Concertina Wire Freakout

And, Did Cameras Find a Possible Terrorist in Arizona?

Good morning friends,

We’re running late this morning— so we fear today’s newsletter may not meet our normal attempts at thoughtfulness. But, after missing a self-imposed deadline yesterday, we’re up against the deadline of timeliness.

Quickly: A lot of folks are freaking out about the Supreme Court’s decision allowing Border Patrol to cut Texas’ concertina wire. This isn’t good for border security, but many are forgetting that while it is *a decision* it is not *the decision.*

There’s a bunch of legalese in all of the major articles explaining it, but it basically amounts to the Supreme Court putting a temporary order in place. There surely must certainly be an army of attorneys who want to correct us on that because these words have specific legal meanings and so forth— but for our purposes right now, they are basically the same.

Now the case goes back to the appeals court and will surely go wind up back in front of the Supreme Court for a full hearing.

Basically, the decision is something like a judge issuing a temporary restraining order in a case of possible family violence.

One must respect the chess play that is apparent— because the decision doesn’t actually affect the State’s moves at this point. We suspect when they wargamed all of this, the Governor’s Office must’ve expected this possibility. By seizing Shelby Park, they mostly prevent Border Patrol from cutting the most visible wire. The ‘miles of wire’ the state has strung elsewhere does not matter. It amounts to a pittance and is largely symbolic too. It is also not so visible to video cameras documenting the crisis, unlike the wire at Shelby Park.

Right now, it seems that Border Patrol will be able to launch boats as needed from Shelby Park and may well try to cut the wire there from the water. Texas has a lot of wire. And a lot of National Guardsmen that can use the practice in stringing or repairing more. Border Patrol will get very tired of having to launch boats every time more wire gets strung or repaired.

So, while the Supreme Court seems to have made an anti-Texas choice here, in the grand scheme of things, it will probably not matter.

A lot of folks online have been very concerned about a piece of video showing a man with what sounds like an Iraqi or Iranian accent, seemingly making threats against the United States— wrapping it all up by saying “Soon, you will know who I am.”

The whole thing is bizarre.

A couple of takeaways from this, which we’ll get to in a moment. The individual in question is the one in the back wearing glasses and a grey t-shirt under a light jacket.

As usual with Twitter/X links on Substack, you’ll have to click the text link up above, and not the image.

There are apparently a lot of detectives online. They seem to have already identified the joker as a formerly imprisoned Azerbaijani politician and terrorist.

If you’re skeptical like us, you may be wondering if some rando named “1mZerOCool” on Twitter/X is a valid source or not.

Who knows. But you can find photos of Movsum Samadov online from mainstream sources. Some of them are the ones in this tweet. And it does look like the same guy, doesn’t it?

Some will also say, “There’s no way— why would that guy brag about it in front of cameras?”

Well, let’s not forget, people can be stupid. Happens all the time. Also, consider the fact this guy’s been in a Central Asian prison for 12 years, and hiking his way up through the Darien Gap, or whatever. May not actually have a lot of awareness of how quickly information can spread online. But, let’s go back and look at that first image — the dude is standing in the back of a group. The camera isn’t focused on him. It’s very possible he didn’t realize he was on camera. Also, the video was shot at what amounts to a privately run ‘Migrants are Welcome’ camp near Sasabe, Arizona. A place where volunteers provide water, possibly food, and other support to whomever.

In this case, they were rolling out the red carpet for what appears to be a legitimately bad dude.

Weird, huh?

In the end, however, this will probably also not matter. Reporters found one bad guy in a literal sea of millions. Obviously, there are plenty more where that came from who are already here.

Here’s how a 2020 report in the left-leaning online magazine ‘The Intercept” described Sasabe:

Rodriguez and a growing group of humanitarian volunteers began turning their attention to Sasabe in mid-September, making biweekly visits to bring food and water to migrants after learning of the explosion in arrivals to the resource-strapped community. With a population of approximately 2,500 and a single town store, the port of entry at Sasabe has long been described as one of the quietest official crossings in the state. There is no migrant shelter in the town, and the influence and power of organized crime in the area is well known.

—Reporter Ryan Deveraux, The Intercept, in 2020

We emphasized and italicized the last line there which really struck us. Wonder if there’s any spots along the Rio Grande in Texas that also qualify for that kind of a statement?

Of course there are.

Today’s a fairly big day locally in Kinney County. Expecting folks from many of the surrounding communities to also be here, participating in this land owner’s meeting.

We mentioned it in a previous news letter. It’s a chance for plain ol’ folks to get in some VIP’s faces, of course, but the main goal is to disseminate information about a new state program meant to reimburse landowners for their damaged property and other losses attributable to the Southern Border Crisis.

Readers may recall one recent incident, where a smuggler ran over miles and miles of fencing and gates while running from DPS, doing an estimated $160,000 in damages.

As it happens, one of the candidates running for Congress against area Representative Tony Gonzales will be next door at the Kinney County Library as the event breaks up.

Jokingly, we teased Frank Lopez about his sense of timing— he said it’s no coincidence, he’s hoping to meet some voters, answer their questions, and make his own case.

Speaking personally, we first met Frank a few years back at a rally and trailride in Del Rio in support of the mounted Border Patrol agents who were falsely accused of whipping Haitian migrants.

Frank’s a former Border Patrolman, one of the founders of the Border Patrol Chaplain program, and one of the most-sincere observers of the Border Crisis we’ve seen. He’s also quite a creative thinker, which is a compliment.

Gonzales has been singled out by Texas Republicans, for frequently voting against party-identified interests, and has been censured by the party, making it much easier for challengers like Frank to primary him. Many critics believe he also has financial and/or familial ties to at least one of the NGO’s participating in the border crisis.

One must be honest however, it remains an uphill battle, with Gonzales able to raise a lot of money in San Antonio and from out-of-state donors.

Anyway— that’s all for now. Remember the name Samadov. With any luck he’ll end up on a deportation list next week.

Have a great morning, we’ll be back again, probably tomorrow morning if anything of broader interest comes of that Landowner’s meeting here in Kinney County.

Until then, keep it high and tight, and we’ll do the same.

As always, no one should mistake this humble newsletter for any official statement on behalf of anyone.

It is produced solely by us, without any sort of oversight, as our record of self-corrections can attest. See you soon.