February 17th 2009
Arizona Rancher Almost Cleared … But Not Quite
R
oger Barnett, the Arizona rancher who tried to protect his ranch against a human wave of illegal immigrants and ruffled a lot of feathers in the process was almost completely exonerated by a jury hearing a $32 million lawsuit against him … but you wouldn’t know that from the AP coverage.
Barnett was cleared of all the human rights violation charges and most others, but the jury ordered him to pay $77,804 in damages – $60,000 of which were punitive – on assault and emotional distress charges. The jurors didn’t seem to mind that the “assault” involved no, or virtually no physical contact and that the emotional distress came from being detained by an armed man until immigration authorities came to collect them.
Under those terms, the illegals could successfully bring charges against ICE.
The AP story never mentions the amount of the original claim, so there is no context against which to measure the $77,000 settlement. For the math impaired, the illegals got two-tenths of one percent of what they asked for – so I guess you could say Barnett was two-tenths of one percent guilty.
AP calls Barnett a “controversial figure” because he is “known for patrolling his ranch property and area highways and roads, often with his wife and brothers, on the lookout for illegal immigrants.” When did it become controversial for a citizen to want the laws enforced, to protect their property?
AP sums up Barnett’s claims about damages caused by illegals as:
Barnett’s lawyers argued that his land was inundated with illegal immigrants who left trash on his property, damaged his water supply and harmed his cattle.
They left out stealing his vehicles, breaking into his home, and defecating all over the place.
A word of advice to any illegals thinking about crossing Barnett’s property on the way to the promised land: Don’t expect this ruling to stymie Barnett’s work.
Posted in Immigration | 2 Comments » | |
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February 18th, 2009 at 12:41 pm
He “rents” the land for $2 a head of cattle? He is basically a welfare recipient of the taxpayer -NOT a “ranch” owner. Another good’ol boy soaking it to the tax payer. This land should go back to the public – it is not worth the pittance in “rent” this dead beat pays.
February 18th, 2009 at 3:25 pm
“Go back to the taxpayer?” What does that mean?! It has been legally in private ownership since forever so how does it go back? You socialists are pathetic. I’ll bet you don’t own any property, do you Jason?