Glenn Spencer, taking the high ground?

According to this:

Chris Simcox, founder of the Tombstone-based Civil Homeland Defense group, and Glenn Spencer, who leads the Sierra Vista-based American Border Patrol, have long disagreed over style and approach to deterring illegal entrants.

Spencer said his group aims to document and report illegal immigrants by using video cameras and other surveillance. In contrast, Simcox describes his group as a "militia," and he leads armed volunteers on patrols near the border.

A recent statement by Simcox has served to incite bickering between the two men. Simcox issued this warning as part of a "message to the world": "Do not attempt to cross the border illegally; you will be considered an enemy of the state; if aggressors attempt to forcefully enter our country they will be repelled with force if necessary!"

Spencer told the Arizona Daily Star that with statements like that, Simcox has attracted an "unsavory element." Such rhetoric threatens the credibility of the anti-illegal-immigration movement...

"The purpose is to put pressure on the government, to have governmental institutions that are there to enforce the law, not to go out and threaten people," he said.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the coin, the Border Action Network has gathered 2000 signatures on a petition "asking Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard... to conduct an investigation of the militia groups and it they're breaking the law, they should be arrested and prosecuted."

You can read a horribly written but very informative article on the Border Action Network here. Think A.N.S.W.E.R. In this editorial, BAN's founder is quoted as saying "[illegal aliens] have civil rights and human rights that take precedence over defending the country."

See also the L.A. Times' hit piece on Simcox 'Patriots on the Borderline'. It reads less like a real newspaper article than an Indymedia reject, and it spawned a couple of letters to the Times. Note well the title of the letters page: "'Racist' Border Patrol Has Crossed the Line."

The hit piece's author is Dan Baum, author of a couple of books about the War on Drugs and Joseph Coors. There's an interview with him here, and at this page it says this:

"Bellesiles calls in a fascinating array of sources to bolster his argument," rhapsodized... author Dan Baum in the Chicago Tribune...

Simcox, Spencer, and friends might have problems, some large, but I don't think we're going to get the whole truth from such biased sources.