Arizona deputy wounded in desert shootout found

[kpete]

Source: Associated Press

Apr 30, 9:14 PM EDT

Arizona deputy wounded in desert shootout found

By BOB CHRISTIE
Associated Press Writer

PHOENIX (AP) -- Authorities in southern Arizona have found a deputy wounded in a shootout with suspected drug smugglers after a frantic hour-long desert search.

Pinal County sheriff's Lt. Tamatha Villar says the deputy suffered a superficial wound to his abdomen after being shot with an AK-47 assault rifle Friday afternoon. He was flown by helicopter to a hospital in Casa Grande, about 40 miles south of Phoenix.

Villar says the deputy was doing smuggling interdiction work and found bales of marijuana in the desert. He then encountered five suspected illegal immigrants, two armed with rifles, and was shot.

A search was on in the rugged desert about 50 miles south of Phoenix for the five suspects. Hundreds of officers were involved.

Read more: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_ARIZONA_DEPUTY_SHOT?SITE=AZTUS&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

[Xipe Totec]

1. suspected illegal immigrants...

Smugglers, yes.

Illegal immigrants?

What makes him think the smugglers are not US citizens?

The crime here is drug running and shooting a Federal officer.

The immigration status of the attackers is the least of the problem.

[leeloo]

9. Why would Americans be smuggling MJ into America?

Methinks thou doth protest too much..

[The Magistrate]

11. For Cash, Ma'am....

You see, it costs less on one side of the border then it sells for on the other....

[Adsos Letter]

20. lol...ah, Sir, that was too easy...

:spray:

[Kali]

31. ...

:thumbsup: :applause: :applause: :applause:

[tavalon]

37. Simple economics

But these days in AZ, illegal immigrant is the new black. I'm just using your post as a jumping off point. I know you get it.

[Xipe Totec]

14. Profit

Or do you think drug traffickers are all foreigners?

Wake up.

[harkadog]

47. I guess border patrol has been covering up about that.

The people they catch are all illegal Mexicans (or some other south of the border country) whether they are drug runners or not. I guess they have been covering up about all those Americans out in the desert.

[pundaint]

54. All the DEA victims are drug smugglers, All the Air Force victims are terrorists, All the

Wall Street victims are deadbeats, and all the conservatives who get elected are because Liberal Democrats wouldn't vote for some centrist corporate sellout offered by the DLC.

[harkadog]

90. So you do think they are covering up.

Don't you think President Obama should be told about this fraud? Afterall they work for him.

[pundaint]

94. I don't know about this case - it's too soon for the truth to float to the top. Experience has

demonstrated that Authority's first priority is to retain authority, and lying by authorities has become so common as to not even receive proper approbation when discovered.

[havocmom]

18. Point is, dangerous DRUG RUNNERS being labeled first as illegal immigrants

is done so to fan the hot embers toward blaming making excuses for the Paper Please Law.

People crossing that desert frontier in hopes of finding a job and a better life in the US usually do not carry AKs. Few hopeful gardeners, bus-boys, hotel maids carry that kind of hardware.

These guys are not immigrants, they are DRUG RUNNERS. People runners also carry nasty hardware. But labeling these dangerous criminals like the every day 'illegal immigrants' is a ploy to justify the harassment of Papers Please. By the way, that fucking law will actually make it more likely that dangerous criminals like drug runners will slip past. Some cops, particularly those working for Sheriff Joe, would prefer harassing peaceful, non dangerous 'suspicious' (BROWN) people on the streets to going after DRUG RUNNERS.

The wording is a blatant attempt to frame the issue in a way which is disingenuous at best.

[Name removed]

21. Deleted message

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[tavalon]

39. Yep, it used to be "driving while black",

now, it's "breathing while Hispanic".

Watching the Rethugs run around like drug crazed weasels trying to figure out what went wrong with their fascist plan would be amusing if the collateral damage wasn't happening to the lowest income workers in AZ.

[jillan]

44. Exactly! There is a difference between a drug smuggler and someone coming here to work.

[fishwax]

66. +1

[quakerboy]

24. are you kidding me?

Seriously? The question you are asking is "Why would a native born US citizen or a legal immigrant attempt to smuggle a potentially lucrative illegal drug into the country in the midst of a terrible economy, in a country where its hard to get a decent paying legitimate job to be able to stay afloat financially?"

[rapturedbyrobots]

35. HAHAHAHAHAHA

of course...

american citizens neither, buy, sell, or use marijuana.

[tavalon]

40. Love your username!

[harkadog]

46. Ridiculous post of the day.

[Xenotime]

52. Exactly. His statement has racism all over it.

[pinboy3niner]

73. The conclusion is wholly unsupported

I doubt that the deputy was checking the papers of the people he encountered while they were shooting at him. Just because the deputy (reportedly) said it does
not mean it is appropriate to report it. The deputy's conclusion may even prove to be correct, but at this point there is no factual basis for reporting it.

I saw reports on this at a half dozen news outlets that included the conclusion attributed to the deputy--often even in the headline. I found only one account that did NOT include the deputy's conclusion--a story in the L.A. Times by Paloma Esquivel and Nicholas Riccardi (both reporting from Arizona). So I sent them an e-mail to compliment them on their professional discrimination. Here's the link to their story:

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-arizona-shooting-20100501,0,6997560.story

[marshall]

74. Undocumented yes, but immigrants?

Immigrants implies that they are moving here to establish themselves in our ever enticing way of life, and supports the notion that the borders are teeming with folks just clamoring to get on the gravy train of the American Dream.

But if foreign nationals illegally cross the border not to live here but to engage in more illegal activity and then go back home to spread their yankee dollars south of the border, that's not immigration, is it?

The media needs to figure out what it means by its terms.

[Webster Green]

2. Legalize it!

Ya mon! Legalize 'd herb.

[TheDebbieDee]

17. Legalize it and there won't be nearly as much profit to smuggle it here!

[wordpix]

22. +1 end the drug war, this is nuts to have people shooting over some pot

legalize it

[liberalla]

3. Arizona deputy shot by alleged undocumented immigrant, officials say

Source: CNN Wire Staff

(CNN) -- A sheriff's deputy in central Arizona was shot Friday afternoon by an alleged illegal immigrant, authorities said.

The shooting comes amid a national debate over Arizona's tough new immigration law that allows police to demand proof of legal residency. Arizona lawmakers say the law is needed because the federal government has failed to enforce border security with Mexico, allowing more than 450,000 illegal immigrants to move into the state.

The Pinal County deputy, who was not immediately identified, contacted authorities after being wounded in the desert, saying he had been shot by an illegal immigrant with an AK-47, said Lt. Tammy Villar, a sheriff's spokeswoman.

Villar initially said the deputy was being transported to a hospital. However, she told CNN affiliate KNXV that authorities had lost radio contact with the deputy and that a search was on for him and the shooter.



Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/04/30/arizona.deputy.shot/

---

I saw the story on Channel 9 KOLD news in Tucson.

Search on for suspect who shot deputy with an AK-47
http://www.wmbfnews.com/Global/story.asp?S=12408129

Pinal County Sheriff's deputy shot in desert confrontation
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2010/04/30/20100430pinal-county-deputy-shot-immigrant30-ON.html

[sandnsea]

4. Sounds like a drug trafficker to me

Which requires a completely different solution than immigration laws.

[hughee99]

16. Exactly, and WTF is "suspected illegal immigrants" all about...

shouldn't "gun toting suspected drug smugglers" be more of a concern?

[bloomington-lib]

23. Thanks to the new law, when they find these guys they can ask "papers please".

[hughee99]

25. Just in case the bales of weed and guns aren't enough probably cause. n/t

[crikkett]

75. It's hard to imagine 'bales of weed' - that sounds like industrial hemp.

If we grew hemp it would solve so many of our problems. Talk about a renewable resource!

[Warpy]

5. Illegal immigrants who are just looking for a job that will allow them

to live better than they did on a Mexican farm are not going to be carrying AK-47s. They can't afford them, for one thing.

He had to have been shot by drug runners.

[liberalla]

6. Wanted to add that the deputy is expected to survive.

His wound was described as the bullet "grazed" him. (by newscaster on Channel 9, Guy Atchley)

Pretty lucky for an encounter with an AK-47.

[liberalla]

13. Deputy said it was a group of 5 people, and drug related.

Again, this was on the TV news.

[The Magistrate]

10. Not Yet a Scrap Of Evidence, Ma'am, For Claiming The Shooter Was An Illegal Immigrant

[liberalla]

7. Arizona deputy shot by alleged undocumented immigrant, officials say

This thread has been combined with another thread.

Click here to read this message in its new location.

[hobbit709]

8. Just how many "immigrants" tote an AK47?

The ones coming here for work might carry a change of clothes and a bottle of water.

[leeloo]

12. The drug courier kind....

[hobbit709]

15. There's a bit of a difference between smuggler and immingrant.

[tavalon]

41. Not in the minds of fascist republicans

Though, now that I think about it, putting fascist in front of republican is kind of redundant.

[Crowman1979]

19. They could have had a law stating that anyone near the border with weapons will be shot...

...but NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO the gun nuts wouldn't have and prefer a vague policies which puts every illegal having nothing to do with the drug trade under suspicion. Kind of like the dumbass patriot act wiretap laws we had earlier.

[havocmom]

27. There are ranchers near the border that don't leave the house without a gun

because DRUG RUNNERS are dangerous and tend not to be concerned with property rights. Doesn't take a gun 'aficionado' to see the wisdom of dealing with reality.

By the way, I think the term you used has been deemed inappropriate here.

[SoapBox]

26. And where does Mexico get most of their weapons/guns?

...from the good old USA!

[havocmom]

28. and a lot of drug runners are home grown here too.

[Name removed]

29. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[totodeinhere]

30. Undocumented immigrants are no more likely to commit a crime like this than anyone else.

Whoever committed this crime needs to be arrested and be given a fair trail with adequate legal representation in a court of law. And if they are convicted they need to face the consequences whether they are undocumented or not. End of story.

[harkadog]

51. "No more likely to commit a crime"

LOL. Maybe in the crowd you hang with.

[The Magistrate]

56. Do Expound, Sir, Please, On Your Experience Of These Matters; Enlighten Us....

[harkadog]

62. I will let the GAO do it for me

http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d05646r.pdf They studied 55,000 illegal aliens. Averaged 8 arrests each, about 500,000 offenses ranging from murder, rape, and robbery. I'm sure you will come up with some theory to defend them.

[The Magistrate]

64. Heavens Above, Sir! People Convicted Of Felonies Have Committed Crimes!!!

Real 'stop the presses!' material, that. You are referring to a study of persons incarcerated in Federal penitentiaries, with some extrapolations to state institutions. It would doubtless be possible to reference, or concoct, a study to be described as conducted among seventy thousand native-born white Americans, showing them to have been all arrested multiple times, and accounted for over half a million crimes, including murder, rape, and robbery. Neither, of course, would say much about the general behavior of the population.

You have not come near to proving undocumented aliens are greater criminal threat than the average run of citizens at similar socio-economic levels: you have at least strongly suggested certain things about yourself and your attitudes in this failed attempt to do so.

[harkadog]

79. The poster flatly said illegals have the same crime rate as anyone else.

She/he made the statement. Where is the proof of that statement? I'm sure you will come to the poster's rescue. Come on, you can do it.

[totodeinhere]

83. Read it and weep my friend.

Here.

There have been dozens of national studies examining immigration and crime, and they all come to the same conclusion: immigrants are more law-abiding than citizens. A 2007 study by the Immigration Policy Center (IPC) found that immigrants, whether legal or illegal, are substantially less likely to commit crimes or to be incarcerated than U.S. citizens.

http://americas.irc-online.org/am/4903

[harkadog]

87. You are not my friend but you are the only one weeping

When you hit the link to the report in your article this is what happens :

404 - File or directory not found.
The resource you are looking for might have been removed, had its name changed, or is temporarily unavailable.

There is no report. Made up. Total BS.

[totodeinhere]

91. I don't appreciate your accusing me of making this up.

You should know that when it comes to the Internet sometimes shit happens. The link works fine on my machine. I don't know why it is not working on yours. But I'll bet that for the majority of readers of this thread, the link will work just like it did for the Magistrate, and they will know that I am telling the truth.

[sendero]

98. Get a decent browser..

... there is nothing wrong with that link.

And its conclusions make perfect sense. Immigrants come here to work. they earn their meager pay and most of them send a substantial portion of it back to relatives in Mexico.

They are not interested in involvement with law enforcement, that is a sure way to deportation. They keep their heads down and work.

I am against illegal immigration simply because those jobs that Americans would not do will soon be many of the only jobs there are.

That said, there is a sane and dignified way to handle the issue, not the Arizona way.

[The Magistrate]

89. These Links Work On My Machine, Sir

http://www.immigrationpolicy.org/special-reports?page=3

http://www.immigrationpolicy.org/

Use first (special reports) link, scroll down to this entry "The Myth of Immigrant Criminality and the Paradox of Assimilation", then hit 'down-load'. There does seem to be something odd in how the addresses pick up from that site in copy and paste.

[harkadog]

92. Those links were not and are not in what was posted.

The report is done very poorly. Through out the report it shifts from paragraph to paragraph from "Hispanic" v. "on-Hispanic", and from "native born" vs. "foreign born" without identifying who is legal and who is not legal. It tried to get the reader to draw conclusions based on those categories to "illegal" v. "legal". It also does not give any absolute numbers in its various graphs and comments just percentages. A favorite tactic by someone who is using stats to lie.

[The Magistrate]

93. So You Have Now Read the Report Then, Sir, At Least

It is the report the gentleman placed a link to, though it was necessary to search it out by title. A bother, but not too difficult, not even for me, a bear of very little brain where these machines are concerned.

You may quibble all you like about format, but you have now no ground whatever for maintaining honestly that your attempt to pass off a survey of persons incarcerated for Federal felonies was a representative sample of persons present in the country without documentation, and should be read as describing the criminal proclivities of all persons in the country without proper papers. Your own actions place you in a very poor position from which to denounce other people as dishonest, or to call them liars.

[The Magistrate]

84. You Need To Practice, Sir, If You Are Going To Try This In Public

You have cited an examination of the criminal histories of people in this country illegally who have been convicted of Federal felonies and incarcerated in Federal penitentiaries. It says nothing at all about the rate at which persons in the country without proper papers commit crimes against the peace or property.

[boppers]

65. Ahem. From your linked document:

"Last, our analysis is not designed to infer conclusions about the arrest history of other illegal aliens not in our study population who entered the country illegally and have been arrested."

Page 3.

In general, undocumented immigrants are no more, or less, likely to commit crime. But hey, go ahead, paint 11 million people with a broad brush based on the actions of less then 0.5% of them in a selective study.

Just don't expect it to get any traction with those who can A) Read or B) Do math.

[harkadog]

80. Where is your proof if you don't like mine?

"In general, undocumented immigrants are no more, or less, likely to commit crime." Where is the proof of that?

[boppers]

82. Another opinion:

http://www.livescience.com/strangenews/080318-immigration-crime.html

See how selective cherry picking of data produces specific outcomes?

[The Magistrate]

85. You Have No Proof For Your Statement, Sir

And you know you do not.

[harkadog]

86. I see you have no proof for any of your statements

Which has been demonstrated many times on this board.

[The Magistrate]

88. You Have Proved Yourself, Sir, To Have No Understanding Of What Constitutes Evidence And Proof

You provide an amusing spectacle of ineptitude that has some of the fascination of a smoking wreck by the side of the road, however.

[fishwax]

67. lol -- so incarcerees tend to have committed more crimes than the average citizen

:rofl:

[SkyDaddy7]

32. I WILL BE THE 1st TO SAY IT!

"Superficial Wound" a deputy by himself in dangerous border area...Plus, "illegal immigrant"???? WTF? An immigrant is coming to live not drop off some drugs. Plus, there is no way in hell those "illegal immigrants" covered that much desert carrying "bales of marijuana"...Again, WTF?

This sounds very fishy to me! Either this is a complete hoax done for obviously political reasons or at least a politically worded press release!


Either way this is BULLSHIT!

[tavalon]

43. Yeah, I thought about a false flag operation

but then, I just couldn't bring myself to be that cold when a human has been injured. But now that I think of it, AK-47s rarely, if ever, provide superficial wounding. Their specialty is non-superficial killing and killing quickly with many holes.

[SkyDaddy7]

96. I think the story now is...

A regular rifle wound. However, they keep calling them "illegal immigrants".

[Kali]

63. he wasn't anywhere near the border

if the article is correct (which certainly is questionable!) 50 miles south of Phx is not anywhere near the border - that would be a good 100 miles on further south.

Pinal county is not on the border at all.

[Tx4obama]

33. Why was he out there alone in along a major smuggling corridor in the Arizona desert?

It doesn't make sense for a lone sheriff to be out there.
One person can not physically arrest a group of people.
It's 'major smuggling corridor in the Arizona desert' --- why was he alone?

From HuffPo: ".... the deputy had been performing smuggling interdiction work before finding the bales of marijuana and encountering the five suspected illegal immigrants, two armed with rifles." http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20100430/us-arizona-deputy-shot/

Since when do cops/narcs work smuggling detail without backup???

The story does seems to be VERY fishy.

[harkadog]

50. Clearly you are not from Arizona

It very common for law enforcement to work by themselves here. Most parts of the state are rural and there are not the resources for team work. But I am sure you will come here to show them how it is done.

[Tx4obama]

61. Oh my,

there's no reason to be rude.
I just think that if you're going out looking for drug runners it's pretty stupid to go alone.
If there isn't an extra person to go out with ya then it's not a good idea to go out in the middle of the dessert looking for folks that can over power you and out gun ya.

[crikkett]

76. You won't catch me going out in the middle of dessert!

:hi:

[Tx4obama]

78. Those look yummy! ;) n/t

[harkadog]

81. I suggest you take up the problem with law enforcement

in your State of Texas. They do the exact same thing in rural and border areas.

[Kali]

55. the non-Maricopa or Pima counties in AZ are very rural and very underfunded in terms of all services

it is VERY common for single deputies to handle all kinds of calls. People find stashes out in the desert pretty often, believe it or not. The situation does not seem all that out of the ordinary for these times and this place. The wording of the press release or article however - pretty god damned inflammatory or at the very least fucking ignorant.

[ArizonaLiberal]

34. Arizona Deputy shot with AK47 during car stop loaded with illegal immigrants!

Kind of got your attention, huh? That was the headline and the main coverage in Phoenix for an hour, 6 to 7 local time. I hoped he was okay. Later they had a live shot of him walking toward a DPS helicopter, then he was assisted arm in arm by a DPS swat officer.

First, I am glad he is okay. Later we learned he was doing drug interdiction in the desert 60 miles south of Phoenix and found bales of pot. Then, so far second hand from their spokes people, 5 men, 2 armed with long rifles come onto the scene and shot him. They disappeared into the desert and a MASSIVE search is underway. BIG difference from the headline, huh. Even Sheriff Joe pulled his immigration task force from a inner city neighborhood to assist. He pulled his 150 deputies that were hassling working people to grab a headline.

So far all evening it has been "shoot em all, all the illegals." Most people only heard the first news flash.

IT IS BAD HERE! Hate so thick you can cut it with a knife.

In case you were wondering, I am a 5th generation Az native/citizen whose family helped found this state. An, oh ya, I am Latino.

[liberalla]

49. Yes, sure is a headline grabber, huh?

I do question the veracity of the story. In the reports I've seen, the deputy was working alone. (who's to doubt his version of the events?) On Channel 9 news (in Tucson) they said the bullet from an AK-47 grazed him. (Talk about the gang who couldn't shoot straight!)

That's one LUCKY guy.

If you wanted to get headlines and momentum for your cause, this is a good way to do it. I'm glad the guy is OK. I hope his story is verified.

[WolverineDG]

53. the bullshit's even deeper than I thought

if he truly came across a guarded load of pot, he wouldn't have gotten close enough to see what it was. He would have been taken out long before that.

dg

[jillan]

36. The timing of this is very suspicious...I can't help but feel that way.

[marshall]

42. Watch for more to come

Tensions are running high, and traffic is heavy.

[Hulk]

38. Should read the Yahoo threads on this one.

I can't believe the number of dumb ass Americans claiming this new fascist law in AZ would address JUST THIS SORT OF THING.

Good God, we are SUCH A F*CKED UP NATION OF MORONS!!

I'm at a loss for words on this one. I think it's just hopeless. I'm ashamed to be an American...again.

[paulsby]

97. merika sucks and merkuns are dumb post

yet again

sure, america sux.

it's SO much worse

oh wait, countries like belgium require everybody over 15 to have ID at all times.

if you are not carrying ID, THAT ALONE *is a crime*.

miterrand's govt (a socialist) authorized french police to carry out essentially RANDOM ID checks. note: even arizona's new law doesn't do that.

and look at the disparity :
"A study carried out in 2007-08 by Rene Levy and Fabien Jobard of the Paris-based Center for Sociological Research on Law and Penal Institutions showed that Paris police were far more than likely to ask young blacks and Arabs than white people for their identification. Their study of 525 stop checks at major train and subway stations showed that people of Arabic appearance were up to 14.8 times more likely than whites to be asked for ID. Those perceived to be black, meanwhile, were up to 11.5 times more likely to be stopped than whites. Only 14 percent of those asked for ID were then taken to a police station for further checks or a suspected offense. "

but it's MERIKA THAT SUCKS. we are SO much worse. lol

furthermore, in france, merely INSULTING an officer is a crime.


any # of european countries proposing to or already have banning burqas.


but WE are SO much worse

[east texas lib]

99. It's tough having to live in the Great Satan, ya' know?

:thumbsup: ;)So tough.

[xsquid]

102. I'm glad tro see there's at least someone here that knows something about the world.

he tgnorant poster you responded to obviosly has never been anywhere if he truly believes we are not one of the most lax nations out there.

[alp227]

45. This is tragic, but not to be exploited politically/racially

Thank you to those who point out that the drug traffickers=not your AVERAGE illegal immigrant.

[tavalon]

48. What if this is a play in the fascist playbook?

I suppose it is theoretically possible to get a single superficial wound from an AK47 rather than 10 killing holes but it is really unlikely. I suppose that sheriff would be out in the desert by himself with no backup but it is really unlikely. And deciding that it was an illegal immigrant before the AZ dust even settles in this event is well, unsettling. If this really happened the way were being told, my sympathy and support goes out to the sheriff. But, if this was a political, false flag, game, then I'm not going to allow it to stand.

Do you remember how they knew who the hijackers who flew into the twin towers were so quickly and they said, at first, it was because they found passports littering the ground? They walked that one back quickly because it was just stupid. And remember the girl who said she was canvassing for McCain and was mugged and a backwards B was scratched onto her face by Obama supporters? This smells surprisingly similar.

I'm not willing to allow nationalism or patriotism blind me to the possibility that this is just a cheap, poorly executed trick that came in just in time to save Gov. Brewer.

[ArizonaLiberal]

57. Believe me, I thought the same thing..........

The Az rancher who was shot and killed on his border ranch really inflamed the public. While I mourn the loss of life, my girlfriend is from that area. She remembers ranchers capturing and torturing border crosses through the years. If charged, they were acquitted. All the reactionaries assumed it was an border crosser and we have felt the anger. They still have NO CLUE who did it, but all the state is feeling the wrath.

ps He was known to shoot at border crossers.

[tavalon]

58. Well, I hate to Godwin this thread but,

it seems the illegal alien is the new Jew.

[ArizonaLiberal]

60. Not new in this state.....

Invoking Godwin's law has nothing to do with a discussion of racism in Az. Wrong is wrong.

[pundaint]

59. All I know for sure is that the timing was good for the anti-brown side. I wont

be believing any part of the story for a while yet.

[Justitia]

68. The story gets more & more bizarre. A "graze" from an AK-47? No shooters found?

But the lone deputy labels them as "illegal immigrants" - how does he know that?

Lost communications for some period of time.....

The follow up will certainly be interesting.

[The Magistrate]

69. To Be Fair To the Deputy, Ma'am, Those Words Were From A Sheriff's Office Spokesperson

But there is a 'curiouser and curiouser' element to the developing tale....

[ArizonaLiberal]

70. Thought i would share what many in my community are saying.....

"Hey mijo, tell me if you think this is strange. Okay, Mexicans coming across the border with drugs (marijuana) happen to be in a shoot out with a deputy in Pinal County the same county as outspoken anti-immigrant pro-SB1070 Sheriff Paul Babau. Why not closer to the border with Mexico? That would be the area of anti-SB1070 Tucson Sheriff right? They make it all the way over to this part of the county and a shoot out happens. A shoot out with cuernos de chivo and the deputy only gets a scrap on the ass? The Apache Helicopter ready to look for the suspects, they couldn't even scramble jets on 911!! They were not caught where there is more border patrol, right? Moving drugs during the day? ok? In time to make the 5 o'clock news? The day after Shakira is in town? What is a 15 year veteran working that shift and old one at that 54? Those guys work early and get off early. Lies, Lies and big fat LIES.... Just wondering what you thought? Let me know."

[liberalla]

72. Yes, I think it's strange.

It'll be very interesting to see how this story plays out. Even if there were smugglers encountered by the deputy, this needs to be called drug smuggling, and not "illegal immigration." Two very different things.

The solution for noncitizens seeking to enter the U.S. is nothing like the solution for border violence and drug wars/smuggling.

It's convenient for the right to be outraged and treat them all as violent criminals.

[havocmom]

77. Yeah, when I read the AP report, I thought: A) framing subject & B) set up

It was a PR stunt by the pro Papers Please squad.

[Democat]

71. Have they arrested any suspects?

If not, then why do they think they are illegal? Because they were "brown"?

[joshcryer]

95. A legal immigrant would not risk their citizenship on smuggling. A natural born citizen would not...

...trek across the back country, they'd drive right through the border.

This is simple stuff folks. The back country trekkers are highly unlikely to be legal citizens. I cannot believe the thread is disputing this.

[EFerrari]

101. What makes you think smugglers are interested in immigration?

[pinboy3niner]

100. Arizona Republic: Violence is Not Up on Arizona Border

Local law enforcement officers dispute claims by Sen. John McCain and others that border violence is increasing--and crime stats back them up. It's just politics, they say.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x8258127