Take a good look at that picture. Under those federal officers is the guy I’m writing about. What you see is a gang of masked THUGS who also happened to be ICE Agents did a ‘takedown’ of a man, a shortish one that weighs maybe 150 pounds. Beat the hell out of him while he was down. (his sons say he requested and was refused medical attention)
He had brown skin which to them meant Latino and a presumption of being a “dangerous illegal” so I guess we’re lucky they didn’t shoot him dead. If they didn’t know when they beat and then hauled him away he was the father of three sons who are Marines. By the next day they knew it. Does it make a difference? Nope. THAT is the America Trump is creating. An America where NOTHING a person or family does in the service of this country is worthy of being here UNLESS they are white people!
As a jarhead who served long ago with all manner of fellow jarheads of various races/ethnic backgrounds, and knew so many others in the other service branches to say I’m outraged doesn’t begin to cover my feelings. But as various outlets including The Atlantic tell us living a quiet life and not committing crimes, and raising three sons who felt they owed something to this country and went into my Marine Corps doesn’t count for sh*t to Trump, Hegseth and others.
The linked piece from the Atlantic says in its title his three sons feel “betrayed.” By god they have every right to feel that way. The Commandant and Sgt. Major of the Marine Corps should be demanding to Trumpty every goddam day that this man be released. F**k an apology from Trump or anyone else in the administration. It would be worth less than ‘thoughts and prayers’ after a mass shooting.
Here’s what we know. Narisco Barranco was doing a landscaping job at an IHOP in Santa Ana, CA when he found himself with four MASKED guys surrounding him. Frightened, he tried to run away. Instead of tossing aside the weed-eater he was using (where anyone could have helped themselves to it) he carried it as he ran. However as I said he’s a small guy and the THUGS/agents caught up to him. Knocked him down. Beat and sprayed him. Then of course hauled him away to a detention center. Oh, and of course started working on sending him out of the country.
It’s a minor miracle his sons were able to so quickly locate where he was being held. Even more of a miracle he was allowed to talk to them. But that’s where things break down. We can either believe three Marines who have or are serving honorably that he didn’t “threaten” agents with his weed whacker, and that he requested and was refused medical attention. Or we can believe a bunch of pussy (yeah – I said it!) federal agents who hide behind masks who claim Barranco threatened them with his weed whacker, and refused medical attention.
I don’t know about you but I believe my fellow Marines. Not a group of people who are so ashamed of being outed for the jobs they do and how they do them that they go to increasing lengths to HIDE their identity! Alas, that’s life for immigrants/recent immigrants in the Trump administration. At least if they don’t have white skin. Hell, we’ve had active duty people detained! Anyone else think that the end goal of anti-DEI under Hegseth is only white ‘warriors?’ (Some women would be allowed to serve – as long as they are ‘hot’ and don’t complain when sexually harassed, groped, assaulted)
As for our troops, the linked article provides details on how many of Latino and other backgrounds serve. I urge you to read it. In it the author says something that jumped out at me because I know it’s true and always has been:
This country has a long history of treating the veterans who have served it shoddily. And yet what’s happening now—as Donald Trump’s agents violently detain some Latinos in the streets as other Latinos serve their country in strikes against Iran—feels extreme.
I recall a moment from the movie The Tuskegee Airmen where Col. Benjamin Davis asks bigots on a Congressional Committee determined to shut down the program invoking Jesse Owens and Joe Louis. The cheers they received, for a short time. He asked “Are we to be Americans only when it suits you?” That friends is the question. As the linked article notes recruiters make a point of searching in immigrant communities, especially Latino ones. It’s worth asking how if this continues (which it likely will) it will affect the ability of our armed forces to attract people to replenish the ranks. The linked article concludes:
This is a personal question for Latino soldiers, but it is a personnel question for the secretaries of Defense and Homeland Security, who have to worry about military morale as an essential dimension of combat power. The psychological toll of ICE raids isn’t borne only by the new immigrants whom Trump calls “invaders,” but also by many of the Americans tasked with protecting us from real foreign threats. In the barracks at Camp Pendleton where the younger Barranco brothers sleep, they must be struggling to focus on their mission while fearing for the safety of their father in the hands of the very government they are sworn to defend.
Semper Fidelis is our motto. It became part of who I was. It means always faithful – to god, country and Corps. Doesn’t the country owe the same to those who live by that motto? And their families?
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Not so much Semper Fidelis, as Semper Proditio.
Always betrayed.
Really sad. I’m sorry you have to even look at this.
Well said and I totally agree with you. Shameful and disgusting!
They want masks because they are all nazis. Remember charolett N.C.?there wasn’t a bald face in that crowd.
These are nazis , treat them as such.
Selfishness and stupidity know no race.