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Local Group to Watch Minutemen: Volunteers Will Gather at Border for Month of April

Posted on: Thursday, 16 March 2006, 09:00 CST

By Jon Gambrell, The Bellingham Herald, Bellingham, Wash.

Mar. 16--A local group opposed to the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps will organize observers to watch those watching Whatcom County's northern border with Canada this April.

The volunteers will serve as legal observers, making sure Minuteman border watchers comply with the law, said Carl Shook, an organizer with the Coalition for Professional Law and Border Protection.

Shook said the point of the observers isn't just to wait for a Minuteman volunteer to break the law so "we can point a bunch of fingers." Instead, having observers could calm a situation he believes is prime for potential abuses.

"We are trying to establish beforehand enough accountability, transparency and public awareness of what is actually going on to try to key down this entire situation," Shook said.

So far, the Border Patrol and the Whatcom County Sheriff's Office have reported no problems with the Washington Minuteman Detachment since it began watching the border in October.

Shook hopes to have 30 volunteers ready to watch the detachment as they hold a monthlong border watch in April.

Having legal observers watching the Minuteman group isn't a new idea. Since the anti-illegal immigration group grew in prominence last year in Arizona, that state's chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union organized volunteers to watch the group.

Shook said an observer with experience in Arizona would train volunteers. While Minuteman organizers say they perform criminal background checks on their volunteers, Shook said the coalition wouldn't perform checks on its volunteers, instead relying on individuals organizers already know.

"I don't think it is going to escalate the situation," he said. "We are lucky to be heading things off before it gets too violent or reactionary."

Since the first border watch, Hispanic leaders and others criticized the Washington Minuteman Detachment as encouraging racism. Recently, the detachment announced plans to begin protesting outside of businesses suspected of employing illegal immigrants.

While provoking protests from human rights groups and condemnation from the Bellingham City Council, the Minuteman volunteers in Washington haven't been watched by opposition groups during previous patrols.

Tom Williams, leader of the Washington detachment, said the observers would not affect his group's plans.

Having more people on the border could set off the ground sensors and cameras the Border Patrol has scattered along the border. However, having additional eyes watching the border is helpful, said Bob Kohlman, a field operations supervisor for the Border Patrol in Blaine.

"We've had the Minutemen in this area before and it has not posed a problem for us," Kohlman said. "I don't believe these folks will either. We'll still be out there doing our job."

Reach Jon Gambrell at jon.gambrell@bellinghamherald.com or call 715-2263.

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Bellingham Herald, Bellingham, Wash.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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Source: The Bellingham Herald, Wash.

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