IPFS Dave Hodges

More About: Bill of Rights

Sinema Productions: Punishing the Victim

Do the citizens of this State have to watch our elected officials every moment of the day to ensure that we are not going to fall prey to their desires to eliminate citizen input and stomp on our civil liberties while they play God with our lives? It seems as if the government is not trying to declare people such as myself to be lobbyists, they are trying to restrict basic constitutional liberties such as the right to self-defense.

The following is an open letter which I wrote to State Representative Sinema (D) on 1/20/2007. I would encourage all who agree with the sentiments expressed here to contact Ms. Sinema. The contact information is listed in the body of my letter.

_____________________________________________

To The Honorable Ms. Sinema,

Arizona State Legislature

State House of Representatives

Dear Representative Sinema,

I am shocked by your proposed legislation, HB 2286. I am greatly concerned about the entire bill. However, I am gravely disturbed by the following section in the proposed legislation.

....."A. AN INDIVIDUAL OR GROUP OF INDIVIDUALS COMMITS DOMESTIC TERRORISM IF THE INDIVIDUAL OR GROUP OF INDIVIDUALS ARE NOT AFFILIATED WITH A LOCAL, STATE OR FEDERAL LAW ENFORCEMENT ENTITY AND ASSOCIATE WITH ANOTHER INDIVIDUAL OR GROUP OF INDIVIDUALS AS AN ORGANIZATION, GROUP, CORPORATION OR COMPANY FOR THE PURPOSE OF PATROLLING TO DETECT ALLEGED ILLEGAL ACTIVITY OR TO INDIVIDUALLY PATROL FOR THE PURPOSE OF DETECTING ALLEGED ILLEGAL ACTIVITY AND IF THE INDIVIDUAL OR GROUP OF INDIVIDUALS IS ARMED WITH A FIREARM OR OTHER WEAPON" (emphasis added)..............

Sponsored by: Kyrsten Sinema, Democrat District 15 - Phone Number: (602) 926-5058 Fax Number: (602) 417-3015

Email Address: ksinema@azleg.gov

As an aside, I would like to mention that I do not have a dog in this fight. For example, I do not belong to the Minutemen. However, I do recognize the right, as Thomas Jefferson did, for Americans to take their self-defense into their own hands when the government does not act in the interest of the people.

While it is true that most people that break our immigration laws, by illegally crossing our border, will not likely engage in violent and property crimes against our citizens. However, enough of this group has engaged in such acts, that strict border forcement should be a concern to every American including yourself.

I would be willing to bet that most of your constitutents expected that when they elected you, that when would you cast your eyes to the South, you see real borders instead of political opportunity; and that the strict enforcement of our immigration laws would not be optional. Instead of pushing for strong border enforcement, as you should be, you are punishing the potential victims of crime eminating from groups that are illegally in this country.

Aside from the fact that you are flirting with political suicide due to the anti-American nature of your proposed bill, I am shocked and outraged at your total lack of concern for the health, safety and welfare of American citizens whose properties lie adjacent to the border with Mexico. It is no secret that there exist illegal aliens which are well-armed, very violent and are sometimes involved in criminal enterprises such as drug dealing. And now you want to deny the right of Americans to protect themselves? How many Americans will be robbed, raped and murdered until politicians like yourself realize whose interests you were elected to serve? Newflash, Ms Sinema, America and Arizona want orderly immigration!

I have witnessed, firsthand, the behaviors that some of these "undocumented migrants" have engaged in as more than a few have rummaged and pillaged their way through the private lands of American citizens. Under the auspices of the United States and the Arizona State governments, the protection afforded to American victims of crime resulting from illegal border crossings has been negligent, at best! And amazingly, you seek to remove the last bastion of support that many of these victims have in the defense of their properties and personal safety.

You say that the intended target of this bill is the Minutemen. However, under your bill, I, or anyone else, could be arrested and imprisoned for daring to protect my property and family with armed force. If Farmer Jones drives out to the barn in order to see who is disturbing his farm animals, and he takes his shotgun in case he meets with armed force, Farmer Jones would be guilty of a felony and would be imprisoned under your proposed legislation.

What would you tell the good residents of Southern Arizona? Would you tell them that they should just passively sit back and continue to be silent victims to those who continue to plunder their resources?

Please don't tell Southern Arizona residents that they must practice restraint by calling the Border Patrol or local law enforcement to remove illegal aliens from their private property. I am certain that you are aware of the case of Border Patrol Agents Jose Compean and Ignacio Ramos who are headed to prison for daring to protect the integrity of our borders. No doubt you are familiar with the recent case of the National Guard Unit which was overrun by illegal alien Mexican, drug-dealing forces as they opened fire on the American soldiers. These are American soldiers who are not allowed to carry bullets in their guns and were subsequently forced to retreat in order to save their own lives. Sadly, we know that our soldiers run the risk of being killed in Iraq. However, it is hard to accept the fact that liberal politicians, such as yourself, are forcing American soldiers to run the risk of being killed by Mexican drug dealers in Lukeville, Arizona! We indeed live in a State which is increasingly being turned upside down.

It is bad enough that like-minded politicians, such as yourself, have needlessly put the brave men and women of the Border Patrol and National Guard in jeopardy, now you seek to disarm and criminalize Americans who are rightfully defending their personal interests?

I know, Ms. Sinema, you will equate the actions of groups such as the Minutemen with out- of-control vigilantism. You will cry for law enforcement to be allowed to do their job and ask for the public's cooperation. However, your liberal friends have effectively neutered law enforcement. Now you are trying to deprive American citizens of their right to self-defense.

No doubt you are pandering to a population that you believe will soon receive amnesty and could constitute many of your future constituents. No question that your corporate, campaign contributors are very pleased with the fact that you are doing your very best to keep the hordes of cheap labor workers flowing into the country. Let's just put our true cards on the table, shall we? HB 2286 is about political posturing, not ensuring the welfare of the public.

Are most of the illegal aliens violent? As I said earlier they are not! However, this is a moot point as there have been scores of indcidents where Americans have been the victims of criminal elements illegally crossing our border. And God help us when one of these law breakers is, in actuality, a terrorist armed with anthrax or a suit case nuclear bomb.

At the end of the day, Ms. Sinema, I wonder what was going through your mind when you swore to uphold the Constitution of the United States which included the protection of America from all enemies, domestic and foreign. Shame on you and shame on your liberal colleagues for continuing the degradation of this once great country.

My colleagues and I may not be able to defeat your bill, however, you can count on the fact that we will do our best to make your very anti-American and very liberal views known to all the constituents in Arizona's Legislative District 15.

Yours in Freedom,

Dave Hodges
Chairman
Constitution Party of Arizona
azconstitutionparty@yahoo.com

2 Comments in Response to

Comment by Checkpoint USA
Entered on:
I pretty much agree with most of the sentiments in your article other than the quote below:

"I am certain that you are aware of the case of Border Patrol Agents Jose Compean and Ignacio Ramos who are headed to prison for daring to protect the integrity of our borders."

Agents Compean and Ramos aren't heading to prison for daring to protect the integrity of our borders. They're headed to prison for daring to shoot fifteen times at an unarmed man who was fleeing from them and posed no physical threat. One shot hit the man in the buttocks - a hard shot to make if he was facing them but an easy shot to make if he was turned away and fleeing.

Compean and Ramos are also going to prison for lying to investigators, failing to fill out required firearm discharge reports, filling out false reports and destroying evidence.

Compean and Ramos were both veteran agents well aware of the rule of law (or the lack thereof) and their agency's policies regarding pursuit, firearms discharge and reporting requiremens. If they didn't like these policies, they should have vented their frustrations in ways that didn't involve shooting an unarmed man in the back - regardless of how distasteful that man may have been.

Comment by Fascist Nation
Entered on:
One, you might want to send a similar letter/ e-mail to your two state legislators and state senator in your district.

Find your legiscritter's info

Finding your legislative district Place address in form at bottom left of web page.

Two, to add to the excellent commentary on this atrocious bill, four armed and combat hardened National Guardsmen just retreated when confronted by eight armed "Mexicans" crossing at the border. So, I think there is a need for anyone who wished to travel armed, especially near the border.


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