Los Zetas Still Not Seizing Laredo Ranches
There鈥檚 an old jest in the news business: Don鈥檛 let the facts get in the way of a good story. Some anti-illegal immigrant zealots in the blogosphere are taking the joke to heart. Two-and-a-half weeks after reporting with no factual basis that members of a dangerous Mexican drug gang had seized two Americans鈥� ranches near Laredo, Texas, the bloggers still insist their fairy tale is true.
As Hatewatch earlier, Pennsylvania anti-immigration blogger Dan Amato wrote last month that members of Los Zetas 鈥� Mexican gunmen involved in the international drug trade and other crimes 鈥� had taken control of the ranches. When skeptics questioned the story, Amato said that he got the tip from leader Jeff Schwilk, who in turn learned of it from his fellow San Diego anti-immigration enthusiast, Kimberly Dvorak of Examiner.com.
The potential 鈥渁ct of war,鈥� in Dvorak鈥檚 words, produced no actions by the U.S. government to protect its citizens. There were no arrests. And those residents of the two ranches forced to flee? One would think they鈥檇 be doing interviews with every news organization around 鈥� or at least with those savvy sleuths, Amato, Schwilk and Dvorak. Alas, they remain mute and unidentified. Rather than be embarrassed by this, Amato and friends insist they鈥檝e been proved right. The proof: A supposed police blotter reproduction Dvorak claims to have obtained reporting the incident.
The blotter item states that a local, unnamed ranch owner called the sheriff鈥檚 office to say that Los Zetas had taken over his ranch. It also says that the sheriff鈥檚 SWAT team went to the area. A real reporter might have questioned why the blotter referred to the 鈥淟aredo Sheriff鈥檚 Office.鈥� Laredo is a city in Webb County, so it鈥檚 actually the Webb County Sheriff鈥檚 Office.
That detail aside, the events described in the purported blotter entry aren鈥檛 at odds with facts acknowledged by authorities. The sheriff鈥檚 office did in fact receive a tip about two ranches being seized by Mexican gang members. The office did send personnel to investigate. The Laredo Police Department also was advised of the tip and was on standby if needed, says Investigator Joe Baeza of that department.
After talking to the ranch owners and other residents at the site of the supposed Mexican invasion, authorities concluded there was nothing to the tip. That didn鈥檛 satisfy the anti-immigration bloggers. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e accusing the local authorities of being elusive, of there being a media blackout,鈥� Baeza says incredulously. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know what they鈥檙e talking about.鈥�
Now Amato is calling the so-called incident at the ranches 鈥淟aredoGate鈥� on his 鈥淒igger鈥檚 Realm鈥� blogsite, claiming there was media incompetence and a political cover-up. He offers a variety of theories as to the latter 鈥� without a scintilla of proof, of course. His five-part 鈥渆xclusive鈥� on the supposed ranches takeover is a mix of wild conjecture and complaining about individuals and organizations that have attacked his credibility, including the Southern Poverty Law Center.
For her part, Kimberly Dvorak wrote on her own blog Tuesday that the purported copy of a police blotter 鈥減roves that the alleged incident did in fact happen,鈥� when it actually only shows that law enforcement checked into a report of an incident.
鈥淚鈥檝e been trying to appeal to people鈥檚 common sense,鈥� Investigator Baeza says. 鈥淭here would be no reason a cartel would take a stand on rural property.鈥� There are many local and federal law enforcement agencies in the region because of its proximity to the Mexican border, he noted. 鈥淭here are a million other venues available to [Los Zetas] that are less resistant. They鈥檙e not interested in being in your face about it like in Mexico.鈥�
Still, the yarn has appeared on various websites, including that of the neo-Nazi Aryan Nations, as well as other anti-immigration forums. Baeza says he even got a phone call from a well-meaning U.S. Marine in Virginia who offered to come to Texas with his buddies to help rid the area of the Mexican gang takeover of ranches.
鈥淚t鈥檚 beyond tiring,鈥� Baeza says.
What鈥檚 more, it may not end any time soon. Now that she claims to have proven there was a scary Mexican invasion, Dvorak is calling on local media to track down the events that followed. This, while complaining in the same blog post of a 鈥渕edia blackout.鈥�
