Illegal immigrants awarded ranch in border-justice twist

He was there to protect his land from the onslaught of illegal immigrants who might cross the border to work on ranches like his, or maybe in the exoburb homes of wealthy people further north.

The rancher was standing his ground with like-minded zealots participating in the xenophobic militia-like group called Ranch Rescue. If the wrong person "invaded" America, he and his cadre of armed "patriots" were prepared to take the law into their own hands.

And it seems the rancher from Arizona got his man – and then reportedly bashed him with his gun. The Associated Press reports:

In March 2003, (Casey) Nethercott was accused of pistol-whipping an illegal immigrant as he and other people from Ranch Rescue patrolled a ranch in Hebbronville, Texas. A jury deadlocked on the charge.

Edwin Alfredo Mancía Gonzáles, the man who accused Nethercott of hitting him, and another immigrant traveling with him from El Salvador, Fátima del Socorro Leiva Medina, filed a civil lawsuit last year saying they were harmed while being held.

Ranch Rescue and like-minded vigilante groups, such as the Minuteman Civil Defense Corp., have garnered a lot of mainstream press for displays of gun-toting machismo along the U.S./Mexican border.

Rarely, though, do those reports discuss the history of violence that has accompanied such forms of mob “justice” in Texas:

In the American Southwest, people of Mexican descent were also prey to mob violence, as evidenced by the lynching of Antonio Rodriquez on November 3, 1910, in Rock Springs, Texas.  Allegedly, Rodriquez had killed a white woman by the name of Mrs. Clem Hernderson after the two had had an argument.  

Rumors circulated that he had committed the murder in front of Mrs. Henderson's five year old daughter.  

His guilt was based solely upon her husband's third-hand description of the suspect delivered over the telephone and most likely Rodriquez was the victim of a tragic case of mistaken identity.  In any event, the young cowboy was captured, taken a mile outside of town, tied to a mesquite cactus, doused in kerosene, and burned alive.

Widely publicized in the Mexican press, the lynching in Texas led to large anti-American demonstrations in both Mexico City and Guadalajara.  

Coverage of the lynching and the reaction to it was wildly sensationalized.  The newspapers at the capitol of Mexico demanded 'Where is the boasted Yankee civilization?'"

In Texas, the publicity of the lynching provoked even more attacks on Mexicans. Because Mexicans "displayed an impudent attitude" they were attacked in Galveston. In construction camps and ranches in Webb, Duval, LaSalle, Dimmit and Starr Counties, Anglos attacked Mexicans who were reportedly "sullen and threatening since the burning of Rodriquez at Rock Springs."

Still, seemingly ignorant of this history of injustice, or maybe even recklessly unconcerned with whether it is repeated, these borderline fascist groups continue to broadcast their skewed, inflammatory rhetoric, which is usually reported uncritically and without historical context by the media.

More from the AP story:

"If the federal government was doing its job, ranchers would not be living in fear," said Chris Simcox, president of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corp., which watches for illegal immigrant crossings and reports them to the U.S. Border Patrol.

Now, does that mean the illegal immigrants are reported before or after a good pistol whipping?

At least in the Ranch Rescue case, it appears that the pistol-whipping was part of a pre-reporting border-protection protocol.

AP reports:

Named in the (civil) suit were Nethercott; Jack Foote, the founder of Ranch Rescue; and the owners of the Hebbronville ranch, Joe and Betty Sutton.

The Suttons settled for $100,000… . In April, a Texas judge issued default judgments of $850,000 against Nethercott and $500,000 against Foote.

But it seems Nethercott was not exactly flush with case. So his little display of border-patrol machismo cost him the ranch.

In order to satisfy the judgment against him, according to AP, Nethercott was forced to turn over his ranch in Douglas, Az., to the two border crossers he allegedly “terrorized.” Ironically, AP reports, the Douglas ranch once served as the headquarters of Ranch Rescue – ouch!

Again, from the AP story:

The land transfer is being done to satisfy a judgment against the ranch's owner, Casey Nethercott, member of a border-watch group that seeks to protect private property from illegal immigrants entering the southern U.S. border. Nethercott had been accused of terrorizing the immigrants when they were caught in Texas.

... Nethercott (had) transferred ownership of his Douglas ranch to his sister. But the sister gave up ownership to settle the judgment.

Border-watch groups were “outraged,” AP reports. But not everyone sees it that way.

“Morris Dees, co-founder and chief trial counsel of the Southern Poverty Law Center, which represented the immigrants, said he hoped the ruling would serve as a cautionary tale to land owners or civilian patrols considering hostile measures against border crossers,” the AP story reports.

But regardless of how the media paints it, the bottom line is that the price for the ranch in this case was paid in blood. It’s just another reminder that if Texas history could be poured into the Rio Grande, the river would run red across the border.

In that context, it's clear that human rights have to trump property rights, if we are to have any hope of changing the course of that history.