Arizona Border Recon

Arizona Border Recon

Abbreviation	AZBR
Formation	2011
Type	private non-governmental Paramilitary militia
Location	Altar Valley, Arizona
Key people	Tim Foley
Volunteers	~250 Volunteers[1] (2018)
Website	www.arizonaborderrecon.org

Arizona Border Recon (AZBR) is an American paramilitary militia group in Arizona^[2] composed of former military, law enforcement and private security contractors.^[3]

History

Tim Foley, a former construction supervisor and United States Army veteran formed the group in 2011.^[4][5][6] As of March 2018, the group had 250 volunteers operating in the Altar Valley around Sasabe, Arizona,^{[5][7][8][9][10]} armed with personal weapons including pistols, shotguns and semi-automatic rifles. AZBR originally targeted illegal immigration, but as of 2015 had a stated goal of disrupting drug smuggling and trafficking across the United States–Mexico border^[4] and preventing infiltration by foreign terrorists.^[11]

Foley denies that it is a militia; however, the Arizona Daily Star has reported that "court records show he was intimately involved in militias that formed Operation Mutual Defense to help the Bundy family several years ago during its dispute with the federal government over the use of public land. They continue to detain and hold civilians along the border without any prosecutors bringing charges against them."^[2] The group was featured in the 2015 documentary Cartel Land. According to Chicago Film Critics Association member Bill Stamets, the documentary was inspired by a December, 2012 Rolling Stone report.^[12]

The group took part in the Mother of All Rallies held on September 16, 2017, at the National Mall in Washington, D.C. in support of President Donald Trump, where Foley was one of the speakers.^[13]

In August 2019, the expelled member Joshua Pratchard was sentenced with six years to prison for illegal gun ownership, manufacture of firearms and their sale.^[14][15] The militia expelled him, saying he did not want to follow their rules, including repeatedly asking to get physical with detainees and demanding to put a silencer on his weapon, and their recklessness when it comes to "stalking bandits".^[16]

References

1. "Se reactiva un grupo de paramilitares antiinmigrantes en la frontera de Arizona". Univisión. Archived from the original on 2020-07-06. Retrieved 2020-05-17.
2. Prendergast, Curt (8 Oct 2018). "Armed vigilantes bring unease to Arizona border town haunted by killing of girl, dad". Arizona Daily Star. Archived from the original on 26 February 2019. Retrieved 26 February 2019.
3. Gaynor, Tim (October 26, 2014), Desert Hawks: Paramilitary veterans group stakes out US-Mexico borderlands, Al Jazeera, archived from the original on December 4, 2020, retrieved January 24, 2020
4. "Arizona Border Recon" (Streaming audio), Latino USA, NPR, August 28, 2015, archived from the original on September 6, 2015, retrieved April 5, 2018
5. Tabor, Damon (December 20, 2012), "Border of Madness: Crossing the Line with Arizona's Anti-Immigration Vigilantes", Rolling Stone, pp. 96–101
6. Casimiro, Bob (25 May 2015). "Despite Border Patrol's best efforts, our border is still wide open". Bangor Daily News. Archived from the original on 30 March 2018. Retrieved 30 March 2018.
7. Sim, David (November 17, 2016), "Heavily armed civilian vigilantes patrol US-Mexico border for illegal immigrants", International Business Times, archived from the original on November 18, 2016, retrieved November 18, 2016
8. Navideh Forghani (November 24, 2015), Arizona Border Recon takes border protection into their own hands, KNXV-TV News (ABC 15), archived from the original on February 28, 2017, retrieved November 18, 2016
9. Steller, Tim (May 27, 2012), "Militias in Arizona thrive despite lack of authorizing law", Arizona Daily Star, archived from the original on May 24, 2020, retrieved January 24, 2020
10. Ehrich, Issio (16 March 2018). "Der Harte, der Hund und die Wüste" [The Tough Guy, the Dog and the Desert] (in German). Cologne: n-tv. Archived from the original on 23 April 2023. Retrieved 30 March 2018.
11. Holley, Peter (November 25, 2015), "These armed civilians are patrolling the border to keep ISIS out of America", The Washington Post, archived from the original on December 2, 2016, retrieved November 18, 2016
12. Bill Stamets (July 22, 2015), "Cartel Land: civilian outliers versus outlaw capitalists", billstamets.com (blog), archived from the original on November 19, 2016, retrieved November 18, 2016
13. "'Mother of All Rallies' plays host to conspiracy theorists, a few hate groups and some famous names, despite bad weather". Southern Poverty Law Center. September 10, 2018. Archived from the original on November 17, 2020. Retrieved February 26, 2019.
14. "Man sentenced for 'gun factory' inside Pacific Beach apartment and selling homemade guns". 10News. 31 August 2019. Archived from the original on 2019-09-01. Retrieved 2020-05-17.
15. "He was kicked out of a border militia. Then the FBI found a gun 'factory' in his home". Washington Post. Archived from the original on 2019-11-08. Retrieved 2020-05-17.
16. "Prosecutors: Militia member had gun-making 'factory' in his house". Arizona Daily Star. Archived from the original on 2020-06-05. Retrieved 2020-05-17.

Further reading

• Laura Mallonee (September 23, 2015), "On a Mission With the Men of Arizona Border Recon", Wired
• Neil Kremer & Cory Johnson (June 15, 2016), See the members of this unofficial border patrol: The Arizona Border Recon aims to provide intel and back-up for federal officers at the U.S.-Mexican border, High Country News
• "Eyes on the Line", Tucson News Now (KOLD-TV), July 21, 2014
• Kendal Blust (April 28, 2016), "Foley's War: Occupying the U.S.-Mexico Border", Arizona Sonora News Service, University of Arizona School of Journalism

External links

• Official website