Arizona-Mexico Border News >>
Besieged ranchers want action on border violence
Politicians, farm groups decry murder of Arizona rancher
Game and Fish officer, 2 others fired upon near border
Besieged ranchers want action on border violence
Written by Glen Creno
Published by The Arizona Republic, pg B1
© Wednesday, April 14, 2010.
Ranchers fed up with border violence in southern Arizona are demanding action to close the border and restore order in what they called a lawless area ruled by criminals.
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Photo by Nick Oza/The Arizona Republic
Former U.S. Rep. J.D. Hayworth (left) and Bisbee rancher Tom Kay listen to Douglas-area rancher Don Kimble (center) during a news conference Tuesday at the Capitol in which an Arizona ranching group offered a plan to crack down on border crime.
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ranching group delivered a plan at an event at the Capitol for confronting drug and human smuggling, extortion and kidnapping and eliminating the murders that go with them. Their demands come in the wake of the slaying of Robert Krentz, 58, on his ranch near Douglas last month.
But ranchers say the problem has been festering for years.
"Southern Arizona is a war zone controlled by outside criminal forces," said Patrick Bray of the Arizona Cattlemen's Association.
The organization's 18-point plan for attacking crime along the border asks local, state and federal agencies for assistance. Members said they don't care which side of the political aisle it comes from. The full text of the plan is available at www.azcattlemens assoc.org.
Ideas include prosecuting as a felon anyone coming into the U.S. illegally, banning them from ever working or living in the country, authorizing the use of force to intercept vehicles and aircraft entering the country illegally, putting active military and National Guard units along the border, and adding more than 3,000 Border Patrol agents in Arizona by 2011.
Ginger Niesen of Phoenix was there to back the ranchers, saying theirs is a difficult enough way to make a living without the threat of attack.
"They're sitting ducks out there," Niesen said. "They're scared in their homes."
Gary Thrasher, a Hereford cattle veterinarian, said the glossy Arizona Highways magazine images of southern Arizona no longer are realistic. He said the border has effectively been moved north, into southern Arizona, and the territory has been "ceded to a bunch of criminals."
Douglas-area rancher Don Kimble described an invasion of armed people hauling contraband.
"The last 10 years, it's gotten steadily worse," Kimble said.
The group announced its plan at a midday news conference at the state Capitol on Tuesday. The event was supposed to be held outdoors, but protesters opposing new immigration measures moving through the Legislature banged on drums, chanted and shouted into bullhorns, forcing the event inside to a state Senate meeting room.
The protesters said they were there to oppose state Sen. Russell Pearce, R-Mesa, and his immigration legislation.
Politicians, farm groups decry murder of Arizona rancher
Written by WMI Staff reporters Sean Dieterich & Mike Leiby
Published by White Mountain Independent, pg 13A
© Friday, April 2, 2010.
The murder of a respected rancher in southern Arizona Sunday has state lawmakers calling on the federal government to step in and help secure the border with Mexico. "The murder of Cochise County rancher Rob Krentz this last weekend should not have happened and was preventable," said Arizona Farm Bureau President Kevin Rogers in a news release almost immediately following the incident. Krentz was 58.
Rogers said the ranching and farming community along the border has been asking for a more secure border for years now. "Our members are the ones who see the illegal traffic including drug and human cargo smuggling coming across their farms and ranches," Rogers explained. "It is time for the federal government to fix this problem before another one of our ranch or farm families are injured or killed. No family should have to endure what the Krentz family is experiencing."
Rogers said congressional inaction is not acceptable any longer. "The border needs to be secured," he said, noting that in his opinion fixing the worker visa program is a part of that quest for greater security.
"If this tragedy is connected to smuggling from Mexico, swift action is needed to make sure this will not lead to an escalation in Arizona of the violence associated with the drug cartel brutality now just south of our border. Until Congress addresses securing the border, all necessary resources should be focused on Arizona's border," concluded Rogers.
Gov. Jan Brewer again called for action from the federal government to increase public safety along Arizona's border through the addition of National Guard soldiers and airmen following Krentz's murder, but made her initial request for additional help to U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates on March 11, 2009. This was followed by a joint letter from four border governors to congressional leaders on April 22, 2009.
Since then, federal officials have neither denied nor fulfilled the request. But in the wake of Krentz's murder early Sunday morning, Arizonans were once again reminded of the abject failure of the U.S. Congress and President Barack Obama to adequately provide public safety along the national border with Mexico, Brewer said in a news release. Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick said law enforcement should be given the tools they need to keep anything like the Krentz murder from happening again.
"At this point, it remains unclear who is responsible for the tragic murder of Robert Krentz," she said in a news release. "What is clear is that Americans are increasingly at risk from the growing bloodshed and lawlessness along the border. If Mr. Krentz's death was related to Mexican drug cartel and smuggling activities, it would be a drastic escalation of their violence and would require an immediate and direct response.
"Federal, state and local authorities should work together to track down whoever committed this horrible crime so they can be swiftly brought to justice. In the meantime, there needs to be a serious discussion of what more can be done to keep our citizens safe.
"Our law enforcement must have the resources they need to protect us and to crack down on the cartels, and every option has to be considered to ensure they can get the job done - including the use of the National Guard. My thoughts and prayers are with Mr. Krentz's family and the ranching community at this difficult time."
Krentz's body was found before midnight Saturday on his 35,000-acre ranch about 35 miles northeast of Douglas, according to an Associated Press story. His brother reported earlier in the day that he had lost radio contact with Krentz, the AP reported.
At a news conference Monday, Cochise County Sheriff Larry Dever said Krentz was out checking water lines and fences on land his family has ranched since 1907. Krentz was armed, having weapons with him in his all-terrain vehicle, but Dever said he didn't use them.
The AP reported that investigators said Krentz apparently came upon one person when he was shot. Krentz was reportedly heard telling his brother "illegal alien" on the radio earlier Saturday.
Authorities said the area where the murder took place is a known smuggling corridor.
Krentz was still in his vehicle, mortally wounded, but he managed to drive the ATV away from the scene at a high rate of speed before becoming unconscious. The ATV still had its lights on and the engine running when authorities found it, the AP said.
Footprints were identified and followed about 20 miles south to the Mexico border by sheriff's deputies, U.S. Border Patrol trackers and Department of Corrections dog chase teams, authorities said.
The sheriff's office said Krentz's body was transported to the Cochise County Medical Examiner's Office for an autopsy to determine an approximate time of death. So far, no suspects have been identified and no arrests have been made.
"We are assuming he escaped south into Mexico," Dever said of the shooter in the AP story.
Dever also told a Tucson newspaper that while investigators have not determined a motive yet, retaliation has been raised as a possibility. The day before the shooting, the victim's brother, Phil Krentz, reported drug smuggling activity on the ranch to the Border Patrol, the AP reported.
Agents found 290 pounds of marijuana on the ranch and followed tracks to where they found and arrested eight illegal immigrants, the AP said. All were still in custody when the shooting occurred, the Arizona Daily Star reported.
House Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., the representative for Arizona's 8th District in which the murder took place, issued a statement. She said Krentz's killing is a horrible tragedy that deserves a "swift and strong response," the AP said.
"The cold-blooded killing of an Arizona rancher is a sad and sobering reminder of the threats to public safety that exist in our border communities," she said. "It has not yet been determined who committed this atrocity or why, but I know that federal and local authorities are mobilizing every possible resource to locate and apprehend the assailant."
Giffords added if Krentz's killing is connected to drug cartels or smugglers, the federal government should respond appropriately. "All options should be on the table, including sending more Border Patrol agents to the area and deploying the National Guard."
Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard said government has a clear responsibility to assist law enforcement at all levels along the border with Mexico, the AP reported.
"I call on our federal and state governments to work together to bolster the law enforcement resources needed to better protect Arizonans living on the border," he said.
Meanwhile, Brewer joined Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., in calling for federal officials to send more National Guard troops to the Mexican border, the AP reported.
"The federal government must do all it can within its power to curb this violence and protect its citizens from criminals coming across the border from Mexico," McCain wrote in a letter to Homeland Security Secretary and former Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano, the AP said.
Sens. Jeff Bingaman and Tom Udall and Rep. Harry Teague of New Mexico said Napolitano's agency needs to take more security steps and increase the Border Patrol's presence in the area of New Mexico along the border, the AP concluded.
The Arizona Cattlemen's Association also put out a news release Tuesday, stating Krentz's murder was a "terrible tragedy" and the thoughts and prayers of the organization are with the Krentz family.
"Rob Krentz and his family have been long-time members of the association and have always been willing to help those in need," the release stated. "The Krentz family has been stewards of the land for over 100 years constantly adapting to the changing environment. The ranching community will certainly miss cattlemen Rob Krentz."
The Arizona Cattlemen's Association said Krentz's dog was with him at the time of the murder and was shot to death as well. They said the Arizona Cattle Growers' Association is offering a $15,000 reward for information leading the arrest of those involved.
A memorial fund for Robert Krentz has been set up at Wells Fargo, the release said. Donations to the fund can be made at any Wells Fargo Bank with account number 5560960899.
©WMICentral 2010
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Game and Fish officer, 2 others fired upon near border
Written by Arizona Game and Fish Department
Published by NavApache Independent, pg 2B
© Friday, June 26, 2009.
Three government agency employees, including an officer with the Arizona Game and Fish Department, another Game and Fish employee, and an employee with Pima County Natural Resources, Parks and Recreation, were fired upon June 11 by a group of men they encountered while scouting the area for a land access project in southern Arizona. None of the agency employees were injured.
The three were riding all-terain vehicles (ATVs) on a road through a small canyon area about four miles east of Arivaca Lake when they
Photo by David Mangum
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encountered a group described as at least four Hispanic males dressed in camoflage.
According to Leonard Ordway, supervisor for Game and Fish's Tucson region, two of the individuals in camoflage immediately fled a short distance up a hill and dropped down in the grass upon encounter, while the agency employees backed out of the immediate vicinity and regrouped.
After a few minutes, the Game and Fish officer crept up a small rise a short distance from the road to look over the scene with binoculars. He observed two other males in camoflage in the areas, but in a different direction from the first two. He then started back down the hill to return to the ATVs.
"As he started back down to the quads, a gunshot coming from the direction where the first two individuals had fled impacted the ground about 10 feet behind him," said Ordway.
The three agency employees immediately departed the area and notified Game and Fish Radio Dispatch, which in turn notified the Border Patrol, Pima County Sheriff's Office, and the Arizona Department of Public Safety.
About 30-40 law enforcement personnel, aided by three helicopters, were on site within 45 minutes to search the area and investigate the scene. They were not able to find the suspects.
"We're thankful no one was hurt," said Game and Fish Director Larry Voyles. "Our law enforcement officers and other field personnel often work in remote areas, and yesterday's incident serves as a reminder of the potential dangers that they - and personnel from other agencies - face in areas near the border."
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2009-2010 Arizona Quail Season
Mearns' Quail: November 27th 2009 - February 7th 2010
Gambel's and Scaled Quail: October 2nd 2009 - February 7th 2010
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