By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
BRACKETTVILLE – The leader of a north Texas militia vowed Monday he and members of his group will maintain a presence in Kinney County until it is safe from what he termed “an invasion” of immigrants illegally crossing into the United States.
Dallas resident Sam Hall, president and founder of Patriots for America Militia, spoke to the 830 Times after a special meeting of Kinney County Commissioners Court.
During that meeting, Kinney County Sheriff Brad Coe asked for and received permission from the court to appoint up to 10 reserve deputies, and although Coe did not mention the militia group by name, he said his office continually receives phone calls from across the country from persons volunteering to come to Kinney County.
Of his group, Hall said, “We’re a state militia. We have a small Missouri chapter, a Colorado chapter, and we’re opening a chapter in Arizona. Community defense is what we started as and what we evolved into is helping rescue children from sex trafficking, and that’s what we’re most well known for throughout the state, on radio, television and in the media.
“But that’s not what we’re here for in Kinney County. We’re here to save our children from a different evil, and that is this invasion that’s coming across (the border). These citizens and these residents are scared,” Hall added.
As he had during the meeting, Hall blasted the state’s top elected officials and said the immigration surge is part of a scheme to turn Texas into a state of Democrats.
“The (people of Kinney County) don’t have the help they need from Austin, and they don’t have the help they need from any National Guard whatsoever, and the people, the law enforcement in this area, have their hands tied. They can only do so much because they have only so many facilities to put anybody, so what’s happening is, and it’s clearly an engineered invasion from the federal government, on Texas, to weaken the state, to turn either purple or blue, because everybody knows that where Texas goes, the nation is going to follow,” Hall said.
The 830 Times asked Hall what he felt his group could do that law enforcement and the state could not.
“Well, it’s manpower. It’s manpower and facilities. If we can bring exposure to the situation here in Kinney County and show people how desperate it is and bring a light to this situation and show people that they don’t have the help that they need, maybe we can get resources down here to help this county, whether it be militia or otherwise, monitors, you name it. Listen, it’s a constitutional right to defend this county as a militia,” Hall said.
Hall said his group “has to work with landowners.”
“We have to work with property owners. We have to work with law enforcement. I’ve had multiple conversations now with the sheriff. This problem isn’t going to be fixed overnight, but it’s going to take people to step up and come out,” Hall said.
“We all left jobs behind to come down here. We’re not living in hotels. We’re roughing it on cots, but the people of this county are worth it. This state is worth it. This country is worth it,” he added.
Hall said so far he has brought “17 to 18” fellow militia members to Kinney County.
“We have another 30, 40, maybe 45, on the way, and that’s this upcoming week. We’re trying to get about 100 well-trained men and women down here to help this county, and after that, the amount of exposure we can get, we’ll bring more and more. If the government’s not going to step up and help this county, by God, Texans are going to step up and help Texas,” he said.
Asked if the militia would be patrolling and arresting people, Hall replied, “As a militia, we can’t arrest. Now, as you heard in commissioners court today, they’re going to deputize 10 of us. That’s going to be a start. I’m sure more are going to follow. But right now, the militia is going to work in cohesion with law enforcement as much as possible to deter what’s coming across the border.”
The 830 Times asked Hall if the members of his group are mainly ex-military or former law enforcement, and he replied, “We’re from all walks of life. We have former military. We have former law enforcement. But we also have people, great patriots, men and women, who never served in the military because they couldn’t or they just didn’t, but they are more than welcome in Patriots for America Militia.”
“We’re a very diverse group of patriots. We don’t see color. We see content of character, so it doesn’t matter, your background or your race or what you believe in. What matters is that you bleed red, white and blue, you believe in the Constitution and you love Texas,” he said.
Hall said the Patriots for America Militia would stay in Kinney County “as long as it takes.”
“Now, we’re going to have to rotate men in and out. We all have families and jobs and we have to take care of those as well, so we’re going to rotate people in and out, but probably a week to two weeks on each rotation. We’re going to rotate people back so they can go see their families and bring more men in,” he said.
“We need exposure. We need people coming down, but here’s the deal: we need the right people, and I can’t stress that enough. This is not a situation. This is a powder keg. This is the Wild West, especially down there on the border. We don’t need anybody that’s trigger-happy or especially anybody that has any intention of coming down here and hurting people. We’re not here to hurt anyone. We’re not here to beat our chests. We’re here to make a difference,” Hall said.
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