"Hoaxer and Liar". These were the charges leveled at me in the comments to the story and through direct comments. I stood by the story, but started to wonder where these comments were coming from. Looking into it revealed that many of the comments on the article for the story were the same person posting under pseudonyms. This person was located in Mexico. They would post under one pseudonym that they had just driven to the location and there was nothing there. Then under several other pseudonyms they would post affirmation of this fact or attack me directly. This was done by others as well. Those websites pushing for amnesty for illegal aliens also began posting comments attacking the story and me personally.
Curiosity got the better of me and I started looking into where all of this was originating. I could understand some websites retracting it as unconfirmed, but many sites didn't just do that, they decided to attack the story viciously based on these "hoax reports"
Looking around on the net it was starting to become clear that these rumors of it being a hoax were being pushed by some of the larger left-leaning websites. They were also being pushed by open borders and pro-illegal alien websites. The latter have been attacking me for years for covering illegal immigration and calling for enforcement, so that was understandable - and yes they called me a racist again (for reporting a national security story which had nothing to do with race as the races of those involved were not known).
As border security really should have no politics when it comes to the safety of the people, I started to wonder why the left-leaning websites would not want the truth to come out on this. It couldn’t simply be about supporting Obama or some other nonsense. It had to be political and the only reasoning I can come up with even now is that they saw this as an opportunity to try and make the right-leaning websites look foolish - truth be damned in their eyes.
And so they did.
Lazy local media attention occurred. The Laredo Morning Times ran a story that the incident never happened after the extent of their "reporting" seems to have been just calling law enforcement. They discovered the same thing as those who had called before. Non-denying denials. So they ran a story that the Los Zetas story was false, yet here is the extent of their information they went with (their story is currently not available to the public):
"… Investigator Jose E. Baeza, LPD spokesman, said he had not heard anything about the incident. Also, an LPD sergeant, who was on duty as a watch commander Saturday afternoon, said she had not heard anything about it either."
"At about 4:30 p.m., Maru De La Paz, spokeswoman for Webb County Sheriff’s Office, wrote that the report about Zetas taking over ranches in Laredo is not confirmed."
Funny how all of this could not be confirmed with a police blotter of the exact incident being available. They were clearly told to lie as could be seen in the video I posted of their press conference.
With the Laredo Morning Times story - based all on phone calls and no actual reporting - and a push of it being a hoax from left-leaning websites, the right-leaning websites began to get nervous and retract the story, many of them parroting the left-leaning websites of calling it a lie or a hoax in the process. Looking into these retractions it became quite clear that the sources for this were the Laredo Morning Times story almost single-handedly and in other cases secondhand reports from some anonymous person that they had contacted law enforcement and received the same vague responses.
Those websites who actually have knowledge of the border, follow immigration and have noted the Los Zetas increase in violence and border threats - like the website Death By 1000 Papercuts - chose instead to delve further into the story. They noted similarities between a plot to blow up the Falcon Dam near Laredo by Los Zetas in May 2010 that was not reported in the media for weeks. In other words the Falcon Dam story was similarly covered up. Those involved? DHS, Border Patrol and local law enforcement. In other words an almost exact mirror of what we saw with the ranch seizures story.
In May 2010, a small army of law enforcement scrambled to thwart a plot by the los Zetas cartel to blow up a dam near Laredo TX. Local media didn’t cover it nor did the national MSM. The best source of news as the incident unfolded? Los Zetas, who warned residents on the Mexican side with pamphlets and announcements via bullhorns. The Houston Chronicle reported on it–6-8 weeks after the fact.
Also of note was an incident just reported days ago of a joint effort that took into custody two Los Zetas hitmen in Brownsville, Texas.
Brownsville Herald
… Blanco was arrested on July 23 during a joint operation that included ICE Homeland Security Investigations, U.S. Border Patrol and Brownsville police.
…
According to Mexican law enforcement officials, Blanco is affiliated with the Zetas criminal organization and worked under Arturo Castillo, also known as "El Apache."
Castillo was arrested a day later in the same interagency operation on the charge of illegal entry and is also in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service, Pruneda said. Castillo faces extradition to Mexico, she said.
The difference between the above apprehensions and the ranch seizures is one of degrees of confidence in our law enforcement and border security. The ranch seizure is a direct "thumbing of the nose" at our lack of action and makes clear that acts similar in nature could occur in the future at their whim.
Continue on to the next part: Vicious Attacks And Outright Lies About Authors And Facts
