There's no upside to border vigilantism

There's no upside to border vigilantism

by digby

Ask yourself what will happen if a border patrol agent kills an armed militia member? We almost got to find out:
A border patrol agent fired several shots at an armed militia member while chasing a group of immigrants Friday near Brownsville, Texas.

Border Patrol Spokesman Omar Zamora told the Associated Press that agents were pursuing a group of immigrants when one agent spotted a man holding a gun near the Rio Grande.

The agent fired four shots but did not hit the man, Zamora said. The man then dropped his weapon and identified himself as a militia member.

The unidentified man was not arrested and appeared to have permission to be on private property where the incident occurred, Cameron County Sheriff Omar Lucio told the AP. Lucio, whose agency is involved in investigating the incident, said the man was wearing camouflage and was carrying either a rifle or shotgun.

The sheriff said militias really aren't needed at the Texas-Mexico border given the number of law enforcement agencies already working to secure the area.

"It just creates a problem from my point of view, because we don't know who they are," Lucio told the AP.
So you can't actually tell the "bad guys" from the "good guys" in these situations? Didn't they tell the undocumented migrants to wear black hats and the militia to wear white hats? No?

Lot's of things can happen when armed vigilantes decide to "help" the police. They can kill innocent people. They can kill a cop. And they can get themselves killed as well. An yes, down at the border, they might just kill some poor Latino who's crossing the border to work in a kitchen somewhere for next to nothing.

Is any of this worth someone dying over?

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