Since the late 1990’s, vigilantes along the Mexican-American border have engaged in private campaigns to hunt and detain Latino immigrants or presumed immigrants often against their will and by gunpoint. In March 2004, a group of Latinos were violently assaulted, detained and threatened with death by rancher Roger Barnett, his wife, Barbara, and his brother, Donald.
In 2005, MALDEF brought a lawsuit on behalf of 16 plaintiffs to recover damages for injuries inflicted upon them by the Barnetts. The group, including a young teenage girl, were resting near a state highway along the Arizona-Mexico Border when they were accosted by Roger Barnett and his wife, armed and accompanied by a large dog. The Barnetts held the unarmed group of terrified men and women at gunpoint and kicked one of the women as she lay on the ground. In March of 2008, the United States District Court for Arizona denied all of the Barnetts' motions to dismiss and ordered that the case move forward to trial.
In February 2009, a civil jury found in favor of the women plaintiffs and awarded damages on their claims of assault and intentional infliction of emotional distress. The case was a victory in favor of the plaintffs who suffered unjustly from Barnett's extreme and hateful antics.
This lawsuit stems from just one of many violent vigilante acts by the Barnetts and others like them on the southern Arizona border. In a similar case, Morales v. Barnett, the Arizona Court of Appeals and Arizona Supreme Court rejected Barnett’s appeal after a jury found him liable for assaulting a family of Latino U.S. citizens who were hunting on state land near his ranch. This case was also litigated by MALDEF.
Arizona Jury Finds Vigilante Rancher Liable for Attack on Immigrants
MALDEF represents Latinos held at gunpoint by Barnett
February 18, 2009
TUCSON, AZ — A civil jury held today that a vigilante rancher operating along the Arizona-Mexico border is liable for assaulting and intentionally inflicting emotional distress on a group of immigrants he found on public land.
The plaintiffs were resting in a wash in Douglas, Arizona when they were accosted by defendant Roger Barnett who was armed with a gun and accompanied by a large dog. Roger Barnett held the group captive at gunpoint, threatening that his dog would attack and that he would shoot anyone who tried to leave. During the encounter, Barnett kicked a plaintiff as she was lying, unarmed, on the ground.
The jury found in favor of the women plaintiffs and awarded damages on their claims of assault and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Barnett must now pay $73,352 in damages to the victims.
This is not the first racial assault case filed against the Barnett family. The Morales family and Emma English, a family friend, are U.S. citizens who filed suit after Barnett confronted them on state land in November 2004, while they were on a family hunting trip. Armed with a semi-automatic military-style assault rifle, Barnett held the family at gunpoint, cursed and screamed racial slurs at them and threatened to kill them all. In September 2008, the Arizona Supreme Court rejected Barnett’s appeal and allowed to stand a jury award to the family of close to $100,000 in damages.
“A jury of ordinary people found that Roger Barnett’s conduct was extreme and outrageous and will not be tolerated,” stated David H. Urias, counsel for the plaintiffs and an associate with the law firm of Freedman Boyd Hollander Goldberg & Ives P.A.
“We are very pleased with the jury’s verdict. The plaintiffs in this case had the unique opportunity to testify about the horrifying actions of defendant Roger Barnett. This verdict in favor of the plaintiffs sends a strong message condemning vigilante violence against immigrants,” stated MALDEF staff attorney Marisol Perez.
The law firms of Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP and Haralson, Miller, Pitt, Feldman & McAnally, P.L.C. participated as pro bono counsel on behalf of the plaintiffs.
Federal Trial Against Vigilante Rancher Begins Today
MALDEF represents Latinos held at gunpoint by Barnett
February 02, 2009
TUCSON, AZ — A civil trial in federal court begins today on behalf of a group of individuals who were assaulted and threatened with death by a vigilante rancher and others operating along the Arizona-Mexico border. The lawsuit charges Roger Barnett, his wife Barbara Barnett, and his brother Donald Barnett, with conspiring to violate the plaintiffs’ civil rights.
The plaintiffs are five women and 11 men who were resting at a wash in Douglas, Arizona when they were accosted by defendant Roger Barnett who was armed with a gun and accompanied by a large dog. Roger Barnett held the group captive at gunpoint, threatening that his dog would attack and that he would shoot anyone who tried to leave. During the encounter, Barnett kicked a plaintiff as she was lying, unarmed, on the ground.
This is not the first racial assault case filed against the Barnett family. The Morales family and Emma English, a family friend, are U.S. citizens who filed suit after Barnett confronted them on state land in November 2004, while they were on a family hunting trip. Armed with a semi-automatic military-style assault rifle, Barnett held the family at gunpoint, cursed and screamed racial slurs at them and threatened to kill them all. In September 2008, the Arizona Supreme Court rejected Barnett’s appeal and allowed to stand a jury award to the family of close to $100,000 in damages.
“Anti-Latino hate crimes are rising and these cases against dangerous vigilantes send a strong message to those who mistakenly believe they can violate Latino civil rights with impunity,” stated MALDEF staff attorney Marisol Perez. “This lawsuit highlights the danger when laypersons, motivated by racial animus, attempt to take the law into their own hands,” added co-counsel David Urias of the law firm of Freedman Boyd Hollander Goldberg & Ives.
The trial began today, Monday, February 2, 2009 at 9:00 am in Chief Judge Roll’s courtroom in Tucson, Arizona and will continue through Friday, February 13, 2009.
MALDEF Files Civil Lawsuit On Behalf Of Migrants Detained And Assaulted By Border Vigilantes
March 04, 2005
TUCSON, AZ — MALDEF today filed a civil suit in federal court in Tucson, Arizona on behalf of a group of migrants who allege they were violently assaulted, battered, detained, and threatened with death by members of vigilante groups operating along the Arizona-Mexico border. The lawsuit charges Roger Barnett, his wife Barbara Barnett, his brother Donald Barnett, Cochise County Sheriff Larry Dever, and unknown co-conspirators with conspiring to violate the travelers’ civil rights.
The plaintiffs are five women and 11 men who were resting at a wash in Douglas, Arizona when they were accosted by defendant Roger Barnett, armed with a gun and accompanied by a large dog. Roger Barnett held the group of migrants captive at gunpoint, threatening that his dog would attack or that he would shoot anyone who tried to leave. During the encounter, Barnett kicked a plaintiff as she was lying, unarmed, on the ground.
This lawsuit stems from just one of many instances of violent vigilante activity along the Arizona-Mexico border, dozens of which have been reported to the Cochise County Sheriff. “Sheriff Dever has been on notice for almost a decade of vigilante activity in his own backyard,” said MALDEF staff attorney Victor Rodriguez. “Yet little has been done to prevent the continued harm to the migrant community.”
“By filing this action, migrants are sending a strong message to those individuals that mistakenly believe they can violate migrant civil rights with impunity,” added MALDEF staff attorney Araceli Perez. “This lawsuit highlights the danger when laypersons, motivated by racial animus, attempt to take the law into their own hands.”
Federal Court Rejects Vigilante Rancher's Motion To Dismiss Civil Suit
MALDEF represents Latinos held at gunpoint by Barnett
March 01, 2005
TUCSON, AZ — Today the United States District Court for Arizona denied several motions filed by border vigilante Roger Barnett in an effort to dismiss a civil suit brought against him by a group of sixteen Latino men and women. The Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF), which represents the plaintiffs in the case, urged the federal court not to dismiss their case because there was sufficient evidence to show that Barnett deprived the plaintiffs of their civil rights when he assaulted them near his ranch in March 2004. The Honorable John M. Roll sided with MALDEF, finding that disposal of the case was inappropriate because there was enough evidence for a reasonable jury to find in favor of the plaintiffs.
The plaintiffs filed suit in March 2005 after they were violently assaulted, detained and threatened with death by Barnett, his wife Barbara Barnett, and his brother Donald Barnett near a state highway along the Arizona-Mexico Border. The plaintiffs, including a young teenage girl, were resting in a wash near Douglas, Arizona, when they were accosted by Roger Barnett, who was armed and accompanied by a large dog. As Barnett held the unarmed group of terrified men and women at gunpoint, he kicked one of the plaintiffs as she was lying on the ground. MALDEF President and General Counsel John Trasviña stated, “The court’s ruling today reflects that Latinos have rights and are not defenseless against the lawless actions of border vigilantes.”
“This lawsuit stems from just one of many instances of violent vigilante activity in which Barnett and others like him have engaged on the southern Arizona border,” said MALDEF Staff Attorney David Urias. “This should serve as a lesson to anyone who thinks attacking Latinos will go unchallenged,” added Urias.
In another similar case, the Arizona Court of Appeals on February 25, 2008 denied Barnett’s appeal after he was found liable by a jury for assaulting a family of Latino U.S. citizens who were hunting on state land near his ranch.