National Guardsmen shooting spree; not welcome in south Texas

From the AP:

Three members of the Texas National Guard were being held Tuesday in the Maverick County Jail [Eagle Pass, TX] after being accused of firing shots in a residential area while drinking alcohol, a sheriff's official said.

It sounds like they might be yahoos, but then again, such incidents aren't exactly unheard of.

Note that while Eagle Pass is right on the Mexican border, it's still a part of the United States, which makes the following comments a bit interesting in a way that - in a weak moment - even a "liberal" might be forced to admit are just slightly "parochial":

Maverick County Judge Pepe Aranda said the incident is an example of how things can go wrong when armed strangers come to the border. He opposed bringing Guardsmen to the county.

"They are not familiar with our region. They don't know our customs or our culture," Aranda said. "They think they are back home, or they take everything for granted, and we have a situation like this."

While Aranda has to a certain extent spoken out against OTMs being released into "his" city ("If Homeland Security is important, then this should stop immediately"), somehow that reminds me at least of this or this.

Immigration · Tue, 09/12/2006 - 23:45 · · Importance: 1

Comments

They are not familiar with our region. They don't know our customs or our culture," Aranda said. "They think they are back home, or they take everything for granted, and we have a situation like this."-Judge Pepe Aranda
The last time I heard this kind of language from a US politician it came from Deep South segregationists during the 1960's complaining of non-Southerners coming South to aid in the strugle for the rights of Black Americans. Judge Aranda seems to be saying that non-Hispanics are not wanted on his turf-even if they are his fellow Texans.

Posted by: perroazul del norte at Sep 13, 2006 8:08 AM

I am appalled that this Judge should descibe National Guardsmen in this way, men and women who have put themsleves in harms way in Iraq and Afghanistan on behalf of him and the rest of us. These people are participating in the defense of our border on orders of the President. To condemn them all on the behavior of a few is unacceptable.

Posted by: George at Sep 13, 2006 5:54 AM

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