Hi-Speed Chase and Gunfire Incident Ends With Whimper
And, More "Bad Reporting"-- guess where-- plus, Why No One Seems Thrilled With Bi-partisan "Solution" Talk
Good Morning friends,
We’ve waited too long to publish— selfishly indulging in the post-Christmas holiday sloth. There’s almost too much to talk about.
First, a lot of folks probably saw the flurry of reporting on Facebook, twitter, and other locations about a police chase and gunfire that led to a bailout on the backside of Fort Clark.
It all started on Ranch Road 131 on Christmas Eve, when DPS Troopers tried to stop a carload of presumed illegal aliens or criminal traffickers on their way toward Brackettville, TX. At some point, troopers say one of the people in the car took aim at troopers and fired at least two shots.
The driver went offroad and everyone bailed out and over a fence— disappearing into an uninhabited area of Fort Clark. It’s at that point that the first alerts went out into the community via text messaging and then also on Facebook.
KSAT 12 News in San Antonio has a decent write up of events, including some video of the chase shot by local resident Chuck Hall-- now retired, Mr. Hall spent decades teaching Mathematics and Speech at the local High School.
Don’t quote us, but we believe Mr. Hall has a “ranchito” out that way that he maintains in his retirement, accounting for his presence on the scene.
In the footage, one can see DPS Troopers, some armed with tactical “Benelli” style shotguns entering the brush, trying to re-establish contact with the suspects.
On twitter, DPS Officials say they found several firearms in the brush where the chase ended— and apparently followed a trail or other signs that led them to a home or other building inside Fort Clark. Troopers then called for an out-of-town SWAT team, believing the suspects were barricaded inside.
But, not the case apparently— the place was empty and no suspects were captured. Troopers stayed on the scene for much of the night searching and checking other locations on the Fort, but had no success finding suspects.
Some in the community believe the suspects were able to lay up and hide somewhere not far from the fence line, and doubled back as DPS went deeper into the Fort. It’s entirely possible that they were able to use their cell phones to call an accomplice with another vehicle to come and pick them up while DPS was waiting for SWAT. It’s impossible to know for sure, and it’s certainly easy to second guess DPS troopers who are doing their best.
The whole thing is officially a DPS matter, so there’s not much for the Kinney County Sheriff’s Office to say on the subject. If anyone wants an official sounding comment, here ya go: “The Kinney County Sheriff’s Office does not believe an active danger related to this case remains in the community. Citizens and taxpayers should exercise their normal caution as the border crisis continues, and keep their homes and vehicles locked as a matter of course. Any requests for further information specifically related to the Dec. 24th incident should be made of the Texas Department of Public Safety.”
Speaking personally— the happiest ending to this event would’ve been a bloodless capture by DPS. But, this is probably the second happiest. We were worried a private citizen might wind up blasting one of these suspects. It would’ve been what some call a “good” shooting, but there can be no doubt that given the politically charged climate, Val Verde County DA Susanne West would’ve probably been compelled to present matters to a Grand Jury. And even in a “good” shooting, that’s nothing anyone with any sense would want to go through.
Lets talk about some bad reporting. We’re looking at you, Texas NPR— publishing something December 21st, talking about how a “Kinney County Judge” ruled against Operation Lone Star— saying it’s sexist— and that the sexism predicating the prosecution of male suspects is going to lead to tons of cases getting tossed out.
Woe! Woe! Operation Lone Star. Woe to thee, your days are numbered.
That’s the tone of the coverage anyway.
As longtime readers can probably guess, we believe otherwise.
First of all— the Judge in question has nothing to do with Kinney County. Judge Dennis Powell is one of those Austin appointees whose rulings have been getting slapped around on appeal— and we suspect this matter will end no differently.
As it happens, Judge Powell is from Orange, Texas— that’s a community near Beaumont. But that doesn’t stop NPR from repeatedly calling him a Kinney County Judge— as if Kinney County officials are done with Operation Lone Star.
NPR also makes much of the recent Travis County court rulings— ignoring the fact that the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals just slapped them down too, as noted in recent past Dispatches.
One can’t help but feel a certain amount of headshaking “bless your heart” sadness for folks consuming the bulk of their news from NPR. Their view of the world must be so distorted. Certainly their view of OLS and its legality must be.
The main problem for many reporters, in our opinion, is being entirely too credulous when it comes to statements and claims by these Defense Attorney activists and whatever experts they round up who seem to parrot and support each other’s lines of attack.
It’s possible to present such claims and statements in a way that doesn’t make one seem to be in the tank, but we digress.
If you’ve been following NPR and the like, you’d think Operation Lone Star was on the ropes— taking nothing but drubbings over and over again in the courts, when in fact, so far Operation Lone Star seems to be emerging from each legal fray stronger than before.
Judge Powell’s ruling has already been appealed, and has been stayed, pending that appeal. At this point, one fathoms no reason to expect it to stand, though we hasten to admit we are not attorneys, and the law can be squirrelly sometimes. And— we don’t personally feel that we even do that stellar a job of keeping up with the Courts. To us here at the Dispatch, the legal system is like some kind of an arcane priesthood. Best consulted with fine white doves and pink-eyed rabbits on hand for sacrifice. Failing that, perhaps a gentle-tempered goat will do. But it seems to us, that a lot of these fearless predictions about OLS having to dump a ton of cases have been false and are likely to remain so.
It’s natural for legal coverage to get a little slanted when only one side is willing to speak to reporters. But at this point, given all that’s happened already, one would think people would be a little more gunshy when it comes to so blithely printing some of these predictions and declarations coming from the indigent defense organizations.
It costs nothing for a writer to add a line saying that the matter is sure to be appealed and is far from a done deal, when that is so obviously the case.
Have you heard the latest bi-partisan border solution breathlessness?
The bulk of it online appears to be coming from Laredo Congressman Henry Cuellar, saying he’s got San Antonio’s Tony Gonzalez and U.S. Senators John Cornyn and Joe Manchin on board with a “Title 8” solution, that’ll do a better job of things, even as the Supreme Court upholds “Title 42.”
The Congressman had a whole thread beyond what we’re linking here— feel free to click on anyone of those tweets to see it all.
Recall— Title 42 is the health-code based tool that Border Patrol is using to quickly return certain migrants back to Mexico. Critics have said it’s being misapplied and should be done away with. Supporters say it’s necessary in order to even begin sorting out the border crisis.
“Title 8” on the other hand, is the part of the law that focuses on immigration and nationality, and on the Department of Homeland Security’s mission to “maintain operational control of the border.” Something many would argue has been lost. It’s hard to disagree— and we don’t— given the absolute state of things. Just the other night, 1100 people walked across the border in Eagle Pass. And everyone’s well aware of what a mess El Paso has been since before Christmas.
But here’s the problem with this “Title 8” proposal— Title 8 already exists. And it’s already being ignored and de-emphasized by the White House, part of what’s created this disaster.
What in the world is some new law going to change, in a situation where the Executive Branch seems determined not to enforce the laws that are already on the books? Determined to pick and choose what to emphasize and deemphasize? Determined to insist that everything’s fine, and we should just all lie back and think of England?
At this point, the only thing that seems likely to get attention and arrest this thing in Washington, is for Congress to start holding Biden legislative and funding priorities hostage in exchange for meaningful action on the border crisis.
Certainly, such action might embolden Governor Abbott to do even more on his end.
Somehow, we just don’t see a solution happening in Congress, however. With all due respect to Messrs. Cuellar, Cornyn, and the rest— it just seems unlikely after what’s happened with the omnibus spending bill.
We’d love to be proven wrong.
And finally this morning— something for folks to think about.
Visceral footage of a group of illegals caught on camera trying to break into a ranch house in Northern Kinney County. Just click on the tweet below, and press the play button if you really want to watch a bunch of folks try and kick in a security door.
This sort of thing is actually very common— but it’s rare for it to be caught on tape.
Some of the comments online have been absolutely precious— people remarking that these don’t look like migrants— that they look like hardcore professional thieves, etc.
In a way— they’re right.
These aren’t migrants, per se.
These are full-blown illegal aliens who are actively trying to avoid contact with law enforcement and border patrol.
They might be basic border crossers, just looking for work, but not above stealing a few things along the way— they may also be drug mules working on behalf of the cartels.
The odds are high that it’s some combination of the latter two— being on foot in the northern part of Kinney County. Garden variety migrants and asylum seekers tend not to bother walking so far from the border— they tend to just flag down the first Border Patrol Agent they see and declare their request for asylum.
So what is one to make of these goofy reactions from random people online, trying to say such videos seem fake?
Well, it just speaks to what we’ve been saying all along— this border crisis has been dragging on for two years now, going on three. And vast numbers of people are just barely waking up to it— fumbling with the knowledge, spouting their ignorance, whatever.
Border residents, activists, and the folks reading this newsletter might as well be from the future. Folks who’ve been asleep on the issue are like babies. Almost impossible to communicate with, without seeming like some wild-eyed-crazy to them. They don’t wanna hear a bunch of talk from someone from the future.
You have to restrain yourself, or you’ll just shut them down and turn them off.
That’s just how it is. All you can do is emphasize how this has been going on for years already and you’re glad they’re becoming aware because something has to be done.
Treat it like the beginnings of a voyage of discovery, and give them patient answers as they start asking basic questions.
As always, the newsletter is produced independently of our day job at the Kinney County Sheriff’s Office, and should not be mistaken for an official communication on the part of Kinney County.
Any errors, mistakes, boneheaded takes, or other misdeeds are entirely our own.
Have a great morning and we’ll see you again soon.
Great reporting as usual. Unlike MSM. As has been said, one must be in another's shoes to understand. Meanwhile, keep a copy of your insurance handy just in case. I do pass these articles on just so's ya know.