Editor’s note: Multiple inquiries to Border Patrol officials have received no response. In addition, the PRT reached out to the Sonora Desert Press Office, which has circulated activists’ accounts of the border confrontations, for on-the-record conversation about the movement’s tactics and goal. These also received no response.
Tensions remain high near Lochiel as activists, who refer to themselves as “land protectors,” continue their protest against border-wall construction and Border Patrol agents continue to flex their muscle in the aftermath of Monday’s toppling of the last “grandmother” cottonwood and incursion on the activists’ encampment on private land.
Disturbing photos and videos circulated on social media Wednesday after an activist entered restricted area and locked herself onto a Fisher Sand and Gravel truck parked on the 60-foot construction easement.
What happened next is difficult to verify given the remoteness of the scene and the lack of transparency from Border Patrol and U.S. government officials. Video shows agents confronting the activist in an intimidating manner, covering her with a mylar blanket and at one point attempting to drive the truck with the activist still locked on, while other protectors screamed about the activist’s safety. An activist-affiliated online report claims that the chained protestor was removed from the construction truck at around 10:30 p.m., arrested and taken into Border Patrol custody.
Activists reported placing a 911 call to the Santa Cruz County sheriff’s dispatch, and the dispatcher is recorded saying “we are not going to be responding. It is Border Patrol jurisdiction. And they should be taking care of that.” An activist-related press dispatch reports further that Patagonia Volunteer Fire and Rescue (PVFR) personnel responded to the scene and were turned away by Border Patrol.
In a statement released to the PRT, PVFR chief Zay Hartigan confirmed that the department did respond to the call.
At sunset on Wednesday October 7, SEFD (Sonoita-Elgin Fire District) and PVFR were dispatched to a medical call related to the protest at Lochiel, which is an active law enforcement incident. Apparently, the call was initiated by a private citizen.
In accordance with ICS (Incident Command System, which governs all emergency responses) protocol, the departments made contact with CBP (Customs and Border Protection) who is in command of the incident and were informed that they had two EMTs on scene with the individual, and we were not needed. Furthermore, the scene was dynamic and not fully secured by law enforcement, which is a prerequisite for medical personnel entering a scene. Both departments stood down their crews based on these conditions.
Due to communication issues in that area, a PVFR unit did arrive on scene before receiving the stand down order. This resulted in them arriving and engaging with law enforcement resources on scene, who told them the same thing that the chiefs had been told. They also encountered civilians who were understandably deeply concerned about the individual at the center of the call.
When PVFR departed some people formed the impression they were abandoning the patient/their duty.An understandable misconception, and PVFR would like to clarify that both departments are dedicated to providing whatever emergency services we are capable of promptly and safely and have had further dialogue with CBP and Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office to facilitate clear communications and effective response under the challenging conditions of this ongoing enforcement incident.
Santa Cruz County Sheriff David Hathaway, who has been vocal in his opposition to the border wall, told the PRT that his department is prevented in intervening in matters involving the Border Patrol due to the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution.
“I have no ability to go to battle with them, nor desire to go to battle with them,” Hathaway said. “In this county alone, between the Nogales Boarder Patrol Station, the Sonoita Border Patrol Station and all the guys in blue uniforms that are part of CBP that work the line, there’s over 1,500 federal agents in this county. And my office has 44 sworn deputies to cover 1,200 square miles. So just sheer numbers, it doesn’t make sense to do this battle.”
Hathaway said the sheriff’s office and 911 dispatchers receive calls every day relating to the construction crews and protesters, and “90 percent … are very disingenuous calls from Border Patrol and Fisher Sand and Gravel.
“They will invent things that have buzzwords attached to them that they think will get us to respond and do something. They will say their people have been kidnapped, that their vehicles have been stolen, that the protesters are trespassing. And it’s all very disingenuous because the protesters are on private land. So I have instructed the sheriff’s office to not respond. … They just kind of want us to take on the responsibility of going against the protesters, which we’re not going to do.”
Hathaway said it is not his position to tell the protesters to be less provocative. And it is not his purview to confront the federal government.
“I’m not going to have a line of sheriff’s office patrol cars confronting a line of border patrol and guys having guns on both sides.
At the same time, he said, the activists’ right to protest is protected by the First Amendment.
“I have told them, you know, you’re being bold, you’re putting your health and safety on the line here,” he said. “The federal government is probably not going to like what you’re doing. We’re not going to respond to oppose you, but just let you know that the federal government is a big machine, and Donald Trump has done a lot of crazy illegal things, and you are putting your health and safety and your lives on the line out there for what you believe in.”