Migrant camp vandalism investigation continues

By: EDWARD SIFUENTES - Staff Writer
North County Times
February 9, 2007

NORTH COUNTY ---- San Diego police said Thursday they are investigating a possible link between anti-illegal immigration activists and the Rancho Penasquitos vandalism incident last month in which clothing and other belongings were destroyed in migrant camps.

A witness allegedly saw the vandals go through the camps, according to police. At one of the camps, clothing was slashed, boots were torn and blankets were ripped in half. Police said the incidents happened sometime over the weekend of Jan. 27 and 28.

No one has been charged in the incident and the investigation is not yet complete, according to police.

A migrant worker who lives in one of the camps told them four men and two women were allegedly involved, according to police. Monica Munoz, a spokeswoman with the San Diego Police Department, said detectives are checking whether the alleged vandals may be members of a group that has demonstrated against illegal immigrants at local migrant camps.

"The information regarding the possible Minutemen involvement is confirmed by Capt. (Jim) Collins per a witness," Munoz said.

Munoz said police are keeping open the possibility of recommending the vandalism be charged as a hate crime.

The use of the term "minuteman" was popularized by the Minuteman Project, a monthlong vigil at the U.S.-Mexico border in April 2005. Many anti-illegal immigration groups now use the term "minuteman" in their name. Some individuals refer to themselves as Independent Minuteman activists, but are not affiliated with any particular group.

Collins could not be reached for comment Tuesday. He told KPBS News recently that the witness recognized one of the alleged vandals, described their vehicles and their physical appearance.

Jeff Schwilk, who leads the San Diego Minutemen, one of the best-known and most active anti-illegal immigration groups in the county, could not be reached for comment on this story.

"We are still looking into all leads," Munoz said. "No determination has been made at this time with regard to charges."

Migrant camps, such as the one in Rancho Penasquitos, have existed in North County for decades. They are home to migrant workers who toil in local agriculture fields, restaurants, landscape companies and construction sites.

But the camps have become a matter of controversy as expensive housing developments are built increasingly close to the shanties. City officials have been working to clear the makeshift shelters in recent months.

Claudia Smith, a prominent migrant rights advocate, said she hopes whoever is responsible for the vandalism is punished.

"My concern is that the perpetrators, whoever they are, be prosecuted," she said. "Because it's a very short step from the slash job that was done in the encampments to something much uglier."

-- Contact staff writer Edward Sifuentes at (760) 740-3511 or esifuentes@nctimes.com.

http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2007/02 ... 2_8_07.txt

Comments On This Story

Note: Comments reflect the views of readers and not necessarily those of the North County Times or its staff
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Why are these people allowed to camp out for decades on private land? wrote on February 08, 2007 10:40 PM:"These pro-illegal alien groups are absolutely right-it must be the "minutemen" who "vandalized" this longstanding "migrant camp". The fact that they are saying so makes it true of course, they have no political ax to grind. How dare anyone oppose the camping out of people who have crept over the border to illegally enter this country, without proper disease screening or waiting their turn and who "toil" in "agricultural fields", "restaurants" and other places where they can most easily infect others with their unscreened infectious diseases. Mr. Sifuentes, who wrote this story, sure gave us the facts without any bias or innuendo. "

So two wrongs make it right wrote on February 08, 2007 10:57 PM:"These guys preach all about obeying laws, but apparently laws only apply to people they don't like. ALL LAW BREAKERS MUST BE PUNISHED. Quit making excuses for your Minuteman buddies."

Something to Ponder, Why wrote on February 08, 2007 11:15 PM:"Too bad that Mr. Schwilk's meltdown/temper tantrum that was broadcast on the tv news didn't get any story or NC Times coverage. As to why people are allowed to camp on private land -- well, it's because it suits economic interests in the county. Bet you would have said the same thing about hippies forty years ago. "

What???? wrote on February 08, 2007 11:18 PM:"Cladia Smith says what? "My concern is that the perpetrators, whoever they are, be persecuted," she said. Persecuted and prosecuted...how about be-headed since you're rambling? "

RF wrote on February 08, 2007 11:24 PM:"Now you see this blog nice and quiet. Where are all of Jeff's computer thugs now? YOUR MINUTE IS UP! Back down the toilet of history you go!"

Dan (Temecula) wrote on February 08, 2007 11:50 PM:" Claudia Smith sure hopes that these people are punished. Well how about these illegals illegally on this private property vandilising with human waste, illegal fires ect... This country is on a fast down hill spiral, and we all need to stand, and fight. Before are government hands are country over to 12 million law breakers, who 1 by 1 will ruin are already ruined social security, schools, welfare, medical services, so and so on. To much to list. If you are in favor of amnesty then why don't you hop the fence south of the border, and help there with your wealth. NOT MY MIDDLE CLASS INCOME. PLESE ANYONE WHO CAN ORGANIZE A HUGE RALLY PLEASE DO SO. THE TURN OUT WILL BE HUGE, AND EVERYONE INCLUDING MR. BUSH WILL HEAR US, INSTEAD OF IGNORING THE MAJORITY OF THIS COUNTRIES FINACIAL BACKERS. ( TAX PAYING CITIZENS.). I really don't see the illegal action here as it appears to me, and I'm sure any attorney that it would be hard to prosecute someone for vandelising garbage. What about these neighborhoods who in the recent 6 months with all this great publicity it has got how much the property value has gone down!!! Illegals make me sick to my stomach, along with there supporters. You are obviously anti- American, and wish for the ruin of the greatest country in the world. I ask what is this country coming too when we hire Border Patrol agents to do a job, they do it, and get 11, and 12 years in prison for it. I'm telling you one thin, something is really fishy."

RF wrote on February 08, 2007 11:53 PM:"This blog is UNUSUALLY quiet now! I guess the MINUTE is up! You all couldn't contain your hate and backwardness for more than a minute. Back down you go in the toilet of history!! "

Hey SD Police wrote on February 09, 2007 12:45 AM:"Make sure you arrest and prosecute the people that vandalized the camp, but make damn sure you dont ask the campers their resident status or call ICE or Boarder patroll to get this scum back out of OUR country"

Where are the charges against the illegals? wrote on February 09, 2007 1:04 AM:"When will they be charged for breaking the laws for breaking the laws of the land? When will the trespassers be charged? When will the prostitutes be charged? When will the pimps be charged? How about the Illegal Immigrants in this canyon camps guilty of ID theft, when will they be charged? Who will be pay for the enviormental damage done by them all? The pro illegal groups have an ear with Mr. Sifuentes, everybody knows he's not biased now is he? "

THEY are breaking the law, wrote on February 09, 2007 5:53 AM:"In this country ILLEGALLY, working here ILLEGALLY, stealing ID's and trespassing. Mr. EDWARD SIFUENTES is a biased, reporter who should not be working for ANY responsible paper. He incites people. I know his stories make ME want to join the Minutemen! NCT's you should be supervising this man or maybe he can go start a paper in Spanish and print his lies. The spanish radio stations spout lies all the time."

Suzette wrote on February 09, 2007 5:59 AM:"What part of the term "under investigation" do you not understand? When arrests are made I am certain you all will say it is false arrest or a huge mistake. Well I have found that law enforcement officers rarely make mistakes. They cross all the T' and dot all the i's before they make an arrest. Funny how Jeff Schwilk could not be reached for comment what I have seen of him he can rarely keep his mouth shut. If these men are living in these encampments and the property owners don't evict them what gives any one the right to go there and damage their personal property? This is called illegal and my question is what part of illegal do you not understand? I agree with Claudia Smith I hope whoever did this gets arrested and prosecuted. This type of activity must stop before someone gets physically injured. "

Robert24 wrote on February 09, 2007 7:03 AM:"More superb, one sided, I-support-illegals-and-their-activities reporting by Ed Sifuentes. I think I see a Pulitzer Prize (or whatever great journalists get) in your future, Ed!"

An axe to grind wrote on February 09, 2007 7:10 AM:"The establishment has an axe to grind. Consider that the anti-illegal alien citizens have rocked the cheap slave labor sanctuary city boat by protesting day labor sites in shopping centers and camps in the back yards of legal residents. Some city pols and the police that follow their orders have not been happy to have the ugly truth splashed on the front pages and discussed on talk radio. The elite powers are not used to "we the people" taking charge of our lives and "doing the jobs that they don't want to do". Now, will we see the public lynching of citizens who are trying to discourage illegal immigration through activism? A question to be answered soon. Stay tuned! "

What's Wrong with Vigilantes? wrote on February 09, 2007 8:46 AM:"Maybe Hector and Pedro will get the hint they are not wanted in the USA unless they have come here legally. Go back to Tj (not Escondido) and stay there until you get proper documentation!"

Comes Around wrote on February 09, 2007 8:51 AM:"The vigilantes who are trying to intimidate hard working poor people, need to be caught prosecuted and and put in prison. (Hopefully they"ll have to share a cell with someone who will challenge their ideology.) "

esteban wrote on February 09, 2007 8:59 AM:"I hope the law breakers are punished!!!!! Now am I talking about the vandals or the illegals...you decide!!!!"

CAtbONe wrote on February 09, 2007 9:15 AM:"Be careful brothers. These ALIENS can be clever. Consider this; destroy your own camp, burn your own clothes, all while Minuteman activity is brewing nearby? Perhaps those hombres are attempting to implicate the Minutemen in a circumstantial sort of manner. Hmmm?"

Pete Nice wrote on February 09, 2007 9:20 AM:"The problems will really start once there is confrontation between the minute men & the migrants. The minute men will attack again, the migrants will defend themselves & then everyone will feel bad for the biggot minutemen who are a bunch of weekend Nazi's who have nothing better to do. Bottom line is this: U.S. needs the cheap labor & white people are not about to go picking lettuce. Leave the migrants alone & watch how you speak about Latinos in general. I'm not illegal, but I'm a Mexican American & you will not talk down to me or my family. Peace out!!"

Too Funny wrote on February 09, 2007 9:21 AM:"Claudia you are too funny and it is sad. Yes let's punish the "vandal" but not the "illegal". Do you see something wrong with this picture. Mr Sifuentes...I can't believe you write this trash and call yourself a journalist. "

The If, then, scenario wrote on February 09, 2007 9:39 AM:"I am left wondering why investigations were not instigated against the illegals who were trespassing on the canyon property to begin with? If the trespassers were removed and charged with the crime in the first place, there wouldn't have been the opportunity for the vandals in the second place. It will be a slippery legal slope because both groups were trespassing though the illegals would have the additional federal charge of breaking immigration laws. Then once they apprehend the vandals, where can law enforcement find the victims? They are no longer illegally encamped in the canyon and have scattered to the wind. No victim, no crime!"

To CAtbONe wrote on February 09, 2007 10:18 AM:"That is a nice theory but highly unlikely. Everything they owned was destroyed. Believe me the last thing they would do is destroy their own property even if they were trying to "frame" the minutemen. Tell me if you only owned two pairs of pants, two shirts and a blanket and lived outside would you damage it? NO!!! I believe the evidence will speak for itself and the right people will be charged and prosecuted. If these illegals are living out there and they are engaged in illegal activity, and if they are squatting on private property is it really up to a vigilante group or anyone else to try to remove them? NO!!! Just like it is not our business to try to do the job of our Federal government in trying to stop illegal immigration by violent means. I think the leader of this group are asking for more trouble with the violence they are breeding. "

I can't believe this.... wrote on February 09, 2007 10:45 AM:"This is a very sad. This is just getting worse by the second. F.Y.I.-I was once living on the streets. I have no excuses as to why I was living on the streets being a healthy, smart, and strong young man. Blame my alcohol and drug addictions for making me homeless. Well whenever I was hungry, cold, in need of clothing, a place to crash for a few hours to get out of the rain, never anywhere, not once, did a "migrant worker" not lend a hand or part of there shelter if I needed it. I never even had to ask it was always offered. So when I see and hear about people going into the canyons of my town Rancho Penasquitos, and destroying things that are or were possibly something I might have been given on a cold, wet, hungry, night, and are no longer useful, destroyed in hate and anger, well it makes me want to hurt those people. "

American woman wrote on February 09, 2007 10:46 AM:"Here we go! The NCT has been waiting for an opportunity to tear the Minuteman movement apart, and it appears they feel they have found it. This 'journalist' (I use the term in it's loosest form), Edward Sifuentes, who apparently has NO LIFE, has taken it upon himself to create a scenario, via a domestic dispute between a man and a woman, on which to build a "case" against a group of American patriots. Yesterday's column, penned by Sifuentes, targeted two individuals. Today, the NCT presents this article to spice-up the scenario. To be sure, this piece is unrelated to yesterday's NCT babble, but readers are urged to see some pattern here, about a specific group of Americans. What a crock! Hello..... These "migrants" are law-breakers. They should never have been allowed to 'settle' in those canyons in the first place! If the farmers want to retain this kind of help, they could have begun sponsoring their citizenship a long time ago...and they could have built quarters for their slaves, er...oops...I mean EMPLOYEES that offer a human standard of livability! Did anyone else take note of Ms. Smith's need to p-e-r-s-e-c-u-t-e the perpetrators of the "crime?" She persecutes everyone who has to spend time in her presence. Just her breathing in-and-out is a form of persecution. Mr. Sifuentes says: Now, isn't it comforting to know that your busboys or even worse, the dishwashers at local restaurants may have no sanitary facilities where they live, and that they just may be carriers of highly communicable diseases? Maybe Mr. Sifuentes and staff at NCT should stand shoulder to shoulder with the poor "migrants," and help them rebuild in the canyons. Just watch where you step! "

Ron wrote on February 09, 2007 10:48 AM:"So... we have the time and money to investigate this, but no time or money to remove them? Interesting..."

Skip wrote on February 09, 2007 10:59 AM:"How much protection should squatters have, for leaving their belongings on private or public land? If I went out in a field and left my personal belongings there I would not expect them to be left alone. So this story infers that illegal alien squatters have rights on lands that they do not rent or own. Is that a double standard? Or What?"

I can't believe this..... wrote on February 09, 2007 11:00 AM:"Hey an American woman, I bet you consider yourself a minuteman or minutewoman, which ever, I think I've got a good idea of who you are, dirty blonde, tall(for a woman), wanna be biker chick, was at the McGonigal canyon "clean up," yeah I'm pretty sure it's you, if I'm wrong please feel free to do nothing or everything. Later people Benny"

Concerned-1 wrote on February 09, 2007 11:14 AM:"Health Issue: I have a real problem with restaurants who hire illegals. The illegals either live in makeshift camps or overcrowded apartments. Both are unsanitary. I for one do not eat at a restarants where I suspect illegals work. (How can I tell? Common sense!)"

Concerned-1 wrote on February 09, 2007 11:18 AM:"Legal Issue: Isn't it illegal to camp out on private property without permission? Aren't there codes against living in unsanitary conditions? Why do we hear so much about immigration reform when if the various local, state, and federal governments would enforce the laws and codes on the books, we wouldn't have an immigration problem? Final question: where do our tax dollars go?"

... wrote on February 09, 2007 11:21 AM:"where is your humanity."

esteban wrote on February 09, 2007 11:22 AM:"Journalists have one motive...to make their name in tha business. How do you do that? You "break" stories that are controversial. Therefore, I lend NO CREDENCE to what a "journalist" has to say. They are only in it for the notoriety and to sell papers."

Red is Red wrote on February 09, 2007 11:42 AM:"Blue is Blue, Legal is Legal and Illegal is Illegal. No matter how hard I might want it, I will never be able to make Blue into Red. "

Chubton wrote on February 09, 2007 11:50 AM:"Jesus would have burned down the camps."

Oside Resident wrote on February 09, 2007 11:52 AM:"Go Minutemen!!! Hopefully soon the entire "Legal" community will start getting involved. Next step is to physically clear out the illegal camps, tie up the illegal aliens and drop them off at the border. I can guarantee you that ICE will not stop you, they might even help... off the record of course. Who has truck."

To NCT Editor wrote on February 09, 2007 11:52 AM:"While we are discussing illegal immigrants, can you do a story why the City of Escondido is not enforcing the new shopping cart law? My neighborhood still gets the shopping carts from all of the near by stores. It would be interesting to find out why. A Mr. McCarthy, Esq. in the City Attorneys office might be able to give you a clue. "

To Skip wrote on February 09, 2007 1:10 PM:"So Skip if I forget my purse and my purchases in a shopping cart at the supermarket then the person who finds can in your analogy keep my goods and the items, money, credit cards in my purse because it is after all found on public property. Where is your sense of morality man. Who ever did this was wrong and I hope they get busted and get the maximum punishment for their crime."

Unbelievable wrote on February 09, 2007 1:15 PM:"It boggles my mind to think that even after 100 years or so, things don't change in this country with respect to the treatment of Mexicans and cheap labor in this country. "

American blogger wrote on February 09, 2007 1:37 PM:" To the first blogger on this story: Hate is also an "unscreened infectious disease." Think about it...."