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DOUGLAS -- While the Cochise County Sheriff's Department has maintained that it is not investigating the activities of the civilian border interdiction group Ranch Rescue, e-mail correspondence obtained Thursday reveal local and federal law enforcement have been closely watching the paramilitary organization since its move to Douglas in September.
Dozens of e-mails between Cmdr. Rod Rothrock and County Planning and Zoning Director Jim Vlahovich, which discuss enforcement strategies for possible zoning violations on the Ranch Rescue property, reveal that zoning inspectors and deputies have feared that exploring complaints against the property could "lead to an armed confrontation" with the group.
The e-mails were obtained through the Planning and Zoning Department, which has maintained a file on Ranch Rescue since Sept. 5 when deputies informed the department that the U.S. Border Patrol may soon file a zoning complaint against the property.
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The correspondence shows deputies met with FBI, U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agents in November to discuss Ranch Rescue and varying reports that the group had constructed an armory with "'a million' rounds of ammunition" on the property, as well as previous reports of gun-mounted dune buggies and .50-caliber sniper rifles with a range of up to two miles.
Sheriff Larry Dever said that growing public concern about the group is unwarranted and the purported stockpiling of weaponry and ammunition is the latest in a series of rumors and innuendo about Ranch Rescue that have "less to do with reality and more with (Ranch Rescue's) ability to play up its own stature on their Web site and in the neighborhood gossip."
Dever added that on several occasions in the last three weeks, deputies have received tours of the Ranch Rescue compound and found no disconcerting evidence that the group is a threat. He also said Rothrock's reference to a possible "armed confrontation" made in September was warranted given the unknown factors at the time.
At the heart of the county's interest in Ranch Rescue are two zoning complaints, both filed in November regarding a flurry of construction on the 70-acre property believed to be owned by Casey Nethercott.
Ranch Rescue President Jack Foote has said that the group was invited by Nethercott in September to help Nethercott, a Ranch Rescue member himself, guard his border property against trespassing by illegal immigrants and the Border Patrol.
Nethercott has since been apprehended in Douglas in connection with the assault and false imprisonment of an El Salvadoran couple found by Ranch Rescue in Texas earlier this year. According to a civil lawsuit filed against Ranch Rescue, he allegedly pistol-whipped the two individuals and let his dog attack them.
The complaints allege the Ranch Rescue compound has constructed observation and guard towers from the remnants of a water tower and windmills, and workers are in the process of completing bunkers, barracks, a helicopter landing pad and indoor weapons range.
Zoning inspector Rick Corley said that while the complaints have yet to be investigated, such construction is likely a violation of the property's residential zoning restrictions.
A complaint filed Nov. 3 by the Sheriff's Department has since been withdrawn, with Rothrock citing FBI contact regarding the situation on Nov. 13 as the reason. In his explanation for the removal of the zoning complaint he writes, "The situation is more serious than we were aware of. We will be setting up a meeting (with) the FBI in the near future."
Dever said the comments relate specifically to Nethercott and not Ranch Rescue as a whole, reiterating that while the department has kept an eye on the group, it does not believe it to be a threat to the public.
It is a contrast from comments made by Border Patrol agents at the time of Ranch Rescue's move into Cochise County. According to an e-mail from Rothrock, "(Border Patrol) says that the (Ranch Rescue) people openly state that they are 'hunting' undocumented aliens."
According to Ranch Rescue's Web site, volunteers from the Missouri Militia and other groups based out of Texas and California are at work in Douglas on a mission known as Operation Thunderbird. With continuous armed patrols of the U.S.-Mexico border region around Douglas, as well as the construction of physical obstacles on the private property to deter Mexican traffic, their goal, the site says, is to protect private ranchers' properties and apprehend illegal immigrants before they can ravage the land.
While he could not be reached for comment, Jack Foote has said in previous interviews that while armed, Ranch Rescue members do not purport to engage in violent confrontations with border crossers.
Border Patrol and FBI agents also did not return requests for comment regarding their interdictions with Ranch Rescue or the bureau's interest in the group beyond Nethercott.
In the end, the second zoning complaint, filed by Humane Borders member James Cooper on Nov. 25, is in a holding pattern at the Planning and Zoning Department. The department, at the request of the Sheriff's Department, is not pursuing any zoning issues at the compound in the hopes that Ranch Rescue will be leaving Douglas sometime soon.
While Foote has stated the compound is a permanent base camp for Ranch Rescue through 2004, "information from the FBI indicates that (the group's) financial situation is likely to crumble at any time," said an e-mail from Rothrock dated Nov. 26.
"It's like I've said all along," Sheriff Dever said Friday. "The community's fear, the rumors and the unsubstantiated reports of arsenals and whatnot needs to stop. It doesn't help anyone or anything."
"Add into the mix that a group of people are firing weapons, legally I might add, on private property and it's extremely difficult to calm people's nerves," he added. "But that's what needs to happen. The zoning complaints, the federal government's interest, all of it, it will just play itself out sooner or later."
HERALD/REVIEW reporter Nate Searing can be reached at 515-4680 or by e-mail at nate.searing@svherald.com.
nicole ray wrote on Jun 21, 2009 3:35 PM: