Mexico Requests That Apartment Fire That Killed 10 Immigrants Be Investigated As A Possible Racial Attack

Los Angeles, Alta California — September 20, 2004 — (ACN) La Voz de Aztlan’s efforts in alerting the community about the apartment arson fire that killed 10 Mexican immigrants in Columbus, Ohio on September 12 have paid off. After publishing an forwarding two reports to tens of thousands of our subscribers worldwide and to every Mexican consulate and embassy in the world as well as to major key Mexican media networks and Mexican government officials, President Vicente Fox has forwarded an urgent communique to the Bush Administration that the heinous burning of 10 Mexican immigrants from his home state of Guanajuato be investigated as a possible anti-Mexican immigrant attack. The USA federal ATF agency has now entered the case.

As was reported previously, around 2:30 AM on Sunday September 12, a killer or killers doused with gasoline the stairwells which were the only fire escape routes of a Mexican immigrant friendly apartment building in the west side of Columbus, Ohio. The fire hydrant nearest the apartment building had been disabled by an impact from a vehicle. There were tire skid marks of the impact. The fire was set while the Mexican immigrants were asleep and it burned so furiously that it forced some of the immigrants to jump from third floor windows. An entire Mexican family perished in the flames including three babies.

La Voz de Aztlan learned today that Mexican Congresswoman Guadalupe Suárez, whom we had forwarded our reports, sent President Vicente Fox a request that he instruct the Secretaría de Relaciones Exteriores (SRE) (Department of Foreign Affairs) to seek an investigation of the arson fire because “serpudo ser un ataque racial” (it could have been a racial attack). Congresswoman Guadalupe Suárez is a member of the Comisión de Migración y Asuntos Fronterizos (Commission on Migration and Border Affairs). Congresswoman Suarez, as well as President Fox, are from Guanajuato, the Mexican state where the ten murdered immigrants originated.

Anti-Mexican attacks in the USA are on the increase. This is due to the activities of certain organized anti-Mexican immigrant groups. Among the most vehement are the American Border Patrol led by the vile bigot Glenn Spencer, Ranch Rescue, the Arizona Tombstone Militia led by the psycho Chris Simcox and the outlawed terrorist gang that goes by the name of the Jewish Defense League (JDL). Glenn Spencer as well as his two sons-in-law, who are Jewish, are members of the JDL, a fact that very few people know.

All of the above groups have had serious run-ins with the law. The most recent was a shoot out last week involving the FBI and Ranch Rescue in Douglas, Arizona. In the incident, the FBI shot Ranch Rescue vigilante Kalen Riddle, 22, near his anus and the bullet may have travel to vital organs in the lower abdomen. He is presently in a Tucson hospital in uncertain condition. Also arrested in the shoot out was the twice felon Casey Nethercott, age 37. Nethercott had been previously arrested for pistol whipping two immigrants in Texas. The group has ties to American Border Patrol and is suspected in a series of “snipings” with high power hunting rifles of Mexican migrant workers that cross the Mexico/US border.

Both, the vile bigot Glenn Spencer and the psycho Chris Simcox have also been arrested by law enforcement authorities. Glenn Spencer was arrested on August 2, 2003 in Sierra Vista, Arizona after he went on a shooting rampage with a .357 magnum rifle. Paranoia of Mexicans got the better of JDL member Glenn Spencer on the night of August 1, 2003 when he awoke to what he thought were “suspicious noises” outside his home. He jumped and got his rifle and started shooting wildly. Some of the bullets hit his neighbors’ homes. He was promptly arrested the following day, prosecuted and convicted.

Chris Simcox of the Arizona Tombstone Militia is a bizarre individual that thinks that he is Wyatt Earp re-incarnated. He is under the illusion that it is his mission in life to protect the Arizona/Mexico border from what he thinks is an alien invasion. On January 26, 2003 he was arrested by Federal Park Rangers for possession of a loaded and concealed weapon, disorderly conduct and interfering with a law enforcement function on federal government land. Federal Park Ranger Than Weigand said that Simcox was arrested after apparently “hunting for Mexicans inside the park.” Weigand said that his Rangers confiscated items that Simcox was carrying. The property included a loaded pistol, two walkie-talkies, a police scanner, a cellular telephone, a digital camera and what appeared to be a toy plastic figure of Wyatt Earp on his horsie.

Anti-Mexican and anti-immigrant propaganda resulting in racial attacks against Mexican immigrants is not exclusively being disseminated by fringe vigilante groups. Recently Congressman Tom Tomcredo of Colorado has used his office to rage against what he calls an invasion of illegal aliens from Mexico. News media such as Joseph Farah’s WorldNetDaily are also fanning the flames of bigotry by constantly harping, in their news coverage , about the Mexican re-conquest of the southwest. Some days ago even Time Magazine joined in raising “red flags” against Mexican immigration.

What these bigots do not know is that they may be “opening the gates of hell” that will “unleash the rabid dogs of racial hatred”. If this ever happens, it will cost all sides concerned dearly. By and large Mexicans have lived very peacefully with the non-Mexican population in the southwest since the end of the Mexican-American War in 1848. We want to keep it that way but it appears that there are some bigots like Glenn Spencer, Tom Tancredo, Joseph Farah, Casey Nethercot and others that don’t. It is up to reasonable people of all ethnic and racial groups to assure that these foul and vile people never get their way.

An escalation of anti-Mexican actions by vigilantes and militias could force a response by a large disaffected portion of our community. Ethnic and racial conflict is already on the rise in our schools and especially in the Los Angeles Unified School District. Cross ethnic drive-bys are occurring more often and a reasonable person can imagine a situation where innocent people of all races could get caught in the cross-fire. USA authorities must assure that this never occurs. The country cannot afford a serious ethnic or racial conflict in the southwest when it already has its hands full in Iraq.