oldfart
Member
From FreeRepublic.com....
An FBI agent shot an acquaintance of a border watch group member while trying to serve an arrest warrant, FBI officials said Thursday.
The shooting happened about 11:15 p.m. Wednesday in a grocery store parking lot in Douglas along the southeastern Arizona border with Mexico.
According to the FBI, the agent was trying to serve an arrest warrant on Casey Nethercott of Douglas. Nethercott is a known member of Ranch Rescue, a group that works to protect private property along the southern U.S. border.
Ranch Rescue and several other unauthorized groups have been patrolling along the border looking for illegal immigrants, raising concerns among migrants rights groups about potential abuses.
At the time, Nethercott was with 22-year-old Kalen Riddle, also of Douglas.
Charlene Thornton, special agent in charge of the Phoenix FBI office, said that "actions taken by Nethercott and Riddle led one of the FBI agents to fire his weapon."
The FBI would not elaborate and said it won't release the name of the agent who fired the shot, in keeping with FBI policy.
Riddle was airlifted to a Tucson hospital, but FBI officials did not know his condition.
Nethercott was arrested Wednesday and is in federal custody. An FBI spokeswoman confirmed agents searched Nethercott's Douglas ranch on Thursday afternoon.
The warrant the FBI was trying to serve alleges that Nethercott threatened Border Patrol agents.
According to the warrant, Nethercott refused to pull over for Border Patrol agents on Aug. 31. After a slow-speed chase, the warrant said that Nethercott entered "a compound in Douglas occupied by members of Ranch Rescue." Riddle was identified as one of the people there.
Agents said the Ranch Rescue members were heavily armed and had night vision equipment.
After Border Patrol agents yelled for Nethercott to show his hands, the affidavit says Nethercott refused, and responded:
"I'm going to take care of this myself, we're going to have a shootout."
The affidavit does not say how the standoff ended.
There was no listing for Riddle in Douglas. A phone message left Thursday at a residence listed for Nethercott was not returned.
Nethercott, 37, has a criminal record. He was convicted of assault with a firearm in California and was on parole when he joined Ranch Rescue.
In June, he was also found guilty by a Texas jury of felony firearm possession. The jury was deadlocked on a second charge that accused Nethercott of pistol-whipping an illegal immigrant near a Texas ranch.
Douglas rancher Roger Barnett, who is not part of Ranch Rescue, supports the measures Nethercott took to stop illegal immigration.
He compared the shooting of Riddle to Branch Davidians, who fought federal agents in Waco, Texas.
"Citizens have to get out and protect themselves," Barnett said. "And this is what it leads to."
Bold emphasis is mine but who else sees a similarity here? Does anyone see a good ending here? Can we expect more of these situations in the future?
An FBI agent shot an acquaintance of a border watch group member while trying to serve an arrest warrant, FBI officials said Thursday.
The shooting happened about 11:15 p.m. Wednesday in a grocery store parking lot in Douglas along the southeastern Arizona border with Mexico.
According to the FBI, the agent was trying to serve an arrest warrant on Casey Nethercott of Douglas. Nethercott is a known member of Ranch Rescue, a group that works to protect private property along the southern U.S. border.
Ranch Rescue and several other unauthorized groups have been patrolling along the border looking for illegal immigrants, raising concerns among migrants rights groups about potential abuses.
At the time, Nethercott was with 22-year-old Kalen Riddle, also of Douglas.
Charlene Thornton, special agent in charge of the Phoenix FBI office, said that "actions taken by Nethercott and Riddle led one of the FBI agents to fire his weapon."
The FBI would not elaborate and said it won't release the name of the agent who fired the shot, in keeping with FBI policy.
Riddle was airlifted to a Tucson hospital, but FBI officials did not know his condition.
Nethercott was arrested Wednesday and is in federal custody. An FBI spokeswoman confirmed agents searched Nethercott's Douglas ranch on Thursday afternoon.
The warrant the FBI was trying to serve alleges that Nethercott threatened Border Patrol agents.
According to the warrant, Nethercott refused to pull over for Border Patrol agents on Aug. 31. After a slow-speed chase, the warrant said that Nethercott entered "a compound in Douglas occupied by members of Ranch Rescue." Riddle was identified as one of the people there.
Agents said the Ranch Rescue members were heavily armed and had night vision equipment.
After Border Patrol agents yelled for Nethercott to show his hands, the affidavit says Nethercott refused, and responded:
"I'm going to take care of this myself, we're going to have a shootout."
The affidavit does not say how the standoff ended.
There was no listing for Riddle in Douglas. A phone message left Thursday at a residence listed for Nethercott was not returned.
Nethercott, 37, has a criminal record. He was convicted of assault with a firearm in California and was on parole when he joined Ranch Rescue.
In June, he was also found guilty by a Texas jury of felony firearm possession. The jury was deadlocked on a second charge that accused Nethercott of pistol-whipping an illegal immigrant near a Texas ranch.
Douglas rancher Roger Barnett, who is not part of Ranch Rescue, supports the measures Nethercott took to stop illegal immigration.
He compared the shooting of Riddle to Branch Davidians, who fought federal agents in Waco, Texas.
"Citizens have to get out and protect themselves," Barnett said. "And this is what it leads to."
Bold emphasis is mine but who else sees a similarity here? Does anyone see a good ending here? Can we expect more of these situations in the future?