Minutemen Fire on Legal Observers

[crudo]

Border observers to carry GPS units for their safety
>>
>> Decision made after gun-waving incident
>> By Leslie Berestein
>> UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
>>
>> October 19, 2005
>>
>> The observers who have been watching the self-appointed border
watchers
>> in East County have decided to start carrying global positioning
units
>> for safety following two gun-related incidents, they announced
Monday.
>>
>> The decision comes after the observers contacted sheriff's deputies
last
>> week to report a run-in with a member of a group called the
California
>> Minutemen, which has conducted armed patrols in the Campo area off
and on
>> since July.
>>
>> Juan Gallegos, coordinator of the San Diego Legal Observer
Coalition,
>> said he and a few other observers were trying to make contact with a
man
>> camped out in a van on public property by the border fence the night
of
>> Oct. 10.
>>
>> As they approached, the man rushed out waving a shotgun.
>>
>> "He (came) out blazing mad, yelling obscenities and waving around
his
>> shotgun in a very aggressive manner," said Gallegos, who added that
the
>> observers had announced their presence and that he had spoken with
the
>> man before.
>>
>> Linda Chase, whose husband Jim is the organizer of the California
>> Minutemen, said observers were driving too fast toward the man's
camp and
>> that the driver looked "like a felon."
>>
>> She said the patrol group is worried about security after reading in
>> Soldier of Fortune magazine about bounties on border watchers.
>>
>> The man with the shotgun told deputies he was acting in
self-defense, and
>> no charges were filed.
>>
>> "There was no crime committed," Sgt. Mike Radovich said last week.
>>
>> Two days later, two women who were trying to deliver a letter to Jim
>> Chase said they heard a shot as they drove away after speaking with
a
>> member of the group, though they didn't know where it came from.
>>
>> Chase, in an e-mailed response to Claudia Smith of the California
Rural
>> Legal Assistance Foundation, one of the women in the car, said he
had
>> learned she had been "shot at." He said the shot could have come
from
>> Mexico or from hunters.
>>
>> "I am not responsible for animals, hunters, or people in Mexico," he
>> wrote. "I am also not responsible for what I do not order or
suggest."
>>
>> The patrol group, unlike some others that watch for illegal border
>> crossers, advocates carrying firearms and promotes an "official"
rifle on
>> its Web site.
>>
>> The observer program was created by four area legal organizations,
>> including the American Civil Liberties Union, to monitor border
watch
>> groups for any civil or human rights violations.
>>
>> Three portable global positioning devices were donated to the
observers
>> by a technology program of the California Western School of Law in
San
>> Diego.
>>
>> In use since last weekend, the devices allow the user's location to
be
>> pinpointed by others using a computer, allowing a user who is lost
or
>> injured to be found.
>>
>> There were plans for observers to start using GPS later this year,
said
>> James Cooper, a California Western law professor who tested the
equipment
>> as part of an educational program.
>>
>> The decision to start using the devices now was made after the
incident
>> involving the man with the shotgun.
>>
>> Leslie Berestein: [phone]; [e-mail]
>