Well-known Douglas-area rancher is found slain

[sniper7]

Tancredo said he and Krentz were friends and that he was "a mild-mannered guy" who was known for providing illegal immigrants with food and water.
Tancredo and Chris Simcox, co-founder of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, said Krentz phoned a family member Saturday afternoon to say he was out near his watering hole, providing one or more illegal immigrants with aid.
That's the last his family heard from him, Simcox and Tancredo said.
"He looked the other way so often," Tancredo said. "It's so ironic that he, of all people, got murdered."



red: he did this a lot...enough that I am sure word got around, illegals knew he would help, he wouldn't call on them, they would have a resting point to get water, fill up on a minimal amount of supplies, even if it were just lunch and go on their way.

blue: I do not find it ironic at all. it was just a matter of time.

[SA Friday]

I don't know if he did anything more than assisted people transversing a desert with food and water so they wouldn't die. Yep, he may have done it multiple times too. Good for him.

Show me evidence he committed a crime worse than caring for another human being and I might change my mind, but until then I'm real comfortable not labeling this guy worthy of being gunned down.

Comparing what he did, although it may be a crime by some definition, to a rapist, murderer, or any other violent offender is too faulty to be considered a logical arguement. A few have been quick to conjure images of him assisting drug cartels and the such. Try conjuring up an image of him the first time he found someone dying of thirst on his property and he couldn't save them. It's just as valid with the provided information. Watch someone die with empathy, and let me know just how bloodthirsty you still are.

I've said it before on this issue and I'll say it again. I'm pretty torn about the illegal immigration issue, but I'm not so torn I would wish death to those trying to get into this country without malice. I'm damned sure not confused about not justifying homicide on a man who's giving food and water to starved and dehydrated people.

[Colorado Luckydog]

I have to wonder if they were paying him to cross through his ranch?

[roberth]

This is a post I can agree with. I took out the medical treatment part because denying people who can't prove their identity while they are unconscious and bleeding to death is retarded and would have a much greater effect on the 300 million citizens we have long before any illegals were effected by it.

I can understand that single aspect.

We need to stop rewarding bad behavior, until we cease granting the rewards they won't stop coming.

Illegals come and stay because of the free ride, not because they can contribute to our society. The new illegal is not the illegal of the early 20th century, the new illegal is a parasite plain and simple.

Will it take the commission of a violent crime upon a loved one to change most people's minds? Yes it will and then it will be too late for them.

[sniper7]

This thread may be going in a bad direction....

Sorry folks, but don't be pissing on the grave of a guy that was murdered by no true fault of his own. Show some respect. Do you also try to berate the victims of rape saying "they were asking for it?".

And for cryn out loud. Giving water to a person is not assisting illegal immigration. Person is already across the damn border. If they die in the desert, I'm guessing many of you would be extremely pleased, but sorry to say - it's a human life we are talking about. Illegal immigration is a crime, they are criminals, and they should be treated as such. Nowhere in America however, is illegal immigration (in itself) a crime punishable by death. So what justification do you have for wishing death as a punishment for the crime?

If you want to blame immigration issues, look towards the government. An old guy that doesn't want people to die on his property is not the cause, on any level.

Do you berate everybody who goes overseas to help people because "those" people are not worth helping? Red Cross, Missionaries.. our floating hospitals? Seriously, sometimes I wonder if I'm in the company of people.

I'm not trying to take it in a bad direction and I don't wish death upon anyone. I am sorry if it came off that way.

I am all for helping others and giving in a time of need and I do plenty of that myself, but I also see these people as criminals in the beginning, many of which could also be drug smugglers and/or gun smugglers (which we all know what ammo that gives to the media to hurt OUR rights) or future rapists, murderers, thieves etc.

I see this guy as an enabler. I don't condone him for giving people water since they are in fact people, but he never called the authorities. Maybe he felt sorry for them and was sympathetic to their quest for a better life which is also understandable, but if my quest for a better life was to rob a bank and not hurt anyone in the process I don't think that would go over so well. (and that is a pretty good analogy except it is our government that robs from us and gives to the illegals through various aspects, systems and programs).

[jake]

In 2002, the family was physically threatened when one of them stumbled upon a group of 39 illegal aliens. They were told to get off the land and they made threats. The Border Patrol did catch the illegal aliens after they were called, but we all know that illegal aliens, if deported, come right back across.

Tancredo notes that the Krentz's did mention to him that they called the Border Patrol.

Those were both from SNAFU's link above. It sounds to me at least like this guy was doing the best he could. A 35,000 acre property, 12 miles from the border; there's no realistic way he could police it. So rather than let human beings die on his property, he gave them water and called the Border Patrol.

[SNAFU]

My bet is some peoples mind have blinders on. Focusing on 1 part of the whole story.
Some people don't want to know the whole story,it doesn't suit there need.
To those who think it was Texas,shows how you read,,it was Arizona.
He was an AMERICAN CITIZEN who was MURDERED for no good reason.

"In the month of November, 2002, in the Tucson Sector of the U.S. Border Patrol ... where the Krentz ranch is located, the Border Patrol apprehended 23,000 border crossers," Tancredo wrote. "many people would suggest that the [apprehension] ratio is just about maybe one in five, and that is a very conservative estimate. ... I think it is closer to one in ten".


and


"In February [2002] ... a calf was butchered by illegal alien trespassers. Two men responsible were caught. They were tried. They were found guilty. They served a total of 51 days in jail. They were also ordered to pay $200 in restitution to the Krentz ranch. The Krentz ranch has not seen a cent of that money; and, of course, our best guess is they will not because these people have been released. They either came back into the population up here in the U.S.A. or returned to Mexico.

Tancredo goes into the cases of deliberate sabotage of the Krentz ranch's water supply and the other impacts on the Krentz's by illegal aliens. You can read more, where Tancredo dubs the Krentzs American Homeland Heroes"



Gee maybe it was a deported illegal with a score to settle.

[HBARleatherneck]

maybe he could have use humane traps at the water holes. then called for the Border Patrol.





Seal the Damn Border. All the damn border. Its time to put America to work digging a new Panama style canal from SoCal through Texas. We have a right to have a Soveriegn nation with borders.

[MattR]

The part that doesn't make sense to me is that he kept helping these illegals even after an estimate that they cost him 8 MILLION DOLLARS in losses. How many ranchers out there can afford to lose that kind of money and still go on with business as usual?

[trlcavscout]

I seen a show on a guy doing the same thing last month, he would leave water and some food out in several spots along the desert everyday. Now I am totally against illegals coming in, but I am not against people helping people. I think they are doing good, plus you dont want dead bodies all over your property, hurts the resale. As long as they dont help them directly, give them a ride etc they are not breaking the law. I hope when the guy/guys that did this come across next time they die a slow agonizing death under the hot desert sun with no food or water, or the next rancher just shoots them instead of helping them! I lived in AZ for 5 years I know how hot it gets.


If theres one thing I have learned its that if you help a stranger they will screw you every time.