Newspaper Page Text
4A Saturday, October 27, 2018
The Times, Gainesville, Georgia | gainesvilletimes.com
NATION/POLITICS
Militia offering to stop caravan raises concern
RODRIGO ABD I Associated Press
Central American migrants traveling with a caravan to the U.S. crowd onto a tractor, Oct. 24, as they make their
way to Mapastepec, Mexico.
BY NOMAAN MERCHANT
Associated Press
HOUSTON — Militia groups
and far-right activists are raising
money and announcing plans to
head to the Mexican border to help
stop the caravan of Central Ameri
cans, echoing President Donald
Trump’s attacks on the migrants
making their way toward the U.S.
Exactly how many militia mem
bers will turn out is unclear, and
as of Friday, the caravan of about
4,000 people was still some 1,000
miles and weeks away from reach
ing this country.
But the prospect of armed
civilians at the border — and the
escalating political rhetoric over
immigration — have fueled fears
of vigilantism at a time when ten
sions are already running high
because of the mail bomb attacks
against some of Trump’s critics.
The U.S. Border Patrol this week
warned local landowners in Texas
that it expects “possible armed
civilians” to come onto their prop
erty because of the caravan.
Three activists told The Associ
ated Press that they were going
to the border or organizing oth
ers, and groups on Facebook have
posted dire warnings about the car
avan. One said it was “imperative
that we have boots on the ground.”
Another wrote: “WAR! SECURE
THE BORDER NOW!”
The militia members said they
plan to bring guns and equipment
such as bulletproof vests and lend a
hand to the Border Patrol to protect
against people unlawfully entering
the country.
“They’re just laughing in our
face,” said Shannon McGauley,
president of the Texas Minutemen.
“It’s a free-for-all in America.”
McGauley said he already has
members at three points of the
state’s border with Mexico and
expects to add 25 to 100 more peo
ple in the coming days.
Border watch groups and mili
tias have been patrolling the 2,000-
mile southern boundary off and on
for more than a decade. Typically,
the groups watch for people ille
gally crossing into the U.S. When
they spot crossers, they contact the
Border Patrol.
Their presence has led to con
flict in some cases. A militia mem
ber killed two people in 2009 during
an invasion of what she thought was
a drug house near the border in Ari-
vaca, Arizona.
Residents in that same city have
been posting signs in recent weeks
warning that militia members are
not welcome.
The migrants’ northward trek
has led to an election-season furor
in the U.S., with Trump calling for
the Army to be sent to the border
and a Pentagon official saying the
administration will dispatch 800 or
more active-duty troops.
Border crossings, while rising
this year, are still far below the
numbers in previous decades. But
Harel Shapira, a University of
Texas professor who was embed
ded with an Arizona militia from
2005 to 2008, said that what’s driv
ing militia groups is the way some
politicians have more recently
defined immigrants as “existential
‘The idea that we
could be invaded
not by illegal
immigrants but by
militia groups ...is
regrettable, and it
will end badly.’
Marianna Trevino Wright
South Texas resident
threats to a particular way of life.”
Monica Marin, an Oregon resi
dent, said she has raised about
$4,000 online to help militias buy
supplies. She argued that members
of the caravan are dangerous, echo
ing Trump’s claim that “unknown
Middle Easterners” are mixed in
with the crowd. There is no evi
dence to support those claims.
“I see young, fighting-age men
who do not look like they’re starv
ing. They look like they’re ready
to fight,” Marin said. At the same
time, she said: “We’re trained.
We’re not hotheads. We’re not out
there to shoot people.”
Marianna Trevino Wright, a
South Texas resident who is direc
tor of the nonprofit National Butter
fly Center, said she is more fearful
of the militias than the caravan.
“We go about our business here
every day in a peaceful manner,”
Wright said. “The idea that we
could be invaded not by illegal
immigrants but by militia groups
... is regrettable, and it will end
badly.”
Study: Online attacks on Jews set
to ramp up before Election Day
'7/CcC^^m
BY MICHAEL KUNZELMAN
Associated Press
COLLEGE PARK, Md.
— Far-right extremists have
ramped up an intimidating
wave of anti-Semitic harass
ment against Jewish jour
nalists, political candidates
and others ahead of next
month’s U.S. midterm elec
tions, according to a report
released Friday by a Jewish
civil rights group.
The Anti-Defamation
League’s report says its
researchers analyzed more
than 7.5 million Twitter mes
sages from Aug. 31 to Sept.
17 and found nearly 30 per
cent of the accounts repeat
edly tweeting derogatory
terms about Jews appeared
to be automated “bots.”
But accounts controlled
by real-life humans often
mount the most “worrisome
and harmful” anti-Semitic
attacks, sometimes orches
trated by leaders of neo-Nazi
or white nationalist groups,
the researchers said.
“Both anonymity and
automation have been used
in online propaganda offen
sives against the Jewish
community during the 2018
midterms,” they wrote.
ADL national director and
CEO Jonathan Greenblatt
said the midterm elections
have been a “rallying point”
for far-right extremists to
organize efforts to spread
hate online.
“It’s a place where
extremists really have
felt emboldened,” Green
blatt said of social media
platforms.
Billionaire philanthropist
George Soros was a leading
subject of harassing tweets.
Soros is one of prominent
Democrats who had pipe
bombs sent to them this
week.
The ADL’s study con
cludes online disinformation
and abuse is disproportion
ately targeting Jews in the
U.S. “during this crucial
political moment.”
“Prior to the election of
President Donald Trump,
anti-Semitic harassment
and attacks were rare and
unexpected, even for Jewish
Americans who were promi
nently situated in the public
eye. Following his election,
anti-Semitism has become
normalized and harassment
is a daily occurrence,” the
report says.
The New York City-based
ADL has commissioned
other studies of online hate,
including a report in May
that estimated about 3 mil
lion Twitter users posted or
re-posted at least 4.2 million
anti-Semitic tweets in Eng
lish over a 12-month period
ending Jan. 28. An earlier
report from the group said
anti-Semitic incidents in
the U.S. previous year had
‘Both anonymity and automation
have been used in online
propaganda offensives against the
Jewish community during the 2018
midterms.’
Anti-Defamation League
reached the highest tally it
has counted in more than
two decades.
For the latest report,
researchers interviewed five
Jewish people, including two
recent political candidates,
who had faced “human-
based attacks” against them
on social media this year.
Their experiences demon
strated that anti-Semitic
harassment “has a chilling
effect on Jewish Americans’
involvement in the public
sphere,” their report says.
TRUCKLOAD
CHICKEN SALE
Great Value on Delicious Chicken!
Breaded Chicken Tenders and Breast Filets
$15 per 10 lb Box
Saturday, October 27,2018 • 12pm - 7pm
Sunday, October 28,2018 • 9am - 3pm
St. Michael Catholic Church
1440 Pearce Circle • Gainesville
off Enota Dr. North of Old Food Lion
835 Oak Street, Gainesville, Georgia
http://lanier-hvac.net/
Cheapest Trane
in Georgia.
CALL US
678-943-1351
Your Comfort is
Our Priority!
Auto Insurance
Specialist
• Easy Payments
• Any Driver
• Any Age
NEW LOCATION!
2415 OLD CORNELIA HWY., GAINESVILLE
Next to Rabbittown Cafe
770-450-4500
GET READY TO
VOTE'
VOTING BEGINS 10.29.18
mf
