Archive: December 8, 2007

Pruitt's Protest: Report

Minutemen & Supporters,

Yesterday members of patriotic groups such as Patriots Border Alliance, United for a Sovereign America (USA) and many individual local supporters came out to counter protest what was to be an extraordinary event to say the least. In early November, Salvador Reza (better known as the 'keeper of the day laborers) stated he and his groups would protest in front of Pruitts Furniture every Saturday through November and December. They would protest the fact that Pruitts had been hiring off - duty officers to patrol its property to keep Day Laborer (Illegal Aliens) from hanging out there, among other things.

Last Monday, PBA issued a call to all concerned Patriots and Minutemen who would be willing to join in a counter protest against Sal Reza, scheduled for yesterday. Quickly, Reza (self proclaimed King of the imaginary Disney nation of Aztlan) re-organized his protest to also include Black Friday-the day after Thanksgiving....for 2 hours. Protest for 2 hours? Comon Sal, you can do better than that. You want to effect a boycott of Pruitts by protesting for 2 hrs on the busiest shopping day of the year?

Some 20 PBA Minutemen gathered in the pre-brief meeting, where we then caravanned over to the protest site. As we arrived in full force, we gathered with our protest signs and flags, and marched onto the sidewalk taking up the positions in which Sal Reza and his Illegal Day Laborers have held ground in previous protests. We joined with another 70 Patriots from USA and local concerned citizens, and managed to cover both sides of the street, from block to block. There was in fact, no where for Sal Reza to protest. But Reza and his mariachi band was nowhere to be found. Not even a phone call to let us know he wasn't coming, he was a no-show. The PBA Minutemen and members of USA got stood-up!

As we protested in front of Pruitts furniture, there were over 40 PPD officers, and about 10 MCSO Deputies and Posse. We stood for 2 hours before we realized that Reza was not coming. Then in one large movement at noon, all 92 Patriots marched and drove East to the Wal Mart entrance at 36th Street, where about 20 illegal alien Day Laborers were hanging out waiting for work. PPD stopped traffic for us as we crossed as a group at the sidewalk and took up our positions.

The local support was overwhelming, plenty of honks and thumbs up. There were plenty of local citizens who came out to ask how they could join the Patriots Border Alliance, we were happy to help them out. We received major local media coverage from 3, 5 and 15.

Yesterdays event was a milestone in the protests at 36th St and Thomas. This is the first time Sal Reza stood down a protest. This is the first time we held our ground with that many Patriots. This proves one thing and that's Sal Reza (owner of a coffee shop-in which the Minutemen and Patriots will be making some visits to soon), does not keep his word to protest every Saturday through December! Who would have thought that the self proclaimed King of Aztlan would run from a scheduled protest? The Minutemen announce they are coming, Reza adds Friday to his protest schedule this week, and then fails to show on Saturday.

But we did manage to see Reza yesterday afternoon, he was driving around the Wal Mart parking lot in a blue Toyota Tacoma watching the Minutemen and Patriots hold their flags and signs. Yeah- we saw you Sal. We knew were you were. You were doing the same things that Mayor Gordon, Councilman Johnson, City Manager Frank Fairbanks and our useless Police Chief Jack Harris were....YOU WERE HIDING! Sal- the Minutemen and the other Patriots will be back next Saturday, in front of Pruitts from 10AM-2PM. Try not to forget this time.

Enjoy some of the pics from the day! If you've got pics youd like to share, please put them up on the Forums at www.patriotsborderalliance.com or send them to webmaster@patriotsborderalliance.com. Many thanks to the Minutemen and Patriots who came from all across the valley, and from Tucson, Sierra Vista, Prescott, and New Mexico.

Stacey O'Connell
Vice Chairman,
Patriots Border Alliance
www.patriotsborderalliance.com

Pruitt's Demonstration Scores Big With Phoenix-Area Media

The protest outside local furniture store Pruitt's was a resounding success for PBA and Minutemen of all persuasions. Covered by several local television stations, protesters covered the sidewalks from Pruitt's to Walmart to keep day laborers from congregating in front of local businesses. Here's some of the coverage:

KPHO TV 5:

PHOENIX -- The crowd outside Pruitt's Home Furnishings at 34th Street and Thomas Road on Saturday represented a different side of the immigration debate.

This weekend it was those opposed to illegal immigration that supported the store's prohibition of day laborers from its property.

"What we want is the local community to feel safe coming to Pruitt's," said Stacey O’Connell of Patriots' Border Alliance.

Immigrant rights activists have been protesting the store after the owner called the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office to arrest day laborers.

"I feel very strongly that we need to enforce the laws of our country," said Anna Gaines who was protesting illegal immigration. "This is my country. I originated in Mexico and came here the legal way. I am a citizen, and I'm very patriotic when it comes to defending my country."

Take the KPHO-TV 5 link above to read the rest.

KTVK Channel 3:

 Clyde O'Briant belongs to a group called the Minutemen.

He's here to protest immigration advocates who picket outside the business weekly deterring shoppers.

Those advocates are angry that Pruitt's owner enlisted the help of Sheriff's deputies to shoe away day laborers.

Bob Wright, with Patriots Border Alliance, calls their efforts economic terrorism.

“They are trying to punish this man economically because he wants his government to work the way a government should work,” Wright said.

Yesterday human rights activists demonstrated on "Black Friday".

Pruitt's owner Roger Sensing told our Mike Watkiss as a result, he stands to loose 600, 000 in profits this holiday season.

“Why are they angry at you? Because we don't let them solicit workers,” he said. “It's intimidating for females to come into the area, it's not functional for a business to operate in.”

To make sure their anti-illegal immigration message gets across Minutemen spread across two blocks, from Pruitts to Walmart, hoping to scare away day laborers.

For some passersby, emotions ran high.

Read the rest at the link above. There's also a short video. MORE great coverage.

PHOENIX COUNTER PROTEST: PRUITT'S HOME FURNISHINGS

Illegal Alien rights activists are targeting the Pruitt's Furniture Store, adversely affecting business. The parking lot is being used as a Day Laborer Pick-up Site.  Pruitt's hired their own security people to prevent this use of their property.  The day laborers did not, quietly, go away.  Now, they are regularly out in front of the store, yelling their racist rhetoric and intimidating customers.  Sanctuary City Police, do nothing. 

This is a blatant exercise of economic terrorism.  This is designed to punish a legitimate businessman for exercising his right to free speech; seeking redress of grievance; and demanding that the law be enforced.  This is just as important a battleground as the border.

I urge all Members of Patriots' Border Alliance to attend this counter demonstration, if at all possible.  Those who live in Arizona and neighboring states, mark you calendars and go the extra mile to attend.

Join Patriots Border Alliance and organizer, United for A Sovereign America (USA's Rusty Childress), along with other Minutemen and Patriots determined to fight this economic terrorism.

Where:  3425 E. Thomas Rd, Phoenix, AZ 85018   602-956-1991    Map 

When:    Saturday, November 24th     

Time:       10:00 am to 2:00 pm

ACLU Lawyer Arrested At Day Labor Protest

http://www.kpho.com/news/14505010/detail.html

PHOENIX -- The legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona was arrested Saturday during a demonstration at a Phoenix store that has been a site of controversy over illegal immigrant day laborers.

Capt. Paul Chagolla said Daniel Pochoda was arrested as activists demonstrated in front of Pruitt's Furniture and that Pochoda is accused of misdemeanor trespassing.

Deputies said they warned Pochoda six times to leave, but he refused.

The owners of Pruitt's have complained that their business is being harmed by day laborers' presence. Sheriff's deputies have responded with arrests, drawing protests from immigration rights activists.

"I'm not their favorite guy," Sheriff Joe Arpaio said. "They've sued me. I think this guy (Pochoda) is involved in a lawsuit against me. You think that's going to bother me?"

Bystanders came by to shake the sheriff's hand. One woman told Arpaio, "You kick butt."

"It's a disgrace that private businesses can be intimidated by activists that don't like the immigration laws that this sheriff is enforcing," Arpaio said.

"We as people who are trying to fight for a cause, we need to understand also the feelings and the exasperation of all of those businesses who feel affected by this situation," said Elias Bermudez of Immigrants Without Borders.

Activists also protested last Saturday in front of Pruitt's. They said they were supporting
illegal immigrants and day laborers.


Maricopa County Sheriff's Office Arrests 16 Illegal Immigrants

http://ktar.com/?nid=6&sid=633789

Maricopa County Sheriff's Office said it has arrested 16 illegal immigrants since last week - just two blocks from the Pruitt's Furniture store that was the site of last Saturday's immigrant rights protest.

Sheriff Joe Arpaio said the arrests were made during routine traffic stops by the department's illegal immigrant task force. "We arrested six in that area last week and now we arrested ten more... on traffic violations and we determined they were illegal. We have the authority, the training and we locked them up."

Ten people, who were arrested Tuesday morning, were in four cars that were stopped for an unsafe lane change and other violations.

Arpaio said it's merely a coincidence that the arrests happened just three hours before a scheduled press conference by immigrant rights groups in front of the store near 36th Street and Thomas Road.

County to Hear Complaints About Sheriff

http://ktar.com/?nid=6&sid=633534

The head of an immigrants' rights group planned to question the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors Wednesday about Sheriff Joe Arpaio's response to a protest demonstration last weekend. Arpaio said he didn't care.

Salvador Reza of So Mos America said the protesters outside Pruitt's Furniture store on East Thomas Rd in Phoenix were met by "a whole military display." They were marching to show their displeasure that the store's owner had asked the sheriff to crack down on day laborers who gather in the area.

"How is it that the county board of supervisors is allowing the money spent to be dictated by one individual -- which is Pruitt, Roger Sensing (the owner) -- claiming that he feels threatened because of day laborers when you have never seen the laborers on the sidewalk?" Reza asked.

*** IMPORTANT NOTICE ***

MARK YOUR CALENDARS

To all Patriots’ Border Alliance members,

Our first Annual Meeting, which will include election of the Board of Directors, will be held on Saturday, February 16, 2008, 9:00 A.M.

American Equity Mortgage
11933 Westline Industrial Dr.
West Port Plaza
St. Louis, MO.  63146

A Friday evening no-host get-together is tentatively being planned.  We are working to get good hotel rates within walking distance of the meeting location.  More information on these details will be forthcoming.

PBA Makes the News: Ohio Station "Local 12"

Ohio State Representative Courtney Combs and Butler County Sheriff Richard Jones went to Arizona to understand the issues more clearly. "The influx is increasing into our community," says Sheriff Jones. "We're seeing more marijuana more cocaine, more people, more crime... And to come here and to see what we've seen today is just unbelievable."

"I'm not sure there's a front line any more it's everywhere, every neighborhood, every school district, every hospital district" says Bob Wright, a member of the Patriot Border Alliance.

In 2005, nearly 500 volunteers, called Minutemen, began patrolling the Arizona border. Their goal is to assist border patrol with locating and identifying illegals coming across the mountains and through the desert.

"I think from the start," says Wright, "the Minutemen recognized that the nation was facing what in effect is an invasion, an absolute change in our economic and demographic status and they recognized the government is doing nothing about it... Our purpose has always been to mostly embarrass the government and shame them into doing their job."

Minutemen patrols recently turned up backpacks in the mountains.

Joe Adams is also part of the Patriot Border Alliance. "This is their last stop before they blend in to the community be it here, Chicago, New York whatever, somebody's picking them up and they're gone."

Phone numbers, ID's and ticket information found in the packs is turned over to border patrol for investigation.

Patrolling the passes of the Huachuca Mountains, the Minutemen are drawing new members from across the country. And they are not just Minute men, they are Minute women too.

Patriot Border Alliance member, Gayle Nyberg: "It's a patriotic feeling like no other, people come from all over the United States to come down here and protect this border because they know it's the right thing to do."

But even with volunteers, thousands of border patrol agents, sheriff's deputies and vigilant land owners, the flood of illegals continues to flow across the border and into Heartland America, bringing the issue from the backyards of the order into the front yards of millions of citizens in other states.

Read the rest of the article HERE.

MCDC Fence Probe on CNN's Anderson Cooper

This past Monday, CNN's Anderson Cooper Show aired a piece in their "Keeping Them Honest" section. The piece focused on the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps and where the hundreds of thousands of donated dollars for the "Israeli style fence" had gone. PBA was featured prominently in interviews about the money trail. Here's a portion of the article:

On the Minuteman Web site and in e-mails to members, Simcox asked for donations while making big promises, including a vow to build a fence along the border. It was not just any fence; it was to be 2,000 miles of state-of-the-art fencing at a cost of $55 million.

Simcox described it as "our high-tech, double-layered gauntlet of deterrent."

The fence was described on the Minuteman Web site as 14 feet high, with security cameras and sensors, topped with razor wire and flanked by ditches to stop vehicles. Simcox referred to it as an "Israeli-style" fence, similar to the barrier Israel has erected to keep Palestinians from crossing from the West Bank.

Many Minuteman state and national leaders said that the fence proposal was a complete surprise to them.

"All of a sudden we hear, 'We are going to build a fence if the government doesn't build it!' We all looked at each other and said, 'What!'" said David Jones, a former Minuteman member.

Donations started flowing in. One man actually mortgaged his home and contributed more than $100,000. And on Memorial Day of last year, there was a groundbreaking ceremony on John Ladd's Arizona ranch. But what the Minutemen were building was not a tall, Israeli-style fence.

Former member Bob Wright said, "It wasn't until they actually started the ceremony that it became clear. It was gonna be a cow fence!"

Read the rest HERE or view the video segment HERE.