Ugly specter of vigilantism

Monday, Nov. 27, 2006 | 7:18 a.m.

Last week a civil court ordered an anti-illegal immigration activist to pay $98,000 to a Mexican-American family of hunters whom the man had threatened with an assault rifle and insulted with racial slurs.

Roger Barnett, who owns or leases from the government 22,000 acres of ranchland near the U.S.-Mexico border in southeast Arizona, was sued by Ronald Morales and Morales' father. The men said they were hunting with three of their children in October 2004 when Barnett threatened them and called them names as they legally crossed some of the land he leases from the state.

The Moraleses are U.S. citizens of Mexican descent. Barnett is a well-known activist who has boasted on national news programs of detaining numerous illegal immigrants on the land he owns or leases.

According to a recent story by The New York Times, Barnett routinely packs a pistol and an assault rifle and is ``known for dressing in military garb and caps with insignia resembling the United States Border Patrol's.''

The Morales lawsuit was jointly sponsored by the Border Action Network, an immigrant rights group, and the Southern Poverty Law Center. Barnett and his family are ``probably more than any people in the country, responsible for the vigilante movement as it now exists,'' a Southern Poverty Law Center official told the Times.

Barnett's knee-jerk reaction to the Morales family shows his actions were based on appearances rather than facts. He may be the best-known activist, but he is not the only one.

Some self-proclaimed border watchers, such as the Minutemen, follow U.S. Border Patrol requests that they simply report sightings of those crossing the border illegally without detaining anyone. Detaining people, such as Barnett has boasted of doing, isn't legal and should never be allowed.

It would be frustrating for a landowner to watch people enter the country illegally on his soil. But vigilante justice is not the answer. The case involving the Morales family shows just how easy it is to misjudge people. With the firearms that were involved, all parties are fortunate that no one was injured. Securing our borders is a job for the government and not the duty of gun-toting activists.