Minuteman In the opinion of the reporter George Putnam, while one fights for freedom somewhere else in the world, one could at that moment be in fact losing one's own freedom. He also states, on air as well as in other media that the United States of America is being invaded by an inordinate number of aliens, and unless this is controlled, the citizens of America could well lose their own freedom. He goes on to emphasize on the fact that being a Californian, and sharing a common border with Mexico, has meant that he has been suffering both economically as well as culturally, in the hands of foreign illegal invaders, who have been completely responsible for violating the very sovereignty of the state. This in turn has led to the miserable state of affairs present in the 'Immigration and Naturalization Services Department', and, in the opinion of the reporter George Putnam, unless something is done about this, there will be trouble in the future. He goes on to say that it is out of this 'growing disaster' that a heroics group of people has come into being, and this group is known as the 'Minutemen'. (One Reporter's Opinion, One man's Civil Homeland Defense)

These are mere civilians, who are prepared to do the job of the government, in the present situation where the government has refused to take action and protect the public against such disasters and foreign invasions. These civilians therefore are at present doing the job of protecting others from violent criminals, armed drug smugglers, terrorists of various kinds, and so on, who have been pouring into the country through illegal means. However, says George Putnam, the government, instead of welcoming such efforts being undertaken by civilians of the United States of America, has in fact started to consider this group as its enemy. Chris Simcox belongs to this group that calls itself 'Minutemen', and this individual was, in fact, a teacher in Los Angeles, and he actually quit his job, and put all his available funds into the newspaper called 'Tombstone Tumbleweed' started in Arizona. As a matte of fact, Chris Simcox and his small group of 'Civil Homeland Defense' are at this minute busy patrolling the Arizona / Mexico border. (One Reporter's Opinion, One man's Civil Homeland Defense)

Chris Simcox is one of the many civilians who are today completely engrossed in attempts to 'protect the borders against illegal invasions', and he is a young man who totes his big, two toned .45 in a hard plastic holster, and he is never ever seen without his gun. Chris Simcox more often than not speaks to the media, while making sure that his gun is visible in every single frame, and he makes statements about sovereignty, the rules of law, and the Pledge of Allegiance, but his primary body language however, does not match his powerful words and sentiments; he seems to be an individual who is extremely fond of toting his gun wherever possible. It is Simcox's belief that it is the numerous Mexican drug dealers that are running the United States today, and that they are the individuals who are in the process of ruining the economy of America. (Patriots on the Borderline)

At the age of forty two, Chris Simcox is the owner, the editor, the publisher, the reporter, the circulation manager, and also the advertisement manager of the weekly magazine, 'Tombstone Tumbleweed', with a circulation of 1,200. In his October 24 issue, Chris Simcox had declared "Enough is enough! A Public Call to Arms!," wherein he exhorted all his readers to join a group named 'Citizens Border Patrol Militia', whose primary aim and objective would be to literally 'shame' the government into performing its own job of protecting the borders of the United States of America from illegal immigrants and aliens, and he also invited his readers to come up with a suitable solution that would be able to handle these important security issues in a better manner. In his own words, Chris Simcox has said, "We need some good old-fashioned discipline in this country," and this is his sole purpose in life today.

Although his newspaper does not circulate beyond Tumbleweed, it was when the Internet happened to publish Simcox's article that he became a truly global figure, because this was when many more people came to know about this individual and his attempts to fortify the borders against immigrants, despite being a civilian. There have been...

He states that when he dose find an illegal immigrant, all he can do is to detain him for perhaps fifteen minutes, issue a warning, and let him go, because, otherwise, he would most probably be charged by the police for the offense of kidnapping. (Patriots on the Borderline)
What exactly caused such a stampede of immigrants in this particular corner of Arizona was the passing of the new Border Patrol Policy in the year 1994. Before this time, border patrol officers would generally lie in wait, and observe whether illegal immigrants were trying to cross the borders, and when they would do so, they would be caught. However, in the year 1993, the Chief of the Border Patrol's El Paso sector, Sylvester Reyes, decided to make his men stand right on the line in order to catch illegal immigrants, and he also built a Berlin Wall type of fence around the area. This new strategy implemented by Reyes was called 'Operation Hold the Line', and the success of the plan lay in not how many were caught, but in how few.

The strategy was an inordinate success, and other border patrols followed suit, and today, it is a fact that the number of people who want to come into the United States has not decreased, in fact, these people are today taking more risks, and attempting to cross the borders through the deserts, and this has resulted in more immigrants losing their lives while trying to cross over, than the number of people who lost their lives trying to cross the Berlin Wall in all the twenty eight years when it existed. However, it must be remembered that this strategy has been difficult on the rural Americans who live in Arizona, because of the fact that this has today become the more popular route for immigrants attempting to cross over into America. (Patriots on the Borderline)

In Arizona, especially, immigrants continue to pour in, in undiminished numbers, even after the September 11 debacle, and while it must be stated that the federal government has acted quickly in response to the September 11 terrorist attacks, it has done absolutely nothing to try to stem the rising tide of immigrants trying to enter the U.S.A. This is the primary reason that Chris Simcox has declared 'war' or more appropriately, 'non-war' against the American government, which, he states, is letting the people of America down very badly indeed. In recent years, especially after the new Border Patrol Policy of 1994, mass illegal immigration into Arizona has increased significantly, and since immigrants could not cross over from their usual places, they had to choose alternate routes, and this is where Arizona was affected, because this was the place that immigrants chose more often than not to get into America. (The Federal Government has met the enemy, and they are the Tombstone Militia)

As a direct consequence, these illegal immigrants would enter into private property, often plundering and burglarizing it, and also leave a trail of garbage, refuse, excrement and rubbish behind, which the rural people would have to undertake to clean up. All the complaints that were forwarded to Washington and to the president George Bush went completely unheard, and on the other hand, any hints at all of civilian action or enforcements would bring forth immediate federal crackdowns. This in fact was exactly what happened to Chris Simcox and it was when all his complaints to the government and to President Bush went unheeded, despite proof that immigration laws were being constantly and blatantly violated that he decided to take matters into his own hands to control unmitigated immigration of illegal immigrants, and therefore started his militant group known as the 'Tombstone Militia' or also the 'Minutemen'. This decision has resulted in federal and government agencies making continued attempts to crack down on Chris Simcox, and hauling him for hearing to determine whether or not he has violated any laws in forming his group of civilian militia men whose duty it would be to protect the borders of the country from illegal invasions. (The Federal Government has met the enemy, and they are the Tombstone Militia)

Michael Gaddy is of the opinion that since he is a member of the group of about 875 militia men committed to patrolling the borders of his country so that aliens do not enter into the United States of America, known as the…