The Washington Minuteman Detachment leader Tom Williams.
The Washington Minuteman Detachment leader Tom Williams who goes by the title Skipper photographed during an interview and later addressing his volunteers after a Saturday spent observing the border The Washington Minuteman Detachment led by former Marine Corps Captain Tom Williams who goes by the title Skipper gathers each weekend at a compound a few miles south of the US Canadian border in rural Whatcom County Washington From an operations center housed in an aging trailer the groups leaders dispatch observers to various locations along the border to observe and report any suspicious activity to the US Border Patrol The Washington Minutemen an off shoot of a Arizona based group are not sanctioned by the US Government and assert that they are simply trying to assist an understaffed US border Patrol out of concern about border security in the Post 9 11 era But the leaders of the parent organization have been associated with racist right wing political causes and the ACLU and community groups in nearby Bellingham are concerned that the Minutemen are in fact potentially dangerous anti immigrant reactionaries Most of the volunteers appear to be working class or retired and all have very conservative right wing political views While they are not officially armed many are ex military and have concealed weapons permits Skipper Tom Williams lives on a disability pension as a consequence of Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome related to his service in the Viet Nam war
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Photo credit: © Dan Lamont / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: -wing, conservatives, crossings, human-trafficking, illegal, immigration, minutemen, paramilitary, politics
