Michael: Sgt. Patrick Haab to pay for the 'Minuteman' PR Stunt
It never seems to be the idiot who is running with scissors that gets hurt; it's the innocent bystander that ends up getting stuck. In the case of the 'Minutemen' vigilantes, the guy who ends up perforated will almost certainly be army reservist and Iraq vet Seargent Patrick Haab who is accused of detaining 7 immigrants at a highway rest stop near Sentinel - nowhere near the border.I don't know what happened that night - only Haab and the 7 aliens know that - but I have no reason to prefer the aliens' version of events to that of one of our own soldiers. According to what Haab has said, he felt threatened and took the 7 foreign nationals into custody at gun point and contacted the Maricopa sheriff's office. According to Haab, he was not acting as part of the 'Minuteman Project' and had only limited awareness of that group's existence or activities.
Did Haab over-react? Maybe. He is on medication for battle stress. Did Haab act like a soldier, rather than a civilian? Likely. If he did, it may be understandable given the sort of missions our troops are asked to accomplish in the Iraq occupation. Was he being a knucklehead by fighting illegal immigration with a gun? I doubt it. Of course, the most important fact is that no one was injured in the incident - except possibly Haab. And this is where we get to the scissors and the idiots.
Under normal circumstances this incident probably wouldn't have even been a blip on the media's radar. It might have gotten a bare mention, but the Maricopa County Attorney's office would likely not be looking at charges given all the circumstances, and the national media certainly wouldn't have picked up the story. Because that bunch of weekend warriors are playing at being soldiers on the border everyone views Sgt. Haab's actions in a completely different, and very likely unjustified light. As a result of the 'Minutemen', a real soldier is jammed up; instead of training for Afghanistan, he's hiring lawyers in Arizona.
Great job 'Minutemen' - your PR stunt is really enhancing our national security.
posted by Michael Bryan @ 4/14/2005 08:21:00 PM
3 Comments:
On Larry Elder’s show Wednesday night Larry said that the minutemen had reduced criminal immigration by 75%!. Or the rate of criminals crossing the border was only 25% of what it had been before the Minuteman Project! Sounds very positive!
Rod Stanton
The Mexican military staging a massive military op, ostensibly for drug interdiction, just south of the Arizona border is what is responsible for any drop in immigration. If there even is any. The border patrol is reporting the same level of interdictions as this time last year. If that is a reliable guide to the level of immigration, the 'Minutemen' haven't done anything but garner ink.
Reservist cleared of all charges
Patrick Haab is a free man. Haab, 24, was arrested April 10 by Maricopa County sheriff's deputies at a rest stop along I-8 after Haab had held seven illegal immigrants at gunpoint. Haab said he thought he was in danger. After looking at the evidence, Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas concluded Haab was making a citizen's arrest, stopping people he saw violating federal law. The real saving grace for Haab was that one of the illegals was a coyote - a human smuggler - which is a federal felony. Thomas says if the men weren't here illegally, Haab would be facing felony charges of his own. Thomas is repeatedly cautioning people not to start rounding up immigrants at Home Depot. He says actions like that will be dealt with severely.
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