lower than we saw in April (1500 sighted), however they are still coming across, bypassing USBP Operation ''Willpower'' and the US National Guard standing post only 35 miles south of our location on the border! The USBP apprehends only 1 in 3 that come across, and MCDC AZ is effecting a 1 in 3 apprehension rate on the ones the USBP agents miss. As I write this tonight, across the scanner came a USBP call that in Three Points; a USBP agent was shot at by a drive by car-and are now chasing them into Tucson. Our USBP agents have a dangerous job and we are thankful they are there to defend Americas front lines.

One week left at Operation Block Watch. You too can come stand a post and help prove to the government that the average American can do the jobs the government is failing to do, 5 years after 9-11. We have over 225 Minutemen come through our operation in Arizona representing 25 US States, now that''s pretty darn exciting!

Enjoy the photos!

Stacey O''Connell
AZ State Director
MCDC AZ

[PHOTOS FORTHCOMING]

This in from Arizona (more reports at the title link):

Fellow Patriots,

This will be the first installment of several updating all of you on the October Muster in the Altar Valley, AZ.

I arrived in Tucson on the afternoon of the 29th (after two days of driving) to get organized and be rested for the opening ceremonies on the morning of the 30th.

We are operating on the King Ranch, which is private property,approx. 38-40 miles southwest of Tucson, watching the Altar Valley, which is several miles wide and basically running north/south, and serves as a popular route for illegal aliens making their way north toward Tucson.

The opening ceremonies were excellent, and opened with the raising of the american flag, and the Pledge Of Allegiance. In addition, there were several comments from Stacey O''Connell, the MAIA leadership, Don Goldwater, and Chris Simcox to name a few. The temperature rose to about 97 degrees by about 12:00 PM, so it was already pretty warm.

After the ceremonies broke, we stopped for a little lunch break in the shade, and I was treated to a quick tour of the operations Headquarters, the communications section, and introduced to the Line Supervisors and staff. I was struck by how professional and dedicated the staff is, and how well everyone worked together.

There are Minutemen from all over the country here, California, New York, Virginia, and of course South Dakota to name a few.

I signed up for the 1st shift held, which was a 4P-12A shift (there are three shifts scheduled for every day; 8A-4P, 4P-12A, and 12A-8A).

While our post (several posts on a road basically east-west) did not see any illegals that first shift, a few did, but resulted in no apprehensions. The usual seems to be about 4-6 individuals sighted per shift, with about the same aprehended by the Border Patrol. The traffic of illegals seems to have dropped off in this area in the past several months largely due to our presence, and that of the National Guard to the south of us.

I started working the 12A-8A shift, as that appears to be the busiest in terms of sightings and aprehensions. My first 12A shift our team sighted 15 illegals walking in a line headed toward the north, and Border Patrol was immediately called. The BP arrested 12 of the 15 (the other three slipped away in the dark), thanked us a couple of times, and left. It was a good feeling to actually see illegals aprehended; it gives you a sense of accomplishment. During each of our interactions with the officers of the Border Patrol (and we interact with them a lot!), the BP were always courteous, and thanked us several times for our efforts, contributions, and the assistance we offered them. One BP agent even mentioned that if he had the time, he would stand a post out here with us. It was great to hear that.

All of the Minutemen are very professional, and tireless in their work down here. Several are pulling double shifts (16 hours per day on post) which amazes me.

In the first 5 days I worked about 8 shifts, so I took a day off. It''s funny though, I want to get right back at it now.

The desert is just as I remembered it - in a word - brutal! Temps (which are mild due to this time of year) range from 95-97 degrees during the day, to about 45-50 degrees at night. This doesn''t sound cold, but my first few shifts I wore thermal underwear, two layers of clothing on the bottom, and three layers of clothing on the top, plus a Gore-Tex coat, gloves, stocking cap, and Gator, and I was C-O-L-D!!! 30 minuted after the sun comes up I had to start tearing layers off because the temp was comming up that fast. Being from a northern state I thought, Aww, this isn''t that cold. It was.

During a couple of our shifts we hosted two media representatives from Sweden that shared our posts with us. They were very friendly, and maintained good noise and light discipline with us out on posts. We granted several one-on-one interviews, and they took some video. They truly wanted to get an accurate representation of our activities down here, without any apparent alternate agenda. It was refreshing.

Enough for now, I will post updates each few days or so, and pics will follow.

Stay Safe,

Heartland Hawk

To read more updates and to discuss this topic on our Minuteman Forum, click on the title link!

This just in from Stacey O''Connell:

MINUTEMANS REVENGE!!!!

That''s what we call it; the virus that has been spreading to about 12 of the volunteers over the past week! There is a bug going around camp, putting some of our brave Minutemen down for a day or two at a time. It even got to a couple of the leadership. No, its not from the food; some have gotten the bug that have not been eating at the kitchen! So its been a week of encouraging good hygiene and washing our hands several times daily. We continue to persevere even when our leadership team goes down, the mission continues.

We are now into our last week of the April operations. To date, I note 1194 sightings and 589 apprehensions by US Border Patrol. 50% of our sightings are now being apprehended by USBP, a wonderful number we have not yet achieved in the past. Daily, the USBP agents continue to thank us for being there, noting how they appreciate our presence and that we are making a big effect on their own mission. USBP has been very active in the valley South of us with vehicle check-points, and we see the Black Hawk helicopters up daily.

Although the ACLU is still present, hanging out across the street from the base camp; they have not been back onto the main ranch. The kids continue to smile and wave at us, videotaping and lounging in chairs. The gal we photographed last April smoking marijuana is there as well. We set up a new line on the ranch, a very successful line that we have named the "Yberra Line". We started working it this past weekend, and each time its active. The namesake seems to be a bit of luck for us.

We were lucky enough to have a volunteer donate a ''cherry-picker'' this past weekend to do some work on our radio antenna. When the work was done, we realized we had this piece of equipment for the weekend! So we drove it across the street to the Brawley Wash and made it a post! Carmen and Anthony took to the skies, 60 feet in the air Saturday PM with the thermal scope and we had our first sighting! The small group was lit up from the sky and they sat right down and waited a few minutes for a USBP agent close by to come pick them up. Way to go guys!

The volunteers continue to pour in daily. Lots of new faces and plenty of local residents dropping by to give their thanks. Each volunteer is more eager than the last to take their post and stand guard. We are thankful for their vigilance.

Saturday nights meal included fresh turkey and a honey-baked ham, nothing left but bones and I think the cook even managed to make a meal out of them too! The hot chow is a welcome sight to those coming off the lines, and those headed out. Thank you to all the Minutemen that have supported the kitchen efforts throughout the month.

May is coming up fast and many events are being planned. May 3rd will be the Minuteman Caravan at the Phoenix Capital, 7PM. May 6th will be a nation-wide protest rally at ALL Mexican Consulates across the land, high-noon for that in Phoenix. May 20th is the "Lay-Up Clean-Up" in NW Phoenix near Lake Pleasant, and we will be back in operations on the border come Memorial Day Weekend. More details to follow within the week on these events.

Our closing ceremonies will be Sunday April 30th at the base camp at 8AM. Please come and thank our volunteers for their dedication. We are pleased to announce the attendance of over 600 Minutemen Volunteers come to stand guard for the month in Arizona alone!

Stay alert, stay active. Stay Vigilant.

Semper Vigilans.

Stacey O''Connell
AZ State Director
MCDC AZ

Just in from Stacey O''Connell:

Monday, April 17, 2006

Three weeks into "Secure Our Borders" with 950 sightings and 399 Apprehensions. Over the Easter weekend, we saw the numbers diminish across our lines, but jumped right back up this AM on the Alpha Line.

Easter Sunday we were blessed with a sermon by Phyllis Gross, a Minuteman volunteer and minister. Our MM stood down that AM to hear her speak and to take a much needed break. The weather continues to be typical for the season, cool at night, warm/hot during the day with lots of bright sunshine. A Minuteman or two have had the pleasure of knowing what it feels like to be bitten by the sun in Arizona!

The ACLU continues to berate our Minutemen and are continuing to encroach on our area of operations. They are coming out of the Prescott College in Tucson, using the college van to bring them out to our lines. Saturday afternoon, they parked across from the ranch house as a few of them started blowing up 2 large red and green balloons. Interested, we watched as they continued to work. Then, we saw them let the balloons go into the sky, floating 100 feet over the ranch house. There was a large sign that flew behind it, unreadable as the wind was strong. Suddenly, the tether broke from the balloons and the sign became readable...."Pendajos". (Spanish for A_hole). We got a good laugh as the wind took their intelligent sign South, towards the Mexican Border!

As I write this tonight, the ACLU is out on our Bravo Line; an area of operation that was considered private property to the land owner we are working with. Apparently, Ray Yberra and Kristen Synema (AZ State Representative) called AZ Fish and Game to allow them onto the land. It seems that some of the land they have is leased by the State of Arizona. They showed a permit to access State Land, and the Fish/Game allowed them access. Luckily, some of our MM volunteers have permits, and we are allowed to stay giving them word that we will all get permits to be there, regardless if the land owners have already given permission to be on the land they lease. So, tonight they are snooping around our posts, video taping, and God knows what else. I ask that before you come down, please go to www.land.state.az.us/news.htm and get a State Land Use Permit which will costs you $15. [NOTE: THE STATE OF ARIZONA HAS NOW RULED THE MINUTEMEN DO NOT NEED THESE PERMITS SO YOU DO NOT NEED TO GET THEM] You can do this online, or if you are in Phoenix or Tucson; visit the local State Game office for it.

The ACLU will not hinder our operations, they are a mere fly buzzing around and we will deal with them as weve done in the past. We ignore them, we video tape them when they get close. We will make their activities public at a time MCDC decides.

Our numbers of volunteers continue to be strong. We continue to draw 65-75 Minutemen per day during the week, and 125+ on the weekends. There is plenty of time to make your arrangements and join with us for the last two weeks of operations.

May 20th MCDC AZ will be hosting a Clean-Up Event near Lake Pleasant outside of Phoenix. A large Lay-Up area was spotted there by one of our new volunteers, and the BLM will be supporting the effort with trash bags, porta potties and maybe even lunch. More info to follow in the coming week. We hope you will join with us that day and help clean up a Lay Up area that is very much in need.

Semper Vigilans.

Stacey O''Connell
AZ State Director
MCDC

Photos of the ACLU using the Prescott College van to transport their "legal observers" to harrass Minutemen:

New Mexico had less than 10 reports of sightings of illegal crossers for the whole month of October last year. The Mexican government had placed flashing red lights on the Mexico side of the border to mark off where the Minuteman posts were in New Mexico. Yet they''re already well over 7 times the number of reported illegal crossers in the first four days of this month.

This just in from Bob Wright:

New Mexico Border Operations Update

The New Mexico Minuteman Corps border watch operation
is off to a successful start.

After three nights of operations, we have spotted and reported to
border patrol 72 illegal border crossers.

Enduring high winds and bitter nights, the personnel of New Mexico''s
chapter of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps have overcome the mission
friction created by mother nature to contribute to the national effort
to secure America''s borders.

"You can''t really understand the numbers until you''ve been here and
seen it" says veteran Minuteman Tom Young of Colorado.

There is still time to go to the border!

Contact Bob Wright for more information.
Email: nmvolunteer@yahoo.com

This just in from Stacey O''Connell:

Minutemen:

Tuesday April 4th: As of this AM, MCDC AZ has reported just over 400 illegal aliens to Border Patrol crossing our lines, with 132 detained by BP from those calls. I can say that weve worked this area of operations many times in the past, and Ive never seen it so active. The influx of illegal aliens is incredible, almost unimaginable. That is what the call for amnesty does to our border lands.

Our Kick Off Rally went well. Our speakers continued to move and motivate people throughout the afternoon events. Bay Buchanan was a very passionate speaker, and we were lucky to get her for the events. Goldwater, Bob Eggle, all very moving speakers. We thank all of our speakers for their time Saturday.

Rick Oltman from FAIR presented MCDC/Simcox with an exact replica of the lantern used by Paul Revere during the Revolutionary War. A grand lantern, made of pewter, 16" high, the candle was lit........"One if by Land".......she will burn all month long as we guard our posts. The lantern was purchased from the Old North Church in Boston, the church that held the first "One of by Land, Two if By Sea" lanterns, so that all Minutemen could see. Thanks Rick, you are a great patriot.

The weekends events flew by as Minutemen from across the country began taking posts along the Arizona arid desert at 4PM that afternoon. Maine, Vermont, North Carolina, Minnesota, New York, Alabama, they came in droves to fill our posts and guard our nation. Over 200 Minutemen through the weekend, and they are still coming.

Media and reporters from all across the land joined as Minutemen gathered to hear their Safety Briefs; Fox News National, ABC National, and many local TV crews and newspapers.

We were blessed with the presence of the ACLU once again. Ray Yberra and AZ State Representative Kirsten Sinema stood tall outside the gate to the ranch house as our shift leaders lead their teams of Minuteman past them into private ranch property were nobody was allowed, but Minutemen. They complained to the Sheriffs Office, but were told again and again, no entry allowed. They are eager to find even the slightest part from SOP by any Minuteman.

The 3 MCDC Aircraft were in full glory flying over the rally, tipping their wings, being fueled by the cheers of Minutemen! David Roglins plane even had stenciled on the wings, "MM AZ" !! We had our first air support mission Sunday afternoon when 85 illegal aliens moved through our lines and AirOne flew in circles above them, leading Border Patrol in for the capture!

It was great to see old friends again, Minutemen from last April and summer operations. Teams of Minutemen that we have long to hear from attended. Rick Lowell cooked up three meals a day for our campers so nobody would go hungry. Our admin team lead by Connie Foust ran a perfect crew as the registration and check-in process was flowing smoothly. Our Comms team lead by Will Marriot and Warren McQuigen ensured long range comms, and keep everyone informed. And or course, our Sector Chiefs and Shift Leaders ran shift after shift of Minutemen to and from the field. I am lucky to be surrounded by such wonderful people that can take the reigns and run an operation.

I will write weekly, giving you full insight to the operations and gossip from the Arizona Operations. If you''ve not yet come to stand your time, I have a post waiting for you.

Semper Vigilans.

Stacey O''Connell
AZ State Director
MCDC

This just in from Tim Donnelly:

April Border Watch Sees Increased Traffic

The Minuteman Civil Defense Corps hit the borders again in CA with little fanfare from the media, who were too busy making sure that the public saw only sanitized, "peaceful" coverage of the violent, anti-American mobs in the streets of many of our cities.

Many of our membership were discouraged until they came down to the border watch, where at least they felt they could make a difference. One person described it as "therapy".

All the talk in the Senate & in the media about Amesty has increased traffic immensely. Border Patrol (BP) has considerably fewer assets deployed to deal with the onslaught of crossings and smuggling as political will at the top wanes and leans toward Amnesty (aka Guest Worker).

What can you do? If you can make it the border, come.
If you cannot, tell 10 friends, and get at least one to join, and come in your place.

Keep calling your representatives.

Tell your Senators that you do not want to reward people who raise a foreign flag on our streets and desecrate the American flag with citizenship.

Tell your Congressman that you would rather they do nothing than than saddle us with an amnesty, guest worker program or whatever else they want to call making illegal behaviour legal.

Here are my thoughts on what we should push for:

1) Secure the border by any and all means necessary in the interest of National Security and Public Safety.

2) Give enforcement of our immigration laws a chance:
Pair up the IRS & OSHA with ICE to go after illegal employers who exploit cheap, illegal, unregulated labor that is subsidized by the citizen. Prosecute any and all fraud of public benefits programs.

3) Don''t do anything with 12, 20 or however many million are here illegally for at least 5 years. They are not living in the shadows. We are repeatedly told they are not a threat to us. So, what''s the rush?

Let''s see if securing the border to prevent further illegal crossings combined with enforcement efforts aimed at employers and those who defraud us of public benefits, will dry up demand.

It is possible that a lot of the people here illegally will voluntarily go home if companies have to pay a huge price for hiring them, and if we stop handing out benefits to illegal aliens that should be reserved for citizens in need.

If we allow another amnesty, if history is our guide (think 1986 amnesty first, enforcement never), we will wind up with 3 times as many people applying as we think are here illegally.

Those are my thoughts. Below is a report of the activity in our area:

This weekend we saw 3 times the traffic on the first weekend that we saw for the whole month of October:

O''Neill Valley:

Friday, March 31st
1600 hrs: BP spots 15 individuals crossing.
Apprehends 3 along with 11 back packs containing 879 lbs. of marijuana and 1 AR15 Assualt weapon with (2) 30 round banana clips, 13 guys flee south

Boulevard, CA:

22:30 hrs: 12 POI''s spotted walking down private road near our camp. Reported. No confirmation of apprehension, but massive BP presence in area.

Sat, April 1st, 2006

Boulevard, CA:

6:30 AM: SD Sector Chief Braun spots 2 coyotes
(guides) wearing booties to cover their tracks, headed south. (could have been the guides who trafficked the group of 12 the night before)

Sun, April 2nd, 2006

9:00 AM. C. Braun and Ops crew spotted 3 POI''s on back road and reported to BP.

Undisclosed location:

9:45 AM: Director of Ops, Imus spots additional group of 4 POI''s (persons of interest) northbound cross border. 3 males; 1 female. Radios in sighting. Observes BP apprehension.

Boulevard, CA:

19:30 PM MM volunteers Waite observed 2 POI''s standing on corner of private road to campground and HWY 94. They pulled over on opposite side of road to report to BP. Both individuals ran toward their car thinking they had stopped to give them a lift.
Unconfirmed at this time whether BP provided transport.

20:45 PM: MM volunteers heading out for an op spotted a DHS Bus picking up 15 POI''s at same location.
Appears some major human smuggling ring is operating right adjacent to MM field headquarters in the Outdoor World RV Park.

Godspeed.

Tim Donnelly
Leader, Minuteman Civil Defense Corps of California

This just in from Dr. Mike Vickers, in Texas:

Texas Border Operations Update

On Saturday, April 1st, the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps began its month-long border watch on a ranch in South Texas. The ranch is 70 miles north of the Rio Grande River, which separates Texas from Mexico. Hundreds of volunteers from all over Texas and many other states will be traveling to South Texas to participate in this April month-long watch. The area is inundated with hundreds of illegal aliens on a daily and nightly basis causing damage to ranchers’ land, homes, and the environment.

More than 87 illegal aliens were reported by midnight on April 1st, the first day of the border watch! Some of these sightings are available on video.

A community effort of law enforcement was done in the capture of a Coyote and 17 illegals. The Texas State Troopers, the local sheriff’s department and the Border Patrol all converged upon the vehicle in question. The Minuteman Civil Defense Corps gave first alert to the illegal activity.

The April month-long border watch is being conducted on the borders of Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, California, and several states along the Canadian border.

There is still time to go to the border!

This field report just in from Dr. Tom Williams, Washington State:

After consultation with our Sheriff, we delayed going on line until the protestors left the Border and blockaded Camp Standing Bear. We were having a great cookout, with Bill G. Orig MM, and Bear cooking. The Sheriff re-positioned the OBL. who tried to follow us as we posted, about 1600 but we locall boys know the county roads and had great comm. Ray Yuberra had training up here for the Legal Observers, buts the Sheriff wouldn''t tell them were our OP''s were.

A Seattle radio show asked me what we were going to do with all the protesters/observers, and I said that we were frightened of the confrontation, so we may go to Seattle to Home Depot. That spawned a anti-MM plan, with protesters there, and telling all to dress in work clothes, get picked up by certaub vehicles which would take them to a ralley point, drop the off only to get picked up by another organizer etc. They were dissapointed by our absence.

We put my well known big white truck on the line and put MM Winnie the Po in it, with my well known USMC cap and red, white and blue jacket -- I always will -- and left him there, private property. MM signs in the windows that we use. BP watched it, and it bacame a great joke, and now the position is known as "Winnie''s place". BP radio called and said Winnie has been on duty for 26 hours, and when was he going to get relieved?

The legal observers have yet to find us, but may have sat watching Winnie for two or three hours, but that is unsubstantiated..

23 MM on the weekend five new for training so far. 26 miles, eight to ten OP''s, 15 local MM and three out of towners, so far, for the whole month.

BP and SO have our backs. We make sure the camera operators can see our MM when we set up.

You fellows be careful down there.
God Bless

Lima6

Dr. Tom Williams

You can see Dr. Tom Williams in an interview on the Lou Dobbs program video posted yesterday.

This "air report" just sent in by Stacey O''Connell, State Director of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, Arizona:

Up, Up, and Away, or Size Does Matter

Last Friday night on the "Naco Line" was more of the "same old, same old" - watching and waiting (the wind and rain took away the listening). But Saturday morning, all that tedium changed to WOW!

Stacey asked me if I would be the "spotter" in our observation airplane! Lucky me! I fit the bill for the small plane. This is one time when being small was an advantage. So I was the happy spotter on Saturday and Sunday!

I soon discovered how important an "eye in the sky" is to our effort to locate and report illegal entrants into our country! The wide, wide view from above made the many well-worn trails strikingly clear. They came from Mexico, right through the Border, and on into the United States. We saw piles of plastic water jugs on our side of the border and the tell-tale blue flag just inside the Mexican border. This was graphic evidence of the huge amount of illegal traffic.

I think the observation plane can be even more effective where the "Line" is established some distance from the border, such as the King Ranch below Robles Junction. Flying between the Border and our "Line," the plane can spot early and alert the Border Patrol and our Minutemen.

A couple of turns David made gave me quite a thrill and the strong winds continually buffeted the plane, even forcing us to land on an alternate, dirt runway. All in all, a great experience!

This nifty little airplane is owned and expertly piloted by fellow Minuteman, David Roglin, a very nifty guy, who has my sincere thanks!

Barb Werstler