Public Safety · Santa Cruz County
Santa Cruz County Sheriff Hathaway said his deputies responded to federal requests on Oct. 5 to remove protesters camping near the U.S.-Mexico border in Lochiel but found no threat to workers, and he characterized the demonstrations as peaceful. The Arizona Sheriffs' Association issued an open letter alleging Hathaway's office declined assistance requests involving threats and property damage, a claim Hathaway disputes. A video from Oct. 7 showed Border Patrol agents deploying tear gas toward protesters guarding an old cottonwood tree called the "Grandmother," which was later cut down. Hathaway noted the wall section is now complete and some private landowners continue to report difficulty accessing their property.
Local Politics · Santa Cruz County
U.S. District Judge James Marner released a protester on her own recognizance Tuesday at the federal courthouse in Tucson after she spent days in a cottonwood tree in La Noria, Mexico, just south of the Arizona-Mexico border, to halt construction of a double wall. The protester, identified in court documents as Thomas L. Landes but not by that name among supporters, climbed the tree early Oct. 6 and was arrested Friday evening after climbing down; she faces a federal misdemeanor charge for violating a temporary closure order. The protest camp, called Camp O:Shad, was located on private property in Lochiel, Ariz., where contractors with Fisher Sand & Gravel working for U.S. Customs and Border Protection had cut down trees over the summer. Release conditions require her to appear at all hearings, remain in Arizona and California, and maintain or seek employment or school enrollment.
