Well I was going to say we needed more people like the sheriff, and then I read this article... and It kind of ties in with the whole Minutemen border patrol issue, and the sheriff.
Apr. 15, 2005 12:00 AM
He is not a hero.
Army reservist Sgt. Patrick Haab is accused of taking the law into his own hands. Of holding seven Mexican nationals at gunpoint, in fear for their lives.
The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office has a name for what Haab allegedly did. And it's not heroics.
It's aggravated assault.
The incident involving Haab occurred Sunday at a remote rest stop on Interstate 8. Haab claims he acted in self-defense after the seven unarmed men stepped out of the bushes.
But when they walked back to their sport utility vehicle, Haab followed. He took the keys, forced the undocumented immigrants to get out of the vehicle and made them lie on the ground. According to the complaint filed in Maricopa County Superior Court, he trained a .45-caliber two-barrel handgun on them.
Threatening people with a deadly weapon is a felony under Arizona law.
It's a sad commentary on America's failed immigration policies that some people now label Haab a hero. And criticize the deputy who arrested him.
Haab's actions took place in the overcharged atmosphere of the so-called Minuteman Project. Volunteers in a civilian patrol are making a highly publicized, monthlong stakeout at the U.S.-Mexican border, an effort criticized both by President Bush and Mexican President Vicente Fox.
We have strong reasons to be frustrated about Arizona's porous border.
Based on apprehension statistics, several thousand people are trying to cross over from Mexico every night. The U.S. Border Patrol finally got badly needed reinforcements just as the Minuteman Project kicked off.
This week we learned that the federal government paid $200 million for high-tech equipment to detect undocumented immigrants, but much of the equipment may not be operating.
We also feel some sympathy for Haab. The 24-year-old has served in the Army Reserve, with stints in Kosovo and Iraq and a planned tour in Afghanistan. Haab said he has taken medication for depression following bouts of post-traumatic stress.
The Maricopa county attorney and the courts will sort out this particular case.
Westerners, steeped in cowboy myths, can take a wrongly romanticized view of vigilante actions.
How different this story would look if it had turned violent. We might be dealing with international repercussions if any of the Mexicans had been hurt. Or bloodshed if Haab had happened upon drug smugglers or desperate coyotes, ready to fight over their human cargo.
The answer to illegal immigration isn't illegal action.
Maricopa County's Joe Arpaio, who enjoys his image as America's toughest sheriff, doesn't mince words: "There's no excuse for any citizen to take the law into their own hands. We're a nation of laws."
And America has trained officers to enforce those laws.
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/opinions/articles/0415fri2-15.html