According to an investigation by Wired, three men split off from the “Take Back Our Border” convoy and filmed themselves searching for and harassing migrants and nonprofit volunteers. They made money by streaming and uploading the footage to YouTube and Rumble.
Dark intentions
“We’re illegal hunters,” one of the men, Dennis Yarbery, said in a live stream hosted on YouTube. “I’ve hunted a lot in my life,” Yarbery told a store worker, “but I’ve never actually hunted people, and that’s what we’re doing now.”
Dangerous situation
“Public bragging about ‘hunting people’ is a descent into a dangerous new low for armed vigilantes,” explained Devin Burghart, executive director of the Institute for Research and Education on Human Rights.
Tireless attacks
The three men recorded hours of footage of them harassing migrants, verbally abusing them and at times threatening them with violence. At one point, according to Wired, Yarbery took a break from shouting and tried selling a cigarette to a migrant for $20.
Going too far
In California, the trio had little success finding migrant camps, and after a few days two of the men left. Yarbery continued, and ended up discussing immigration with locals, one of whom said, “I say we shoot ‘em all.”
Increasing trend
“Sadly, this cycle of violence has become so common that it tends to go unnoticed outside of the communities targeted by far-right vigilantes,” Burghart told Wired.
Looking for the vulnerable
“Anybody in there,” Yarbery can be seen saying in one YouTube livestream. The video shows him approaching a migrant camp in California while shouting out, “Come out, come out, wherever you are.”
Asking for help
In one video, Yarbery and the two other men verbally harass a volunteer with No More Deaths, an organization that saves the lives of migrants crossing the border through harsh terrain.
Refusing to cede
The three men refused to leave the volunteer alone, prompting her to phone the US Border Patrol for help.
Real consequences
“We have noticed an increase in vandalism of our permitted water stations along the border,” a board member for Humane Borders told Wired. “Our 55-gallon barrels have been shot, stabbed, drained, and stolen. It’s a sad state of affairs when someone sabotages water than can save a human life.”
Deadly area
The UN has labeled the US-Mexico border the “world’s deadliest land route for migrants.” In 2022, it estimated that at least 686 people died and disappeared there.
Rising fatalities
According to an investigation by the El Paso Times, “The number of women dying [at the border] more than doubled from [2022] and more than tripled from 2021.”
Heartless
“Where is the humanity?” Ruben Garcia, the director of a humanitarian group, asked. “Where are the ethics? The morality? The justice in all of these human beings who are dying in the desert? In order to respond, your soul has to be moved. Then you discover there aren’t a lot of people in government who operate in response to that.”
Serious danger
“The post-convoy terror campaign against immigrants at the border follows an all-too-familiar pattern we’ve tracked for the past couple of decades,” Burghart told Wired.
New situation
“This time around,” Burghart noted, “the Black Mirror-like difference is that tech advances now allow [people like Yarbery, Fulfer, and Felix] to stream and monetize their cruelty to a far-right fanbase that craves more.”
Begging for cash
At one point, according to the Wired report, one of the men took a break from telling migrants to go home to thank a supporter who had donated $50 through Venmo.
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