The Associated Press
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. -- Opponents of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps showed up at a chapter organizational meeting in Hot Springs Tuesday night to dispute the need for a local branch of the group, and its aims.
Nationally, the group is known for its citizen patrols of the U.S.-Mexico border.
Greg Thompson of Oklahoma City, national training director for the organization, spoke to a crowd that included both supporters and opponents that packed a meeting room of the Lake Hamilton Fire Department. The meeting was organized by Bill Riggins of Hot Springs.
Thompson compared the work of the Minutemen to that of a neighborhood watch program. Someone from the audience asked what authority they have to conduct their operations, and that led to a heated exchange.
"We've got the right to defend our property," a man shouted.
"The Mexican border is not your property," a woman responded.
"We're Americans, and that's our property," the man replied.
Thompson told the crowd that the meeting was for people who wanted to join the Minutemen, and if anyone present wasn't interested in doing that, they could leave.
"Your opinion is not welcome," he said.
Thompson said illegal immigrants are exploited in many different ways, and that efforts to stem illegal immigration would actually help protect them.
"We have saved hundreds of illegal people coming across the border in the desert," he said. "They didn't have water, they didn't have food. The next time you stay in a hotel and see a Latino maid, remember that 77 percent of these women have been molested in their journey across this country."
He denied that the group was racist in any way, and warned that "if people make the slightest implication that they are racist, they cannot be allowed to join."
Riggins said the group was trying to stop illegal immigrants, not legal ones.
"We're not talking about legal immigrants," he said. "We welcome and certainly need their participation in our organization."
Trina Fortanelli-Lezana, the 23-year-old daughter of a Mexican immigrant, argued that people come into the country trying to make better lives for their families.
"We do need to secure our borders," she said. "But, against terrorists, not people who want to come make better lives for their families."
Thompson eventually closed the meeting to only those who wished to join the organization.
Copyright 2006 Associated Press
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