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Border Patrol Free Stop Border Patrol checkpoints, raids, surveillance, racial profiling, expansion plans & waste of tax dollars
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Round Up in Forks
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May 15, 2011 From the Forks Human Rights Organization. Note the tactics and number of times unmarked cars and plainclothes BP'ers were used. Thank goodness they're as well organized as they are in Forks.
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Below is the log kept by the Forks Organizers. It's lengthy but we re-print it to give folks an idea of how the Border Patrol operates and what effort it takes to keep track of them. - bpfree.org Here is an updated list of events of yesterday in Forks. Please add or clarify anything you know. We tried to put all reports together. They came from many many community members. Please feel free to Contact Us in Port Townsend. We will forward it on. 2011/5/14 9:18am: BP reported seen driving up Calawah Way. 9:52am: Community members report Border Patrol in plain cloths and unmarked cars at Thriftway (grocery store). Confirmed with several other community members but exact number varies slightly. 8, 10, 15 people? By 10:45am: reports of Border Patrol parked at house in front of entrance to Alder Grove. Parked with USFS (US Forest Service). Two men in the BP car. License plate number: 217269 About same timing: BP reported at Tesoro gas station and shortly after at Shell gas station. 10:45am, then 11:15am: BP car pulled out after bus when it was passing Aldergrove. Followed bus down to Elk Creek and then seen driving back toward town, past Alder Grove, 20-30 minutes later. Approx 11:00am: Border patrol cruising all around with foresters in town by gas stations and back and forth to Elk Creek. They spun around and chased a car. Car pulled over and BP just sat there and stared waiting for man to run – he didn’t run. 11:04am: Public Works in Beaver (about 10 miles north of Forks), heading north, a sheriff vehicle in front with Border patrol behind him. We got three cars of community members to watch at Thriftway, Shell/Tesoro and Alder Grove about 11:20. Community members stayed in town observing until 1pm with no sightings. 1:10pm: BP seen on 101 heading toward Forks, near Mary Clarke Rd (about 10 miles north of town) 2:02pm: BP (marked SUV) at park n ride on edge of Port Angeles – turn off to Neah Bay. By 2:23pm, when community member passed for a second time, car gone. Afternoon, before 3pm: Car stopped by USFS and BP called in. They detain the woman and the man runs. BP agent says that he sees the man jump into the river. 3:00pm: Three BP and USFS law enforcement car seen on Highway 101, approximately 20/25 miles north of town. Just on north side of Bridge that passes over Sol Duc River. Reported by 2 men and woman that lives in the area (just next to where the event took place). They said they heard several gun shots at this time and stopped and asked what was going on while on their way to town. He said he almost didn’t go because he thought something serious was happening. BP agents told him it was nothing. He went to town. After a woman was detained by BP agents, a community member brought her two children out to their mom. BP agents told the community member who brought the kids that he had to give them the kids. The community member said no, that was not what he had permission to do. Kids went home with the community member after being brought to the scene and seeing Mom in custody. 5:45ish/6:00pm: Attached photos taken. Observations at this time, several hours into the incident: 5 marked SUV BP vehicles, 2 marked BP jeeps, 1 BP unmarked car - dark SUV – license plate 952 WSA, 1 USFS law enforcement car. On Highway 101, lights on. Officials confiscated the salal they had picked that day and the USFS officer was counting the bunches and noting it at this time. About 6:10pm. Another motorist stops to see what is happening. BP tells us all to go. Only the man leaves (4 other community members at the scene). Abt 6:15pm: Several agents come out of the woods where they were looking for the man. One agent, who was in one of the jeeps, had a large riffle on him. LARGE. I do not know guns but another community member identified it as an AR 15. Abt 6:30pm: 3 local residents walk down Hwy 101 to see what is going on. This is when they told us about first passing by at 3:00pm. They are shocked to see what is going on. 2 BP agents come up that are in wetsuits. They are carrying a medical kit but they have not found the man that ran. Around 7:00pm: All BP officials have left. The agent on the passenger’s side of the unmarked car holds up his middle finger as they pass us (the community members) headed back to Port Angeles. About 8:30pm: A group of community members being organized to go out and search the woods. 8:28pm: Community member calls BP office and speaks with BP agent. 8:51pm: BP agent calls community member back. He informs her that he is aware that a USFS officer pulled over a van this afternoon and called the BP for help. When BP arrived on the scene the man (driver) ran from the car, across the street and jumped into the river. The BP called Clallam County Sheriff for a search and rescue but the Sheriff’s office said that they do not do search and rescue for people that flee the scene and this man was fleeing the scene. At that BP sent out two of their search and rescue men and sent more cars/agents to the scene. They did not find the man but BP thinks that the man made it out of the river because of signs they saw. 10:25pm: Marked BP car at the entrance Forks. Background Border Patrol is all over the place there were 2 incidents reported to FHR within the last few weeks of BP cars turning on their lights and pulling people over on more remote roads for no given reason. We can report the stories this way, but no one feels safe to share more. Sorry, it is the reality of living out here where the balance of power is so off and for no reason people are repeatedly torn apart from their families... 4/29/11, Friday, 10am: Near Clallam Bay. Border Patrol pulled over a vehicle with two people in it. They appeared to be pulled over for no reason by BP. One perosn got out of the car and ran - afraid. Dogs were sent after him and the passenger was told by Border Patrol that they would not leave until they found him. The other person was kept in the back of the jeep for four hours although they had legal status here. 5/11/11, Wed early morning: Near harvesting area 5000, on the road to La Push. Two BP cars – one a truck and one a small marked car. BP vehicles followed 3 separate vans. BP turned the lights on to pull each van over ("like the police turn their lights on to pull you over"). In order to follow the last of the 3 vans, BP did a U-turn in the road to follow the van. People ran and BP detained 2 people from the last van. One a father with a young US citizen child.
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C2C Solidarity Support
From: "Rosalinda Guillen"
Dear Friends,
In Whatcom County the C2C Immigrant Solidarity Committee has been meeting with Chief Bates the Sector Chief of the Border Patrol. Other members of our Northern Border community have also met with the Chief about the rude behavior and intimidating tactics used by BP Agents.
I write this alert in solidarity with the Forks Human Rights organization that is working to ensure human rights and common sense in BP activities. This report clearly describes the kind of costly and intimidating enforcement we, as a community, are vehemently opposed to. We ask our government agencies like Homeland Security to work with us in ensuring that our immigrant friends and neighbors, who are not criminals, but hard working farm workers, be treated fairly and that their human rights be respected. These actions affect all in our rural communities, not just the poor and vulnerable undocumented workers.
What kind of victory can a large group of armed BP agents claim against a man and a woman who have just picked salal to house and feed their family? This is shameful behavior and we ask that you call Chief Bates and ask him to work
with Lesley Hoare and Forks Human Rights organization to address this incident and do the right thing. Chief Bates phone number: 360-452-5970
Rosalinda
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5/16/11
West End man missing after Sol Duc River plunge I called and told the reps to call Blaine office, Janet Napolitano, whoever it takes to get the BP in Forks to stop harassing people. They aren't going after terrorists, or drug pushers, they're just witch hunting Latino minorities, using deliberately threatening and frightening tactics. That's not their mission. The reps just take the info but Dicks' office was really nice and asked if they could call back for more info if needed. Libby
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