By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
Both Val Verde County Judge Lewis G. Owens Jr. and Sheriff Joe Frank Martinez said Tuesday they wouldn’t endorse the work of a north Texas militia in Val Verde County.
The Patriots For America Militia has been conducting operations on private property in neighboring Kinney County for several months, saying their goal is to help residents feel safer amid the unprecedented flow of immigrants illegally crossing the Texas-Mexico border.
On Tuesday, Samuel Hall, founder and president of Patriots For America Militia, asked for endorsement from Val Verde County Commissioners Court for similar operations in Val Verde County.
Hall spoke to the court during the “citizen comments” portion of the agenda.
“We’ve been working a lot in Kinney County, working closely with Sheriff (Brad) Coe over there and the residents in that county for the last two-and-a-half, almost three months. We’ve been doing great work, commissioners. We’ve been making a big difference,” Hall told the court.
“For the first time, Kinney County now has National Guard. I can’t say that’s solely because of PFA, but I know in a lot of my interviews, both nationally and a couple international interviews, that’s something that we mentioned, that Kinney County was abandoned: had no National Guard, had little DPS presence compared to other counties, and they only had six deputies,” Hall added.
Hall said his group is now looking to expand its operations in south Texas.
“I think the militia has been demonized pretty well by the Left, and my goal and my objective before you today, commissioners, is to let you know that our message is pure. We’re not a bunch of guys that have hate rhetoric. We’re not a bunch of guys that beat our chests or have the wrong intentions or the wrong message.
“We are a Christ-centered, faith-based organization. We’re a bunch of believers. We believe that we’ve been the hands and feet of Christ in Kinney County. We believe that we can do the same and have the same message in Val Verde County,” Hall said.
Hall explained how the PFA groups operate in the field.
“When we do come upon illegal immigrants, it is our goal to comfort them, not be mean, not be intimidating. We give them food. We give them water. We attend to any medical needs that they have,” he said.
“Most recently we came across three (immigrants) just three nights ago, very scared, very cold. They’d been walking for a month-and-a-half from Nicaragua. In Spanish, the translation was that they’d been persecuted by their own country so much that this was the only path that they felt they could take,” Hall said.
Hall insisted the immigration issue isn’t a political one.
“What we believe is that this isn’t a Republican issue or a Democrat issue. This is an American issue. This is a Texan issue. I think people on both sides of the aisle are fed up. We don’t have the proper resources. We don’t have the proper infrastructure to handle this crisis. So what do we do?” he said.
“You have Texans like PFA, Patriots For America, that have left jobs and families, that have come here and sacrificed time, talent and treasure, commissioners, to be here and stick up for the people who either can’t stick up for themselves or don’t have the resources to do so,” Hall said.
He told the court the group has “already made a difference in Kinney County” and said Coe supports the group “because we have the right message.”
“We don’t come in with any intent to hurt anybody. We don’t come in with any intent to cause any fights. We come in with a pure message, a humanitarian message, a peaceful message. Yes, we’re a militia, but we’re also very much a ministry,” Hall said, adding a woman who is a member of his group at one point hugged immigrants and prayed with them.
Hall said every member of his group on the border is vetted, adding members have traveled from as far away as Chicago, Ill., Florida, Georgia and “from all over Texas.”
“We’re here to make a positive impact. We’re here to make a positive difference,” he said.
Hall asked for the court’s support and invited them to call Coe as a reference.
“We can make a difference in Val Verde County. We’ve already talked to one rancher who has gave us permission that day to go and be on his land and do a recon op, and what we saw was heartbreaking and brought many of the people on my team to tears. We saw children’s clothes and shoes and one life jacket that probably could’ve have been, maybe, for a two-year-old.
“As a father, commissioners, it brought me to tears, because that’s somebody’s baby that they’re swimming across the river because they’re so desperate for a better life. We are a nation of laws, and we should uphold those laws, but there’s a human aspect, and we need to be compassionate, and we need to realize they’re doing this for a reason, and it’s because they feel they have no choice,” Hall said.
Neither the commissioners nor Owens commented on Hall’s presentation during the meeting.
PFA member Kevin Caldwell, a resident of Dallas, also spoke to the court.
“There’s a lot of citizens in Kinney County that feel a little bit safer because we’re here,” he said.
After the meeting, Owens said he would only consider a letter of support for the Patriots For America Militia if the sheriff gave his blessing first.
“A letter of support, I don’t think it’s coming, in my opinion. I have law enforcement in Val Verde County, which is the sheriff’s office, and in my opinion, he (Hall) would have to have that support from sheriff first,” Owens told the 830 Times after the meeting.
Martinez said after Tuesday’s meeting he has spoken with a number of Val Verde County property owners and ranchers who don’t want the militia members on their land.
As for formal endorsement or a letter of support, the sheriff said, “I’m not going to give one.”
Martinez said it’s up to individual landowners if they want one to meet and talk to the militia members, “but I’m not going to endorse them.”
“Some of the people I’ve talked to didn’t even want to talk to them. The people I’ve spoken with don’t want them on their land. They feel we have enough law enforcement in Val Verde County,” Martinez said.
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