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U.S. Border Patrol | Arizona Capitol Times Your Inside Source for Arizona Government, Politics and Business Thu, 20 Nov 2025 17:11:48 +0000 en-US hourly 1 /files/2023/05/az17.jpg U.S. Border Patrol | Arizona Capitol Times 32 32 43761567 Border Patrol is monitoring US drivers and detaining those with ‘suspicious’ travel patterns /news/2025/11/20/border-patrol-is-monitoring-us-drivers-and-detaining-those-with-suspicious-travel-patterns/ Thu, 20 Nov 2025 16:17:33 +0000 /?p=496424 Key Points: US Border Patrol monitors American drivers’ travel patterns for suspicious activity Predictive intelligence program uses cameras and algorithms to flag suspicious vehicles Border Patrol’s surveillance network now monitors […] The post Border Patrol is monitoring US drivers and detaining those with ‘suspicious’ travel patterns first appeared on Arizona Capitol Times.]]> Key Points: US Border Patrol monitors American drivers’ travel patterns for suspicious activity Predictive intelligence program uses cameras and algorithms to flag suspicious vehicles Border Patrol’s surveillance network now monitors drivers in major metropolitan areas The U.S. Border Patrol is monitoring millions of American drivers nationwide in a secretive program to identify and detain people whose travel patterns it deems suspicious, The Associated Press has found. The predictive intelligence program has resulted in people being stopped, searched and in some cases arrested. A network of cameras scans and records vehicle license plate information, and an algorithm flags vehicles deemed suspicious based on where they came from, where they were going and which route they took. Federal agents in turn may then flag local law enforcement. Suddenly, drivers find themselves pulled over — often for reasons cited such as speeding, failure to signal, the wrong window tint or even a dangling air freshener blocking the view. They are then aggressively questioned and searched, with no inkling that the roads they drove put them on law enforcement’s radar. Once limited to policing the nation’s boundaries, the Border Patrol has built a surveillance system stretching into the country’s interior that can monitor ordinary Americans’ daily actions and connections for anomalies instead of simply targeting wanted suspects. Started about a decade ago to fight illegal border-related activities and the trafficking of both drugs and people, it has expanded over the past five years. The Border Patrol has recently grown even more powerful through collaborations with other agencies, drawing information from license plate readers nationwide run by the Drug Enforcement Administration, private companies and, increasingly, local law enforcement programs funded through federal grants. Texas law enforcement agencies have asked Border Patrol to use facial recognition to identify drivers, documents show. This active role beyond the borders is part of the quiet transformation of its parent agency, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, into something more akin to a domestic intelligence operation. Under the Trump administration’s heightened immigration enforcement efforts, CBP is now poised to get more than $2.7 billion to build out border surveillance systems such as the license plate reader program by layering in artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies. The result is a mass surveillance network with a particularly American focus: cars. This investigation, the first to reveal details of how the program works on America’s roads, is based on interviews with eight former government officials with direct knowledge of the program who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to speak to the media, as well as dozens of federal, state and local officials, attorneys and privacy experts. The AP also reviewed thousands of pages of court and government documents, state grant and law enforcement data, and arrest reports. A license plate reader used by U.S. Border Patrol sits along Interstate 10, Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2025, in Sacaton, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin) The Border Patrol has for years hidden details of its license plate reader program, trying to keep any mention of the program out of court documents and police reports, former officials say, even going so far as to propose dropping charges rather than risk revealing any details about the placement and use of their covert license plate readers. Readers are often disguised along highways in traffic safety equipment like drums and barrels. The Border Patrol has defined its own criteria for which drivers’ behavior should be deemed suspicious or tied to drug or human trafficking, stopping people for anything from driving on backcountry roads, being in a rental car or making short trips to the border region. The agency’s network of cameras now extends along the southern border in Texas, Arizona and California, and also monitors drivers traveling near the U.S.-Canada border. And it reaches far into the interior, impacting residents of big metropolitan areas and people driving to and from large cities such as Chicago and Detroit, as well as from Los Angeles, San Antonio, and Houston to and from the Mexican border region. In one example, AP found the agency has placed at least four cameras in the greater Phoenix area over the years, one of which was more than 120 miles (193 kilometers) from the Mexican frontier, beyond the agency’s usual jurisdiction of 100 miles (161 kilometers) from a land or sea border. The AP also identified several camera locations in metropolitan Detroit, as well as one placed near the Michigan-Indiana border to capture traffic headed towards Chicago or Gary, Indiana, or other nearby destinations. Border Patrol’s parent agency, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, said they use license plate readers to help identify threats and disrupt criminal networks and are “governed by a stringent, multi-layered policy framework, as well as federal law and constitutional protections, to ensure the technology is applied responsibly and for clearly defined security purposes.” A license plate reader used by U.S. Border Patrol is hidden in a traffic cone while capturing passing vehicles on AZ Highway 85, Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2025, in Gila Bend, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin) “For national security reasons, we do not detail the specific operational applications,” the agency said. While the U.S. Border Patrol primarily operates within 100 miles of the border, it is legally allowed “to operate anywhere in the United States,” the agency added. While collecting license plates from cars on public roads has generally been upheld by courts, some legal scholars see the growth of large digital surveillance networks such as Border Patrol’s as raising constitutional questions. Courts have started to recognize that “large-scale surveillance technology that’s capturing everyone and everywhere at every time” might be unconstitutional under the Fourth Amendment, which protects people from unreasonable searches, said Andrew Ferguson, a law professor at George Washington University. Today, predictive surveillance is embedded into America’s roadways. Mass surveillance techniques are also used in a range of other countries, from authoritarian governments such as China to, increasingly, democracies in the U.K. and Europe in the name of national security and public safety. “They are collecting mass amounts of information about who people are, where they go, what they do, and who they know … engaging in dragnet surveillance of Americans on the streets, on the highways, in their cities, in their communities,” Nicole Ozer, the executive director of the Center for Constitutional Democracy at UC Law San Francisco, said in response to the AP’s findings. “These surveillance systems do not make communities safer.” ‘We did everything right and had nothing to hide’ In February, Lorenzo Gutierrez Lugo, a driver for a small trucking company that specializes in transporting furniture, clothing and other belongings to families in Mexico, was driving south to the border city of Brownsville, Texas, carrying packages from immigrant communities in South Carolina’s low country. Gutierrez Lugo was pulled over by a local police officer in Kingsville, a small Texas city near Corpus Christi that lies about 100 miles (160 kilometers) from the Mexican border. The officer, Richard Beltran, cited the truck’s speed of 50 mph (80 kph) in a 45 mph (72 kph) zone as the reason for the stop. But speeding was a pretext: Border Patrol had requested the stop and said the black Dodge pickup with a white trailer could contain contraband, according to police and court records. U.S. Route 77 passes through Kingsville, a route that state and federal authorities scrutinize for trafficking of drugs, money and people. Gutierrez Lugo, who through a lawyer declined to comment, was interrogated about the route he drove, based on license plate reader data, per the police report and court records. He consented to a search of his car by Beltran and Border Patrol agents, who eventually arrived to assist. They unearthed no contraband. But Beltran arrested Gutierrez Lugo on suspicion of money laundering and engaging in organized criminal activity because he was carrying thousands of dollars in cash — money his supervisor said came directly from customers in local Latino communities, who are accustomed to paying in cash. No criminal charges were ultimately brought against Gutierrez Lugo and an effort by prosecutors to seize the cash, vehicle and trailer as contraband was eventually dropped. Luis Barrios owns the trucking company, Paquetería El Guero, that employed the driver. He told AP he hires people with work authorization in the United States and was taken aback by the treatment of his employee and his trailer. “We did everything right and had nothing to hide, and that was ultimately what they found,” said Barrios, who estimates he spent $20,000 in legal fees to clear his driver’s name and get the trailer out of impound. Border Patrol agents and local police have many names for these kinds of stops: “whisper,” “intel” or “wall” stops. Those stops are meant to conceal — or wall off — that the true reason for the stop is a tip from federal agents sitting miles away, watching data feeds showing who’s traveling on America’s roads and predicting who is “suspicious,” according to documents and people interviewed by the AP. Alek Schott stands next to a Flock Safety license plate reader in his neighborhood, Thursday, Oct. 16, 2025, in Houston. (AP Photo/David Goldman) In 2022, a man from Houston had his car searched from top to bottom by Texas sheriff’s deputies outside San Antonio after they got a similar tipoff from Border Patrol agents about the driver, Alek Schott. Federal agents observed that Schott had made an overnight trip from Houston to Carrizo Springs, Texas, and back, court records show. They knew he stayed overnight in a hotel about 80 miles (129 kilometers) from the U.S.-Mexico border. They knew that in the morning Schott met a female colleague there before they drove together to a business meeting. At Border Patrol’s request, Schott was pulled over by Bexar County sheriff’s deputies. The deputies held Schott by the side of the road for more than an hour, searched his car and found nothing. “The beautiful thing about the Texas Traffic Code is there’s thousands of things you can stop a vehicle for,” said Joel Babb, the sheriff’s deputy who stopped Schott’s car, in a deposition in a lawsuit Schott filed alleging violations of his constitutional rights. According to testimony and documents released as part of Schott’s lawsuit, Babb was on a group chat with federal agents called Northwest Highway. Babb deleted the WhatsApp chat off his phone but Schott’s lawyers were able to recover some of the text messages. Through a public records act request, the AP also obtained more than 70 pages of the Northwest Highway group chats from June and July of this year from a Texas county that had at least one sheriff’s deputy active in the chat. The AP was able to associate numerous phone numbers in both sets of documents with Border Patrol agents and Texas law enforcement officials. The chat logs show Border Patrol agents and Texas sheriffs deputies trading tips about vehicles’ travel patterns — based on suspicions about little more than someone taking a quick trip to the border region and back. The chats show how thoroughly Texas highways are surveilled by this federal-local partnership and how much detailed information is informally shared. In one exchange a law enforcement official included a photo of someone’s driver’s license and told the group the person, who they identified using an abbreviation for someone in the country illegally, was headed westbound. “Need BP?,” responded a group member whose number was labeled “bp Intel.” “Yes sir,” the official answered, and a Border Patrol agent was en route. Border Patrol agents and local law enforcement shared information about U.S. citizens’ social media profiles and home addresses with each other after stopping them on the road. Chats show Border Patrol was also able to determine whether vehicles were rentals and whether drivers worked for rideshare services. In Schott’s case, Babb testified that federal agents “actually watch travel patterns on the highway” through license plate scans and other surveillance technologies. He added: “I just know that they have a lot of toys over there on the federal side.” Alek Schott watches police body camera video of his vehicle search, Thursday, Oct. 16, 2025, while sitting at his home in Houston. (AP Photo/David Goldman) After finding nothing in Schott’s car, Babb said “nine times out of 10, this is what happens,” a phrase Schott’s lawyers claimed in court filings shows the sheriff’s department finds nothing suspicious in most of its searches. Babb did not respond to multiple requests for comment from AP. The Bexar County sheriff’s office declined to comment due to pending litigation and referred all questions about the Schott case to the county’s district attorney. The district attorney did not respond to a request for comment. The case is pending in federal court in Texas. Schott said in an interview with the AP: “I didn’t know it was illegal to drive in Texas.” ‘Patterns of life’ and license plates Today, the deserts, forests and mountains of the nation’s land borders are dotted with checkpoints and increasingly, surveillance towers, Predator drones, thermal cameras and license plate readers, both covert and overt. Border Patrol’s parent agency got authorization to run a domestic license plate reader program in 2017, according to a Department of Homeland Security policy document. At the time, the agency said that it might use hidden license plate readers ”for a set period of time while CBP is conducting an investigation of an area of interest or smuggling route. Once the investigation is complete, or the illicit activity has stopped in that area, the covert cameras are removed,” the document states. But that’s not how the program has operated in practice, according to interviews, police reports and court documents. License plate readers have become a major — and in some places permanent — fixture of the border region. In a budget request to Congress in fiscal year 2024, CBP said that its Conveyance Monitoring and Predictive Recognition System, or CMPRS, “collects license plate images and matches the processed images against established hot lists to assist … in identifying travel patterns indicative of illegal border related activities.” Several new developer jobs have been posted seeking applicants to help modernize its license plate surveillance system in recent months. Numerous Border Patrol sectors now have special intelligence units that can analyze license plate reader data, and tie commercial license plate readers to its national network, according to documents and interviews. Border Patrol worked with other law enforcement agencies in Southern California about a decade ago to develop pattern recognition, said a former CBP official who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal. Over time, the agency learned to develop what it calls “patterns of life” of vehicle movements by sifting through the license plate data and determining “abnormal” routes, evaluating if drivers were purposely avoiding official checkpoints. Some cameras can take photos of a vehicle’s plates as well as its driver’s face, the official said. Another former Border Patrol official compared it to a more technologically sophisticated version of what agents used to do in the field — develop hunches based on experience about which vehicles or routes smugglers might use, find a legal basis for the stop like speeding and pull drivers over for questioning. Cochise County Sheriff’s Deputy AJ Shaw drives during a patrol, Tuesday, June 17, 2025, in Naco, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin) The cameras take pictures of vehicle license plates. Then, the photos are “read” by the system, which automatically detects and distills the images into numbers and letters, tied to a geographic location, former CBP officials said. The AP could not determine how precisely the system’s algorithm defines a quick turnaround or an odd route. Over time, the agency has amassed databases replete with images of license plates, and the system’s algorithm can flag an unusual “pattern of life” for human inspection. The Border Patrol also has access to a nationwide network of plate readers run by the Drug Enforcement Administration, documents show, and was authorized in 2020 to access license plate reader systems sold by private companies. In documents obtained by the AP, a Border Patrol official boasted about being able to see that a vehicle that had traveled to “Dallas, Little Rock, Arkansas and Atlanta” before ending up south of San Antonio. Documents show that Border Patrol or CBP has in the past had access to data from at least three private sector vendors: Rekor, Vigilant Solutions and Flock Safety. Through Flock alone, Border Patrol for a time had access to at least 1,600 license plate readers across 22 states, and some counties have reported looking up license plates on behalf of CBP even in states like California and Illinois that ban sharing data with federal immigration authorities, according to an AP analysis of police disclosures. A Flock spokesperson told AP the company “for now” had paused its pilot programs with CBP and a separate DHS agency, Homeland Security Investigations, and declined to discuss the type or volume of data shared with either federal agency, other than to say agencies could search for vehicles wanted in conjunction with a crime. No agencies currently list Border Patrol as receiving Flock data. Vigilant and Rekor did not respond to requests for comment. Where Border Patrol places its cameras is a closely guarded secret. However, through public records requests, the AP obtained dozens of permits the agency filed with Arizona and Michigan for permission to place cameras on state-owned land. The permits show the agency frequently disguises its cameras by concealing them in traffic equipment like the yellow and orange barrels that dot American roadways, or by labeling them as jobsite equipment. An AP photographer in October visited the locations identified in more than two dozen permit applications in Arizona, finding that most of the Border Patrol’s hidden equipment remains in place today. Spokespeople for the Arizona and Michigan departments of transportation said they approve permits based on whether they follow state and federal rules and are not privy to details on how license plate readers are used. Texas, California, and other border states did not provide documents in response to the AP’s public records requests. CBP’s attorneys and personnel instructed local cities and counties in both Arizona and Texas to withhold records from the AP that might have revealed details about the program’s operations, even though they were requested under state open records laws, according to emails and legal briefs filed with state governments. For example, CBP claimed records requested by the AP in Texas “would permit private citizens to anticipate weaknesses in a police department, avoid detection, jeopardize officer safety, and generally undermine police efforts.” Michigan redacted the exact locations of Border Patrol equipment, but the AP was able to determine general locations from the name of the county. One page of the group chats obtained by the AP shows that a participant enabled WhatsApp’s disappearing messages feature to ensure communications were deleted automatically. Transformation of CBP into intelligence agency The Border Patrol’s license plate reader program is just one part of a steady transformation of its parent agency, CBP, in the years since 9/11 into an intelligence operation whose reach extends far beyond borders, according to interviews with former officials. CBP has quietly amassed access to far more information from ports of entry, airports and intelligence centers than other local, state and federal law enforcement agencies. And like a domestic spy agency, CBP has mostly hidden its role in the dissemination of intelligence on purely domestic travel through its use of whisper stops. Border Patrol has also extended the reach of its license plate surveillance program by paying for local law enforcement to run plate readers on their behalf. A federal grant program called Operation Stonegarden, which has existed in some form for nearly two decades, has handed out hundreds of millions of dollars to buy automated license plate readers, camera-equipped drones and other surveillance gear for local police and sheriffs agencies. Stonegarden grant funds also pay for local law enforcement overtime, which deputizes local officers to work on Border Patrol enforcement priorities. Under President Donald Trump, the Republican-led Congress this year allocated $450 million for Stonegarden to be handed out over the next four fiscal years. In the previous four fiscal years, the program gave out $342 million. Cochise County Sheriff Mark Dannels poses for a photograph, Tuesday, July 29, 2025, in Sierra Vista, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin) In Cochise County, Arizona, Sheriff Mark Dannels said Stonegarden grants, which have been used to buy plate readers and pay for overtime, have let his deputies merge their mission with Border Patrol’s to prioritize border security. “If we’re sharing our authorities, we can put some consequences behind, or deterrence behind, ‘Don’t come here,’” he said. In 2021, the Ward County, Texas, sheriff sought grant funding from DHS to buy a “covert, mobile, License Plate Reader” to pipe data to Border Patrol’s Big Bend Sector Intelligence Unit. The sheriff’s department did not respond to a request for comment. Other documents AP obtained show that Border Patrol connects locally owned and operated license plate readers bought through Stonegarden grants to its computer systems, vastly increasing the federal agency’s surveillance network. How many people have been caught up in the Border Patrol’s dragnet is unknown. One former Border Patrol agent who worked on the license plate reader pattern detection program in California said the program had an 85% success rate of discovering contraband once he learned to identify patterns that looked suspicious. But another former official in a different Border Patrol sector said he was unaware of successful interdictions based solely on license plate patterns. In Trump’s second term, Border Patrol has extended its reach and power as border crossings have slowed to historic lows and freed up agents for operations in the heartland. Border Patrol Sector Chief Gregory Bovino, for example, was tapped to direct hundreds of agents from multiple DHS agencies in the administration’s immigration sweeps across Los Angeles, more than 150 miles (241 kilometers) from his office in El Centro, California. Bovino later was elevated to lead the aggressive immigration crackdown in Chicago. Numerous Border Patrol officials have also been tapped to replace ICE leadership. The result has been more encounters between the agency and the general public than ever before. “We took Alek’s case because it was a clear-cut example of an unconstitutional traffic stop,” said Christie Hebert, who works at the nonprofit public interest law firm Institute for Justice and represents Schott. ”What we found was something much larger — a system of mass surveillance that threatens people’s freedom of movement.” AP found numerous other examples similar to what Schott and the delivery driver experienced in reviewing court records in border communities and along known smuggling routes in Texas and California. Several police reports and court records the AP examined cite “suspicious” travel patterns or vague tipoffs from the Border Patrol or other unnamed law enforcement agencies. In another federal court document filed in California, a Border Patrol agent acknowledged “conducting targeted analysis on vehicles exhibiting suspicious travel patterns” as the reason he singled out a Nissan Altima traveling near San Diego. In cases reviewed by the AP, local law enforcement sometimes tried to conceal the role the Border Patrol plays in passing along intelligence. Babb, the deputy who stopped Schott, testified he typically uses the phrase “subsequent to prior knowledge” when describing whisper stops in his police reports to acknowledge that the tip came from another law enforcement agency without revealing too much in written documents he writes memorializing motorist encounters. Once they pull over a vehicle deemed suspicious, officers often aggressively question drivers about their travels, their belongings, their jobs, how they know the passengers in the car, and much more, police records and bodyworn camera footage obtained by the AP show. One Texas officer demanded details from a man about where he met his current sexual partner. Often drivers, such as the one working for the South Carolina moving company, were arrested on suspicion of money laundering merely for carrying a few thousand dollars worth of cash, with no apparent connection to illegal activity. Prosecutors filed lawsuits to try to seize money or vehicles on the suspicion they were linked to trafficking. Schott warns that for every success story touted by Border Patrol, there are far more innocent people who don’t realize they’ve become ensnared in a technology-driven enforcement operation. “I assume for every one person like me, who’s actually standing up, there’s a thousand people who just don’t have the means or the time or, you know, they just leave frustrated and angry. They don’t have the ability to move forward and hold anyone accountable,” Schott said. “I think there’s thousands of people getting treated this way.”The post Border Patrol is monitoring US drivers and detaining those with ‘suspicious’ travel patterns first appeared on Arizona Capitol Times.]]> 496424 Lawsuit against LDS church could become basis for court to consider statute protecting clergy /news/2023/10/25/lawsuit-against-lds-church-could-become-basis-for-court-to-consider-statute-protecting-clergy/ Wed, 25 Oct 2023 22:00:43 +0000 A lawsuit against the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints could become the legal basis for the state Court of Appeals to consider -- and void -- a statute that protects members of the clergy from disclosing an adherent's confession of child molestation. The post Lawsuit against LDS church could become basis for court to consider statute protecting clergy first appeared on Arizona Capitol Times.]]> Updates: Adds that the Court of Appeals late Tuesday refused to hear the petition, meaning David Abney now goes to the Supreme Court and adds information about the denial by... Get 24/7 political news coverage and access to events honoring top political professionals Subscribe Already a subscriber?  Login The post Lawsuit against LDS church could become basis for court to consider statute protecting clergy first appeared on Arizona Capitol Times.]]> 483564 US Border Patrol says agents who killed man in Arizona were answering report of gunfire /news/2023/05/23/us-border-patrol-says-agents-who-killed-man-in-arizona-were-answering-report-of-gunfire/ /news/2023/05/23/us-border-patrol-says-agents-who-killed-man-in-arizona-were-answering-report-of-gunfire/#respond Tue, 23 May 2023 16:43:37 +0000 A 26-year-old man from Mexico has pleaded guilty to assaulting two U.S. Border Patrol agents last year on the Tohono O'odham Nation, authorities announced Monday. The post Man pleads guilty to assaulting 2 border agents in Arizona first appeared on Arizona Capitol Times.]]> A 26-year-old man from Mexico has pleaded guilty to assaulting two U.S. Border Patrol agents last year on the Tohono O’odham Nation, authorities said Monday. (Photo... Get 24/7 political news coverage and access to events honoring top political professionals Subscribe Already a subscriber?  Login The post Man pleads guilty to assaulting 2 border agents in Arizona first appeared on Arizona Capitol Times.]]> /news/2023/03/20/man-pleads-guilty-to-assaulting-2-border-agents-in-arizona/feed/ 0 261158 Carjacking suspect chased by cops crashes at U.S. border /news/2023/03/09/carjacking-suspect-chased-by-cops-crashes-at-u-s-border/ /news/2023/03/09/carjacking-suspect-chased-by-cops-crashes-at-u-s-border/#respond Thu, 09 Mar 2023 16:04:06 +0000 Police pursuit of a person suspected in a carjacking Wednesday ended in a crash involving multiple vehicles at a U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint outside Huachuca City on State Route 90, according to police. The post Carjacking suspect chased by cops crashes at U.S. border first appeared on Arizona Capitol Times.]]> Police pursuit of a person suspected in a carjacking Wednesday ended in a crash involving multiple vehicles at a U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint outside Huachuca City... Get 24/7 political news coverage and access to events honoring top political professionals Subscribe Already a subscriber?  Login The post Carjacking suspect chased by cops crashes at U.S. border first appeared on Arizona Capitol Times.]]> /news/2023/03/09/carjacking-suspect-chased-by-cops-crashes-at-u-s-border/feed/ 0 260876 Judge OK’s Arizona rancher trial in Mexican migrant killing /news/2023/02/27/judge-oks-arizona-rancher-trial-in-mexican-migrant-killing/ /news/2023/02/27/judge-oks-arizona-rancher-trial-in-mexican-migrant-killing/#respond Mon, 27 Feb 2023 18:16:43 +0000 An Arizona rancher accused of shooting at a group of migrants on his property near the U.S.-Mexico border, killing one man, will face trial on charges including second-degree murder and aggravated assault, a judge ruled. The post Judge OK’s Arizona rancher trial in Mexican migrant killing first appeared on Arizona Capitol Times.]]> George Alan Kelly, center, enters court for his preliminary hearing in Nogales Justice Court in Nogales, Ariz., on Feb. 22, 2023. Santa Cruz County Justice of... Get 24/7 political news coverage and access to events honoring top political professionals Subscribe Already a subscriber?  Login The post Judge OK’s Arizona rancher trial in Mexican migrant killing first appeared on Arizona Capitol Times.]]> /news/2023/02/27/judge-oks-arizona-rancher-trial-in-mexican-migrant-killing/feed/ 0 260615 Court stays out of case of deadly shooting by U.S. agent across border /news/2020/02/25/court-stays-out-of-case-of-deadly-shooting-by-u-s-agent-across-border/ /news/2020/02/25/court-stays-out-of-case-of-deadly-shooting-by-u-s-agent-across-border/#respond Tue, 25 Feb 2020 22:03:18 +0000 A new U.S. Supreme Court ruling likely slams the door on the ability of the family of a teen killed by a Border Patrol agent in Nogales to sue him and, by extension, the federal government. The post Court stays out of case of deadly shooting by U.S. agent across border first appeared on Arizona Capitol Times.]]> In this file photo from Friday, Nov. 30, 2018, the justices of the U.S. Supreme Court gather for a formal group portrait. Seated from left: Associate... Get 24/7 political news coverage and access to events honoring top political professionals Subscribe Already a subscriber?  Login The post


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U.S. Department of Justice | Arizona Capitol Times Your Inside Source for Arizona Government, Politics and Business Wed, 01 Jul 2026 18:50:42 +0000 en-US hourly 1 /files/2023/05/az17.jpg U.S. Department of Justice | Arizona Capitol Times 32 32 43761567 Arizona’s largest egg producer agrees to $1M settlement over price fixing /news/2026/06/30/arizonas-largest-egg-producer-agrees-to-1m-settlement-over-price-fixing/ Tue, 30 Jun 2026 20:54:43 +0000 Two federal lawsuits filed over former Gov. Doug Ducey's decision last year to place thousands of shipping containers along the U.S.-Mexico border have been dismissed after the state said it would pay the U.S. Forest Service $2.1 million to repair environmental damage. The post Fight over Arizona’s shipping container border wall ends with dismissal of federal lawsuits first appeared on Arizona Capitol Times.]]> PHOENIX (AP) — Two federal lawsuits filed over former Gov. Doug Ducey’s decision last year to place thousands of shipping containers along the U.S.-Mexico border have been dismissed after the... Get 24/7 political news coverage and access to events honoring top political professionals Subscribe Already a subscriber?  Login The post Fight over Arizona’s shipping container border wall ends with dismissal of federal lawsuits first appeared on Arizona Capitol Times.]]> 482592 ‘Abortion-free America’: Initiative seeks more ‘sanctuary cities for the unborn’ across U.S. /news/2023/08/11/abortion-free-america-initiative-seeks-more-sanctuary-cities-for-the-unborn-across-u-s/ /news/2023/08/11/abortion-free-america-initiative-seeks-more-sanctuary-cities-for-the-unborn-across-u-s/#respond Fri, 11 Aug 2023 17:41:11 +0000 Mark Lee Dickson leads the charge of the anti-abortion movement with a goal of banning abortion across the nation – city by city and state by state – until he can create an abortion-free America. And world. The post ‘Abortion-free America’: Initiative seeks more ‘sanctuary cities for the unborn’ across U.S. first appeared on Arizona Capitol Times.]]> Editor’s Note: This story is part of “America After Roe,” a series produced by Carnegie-Knight News21 examining the impacts of the reversal of Roe v. Wade and how the monumental... Get 24/7 political news coverage and access to events honoring top political professionals Subscribe Already a subscriber?  Login The post ‘Abortion-free America’: Initiative seeks more ‘sanctuary cities for the unborn’ across U.S. first appeared on Arizona Capitol Times.]]> /news/2023/08/11/abortion-free-america-initiative-seeks-more-sanctuary-cities-for-the-unborn-across-u-s/feed/ 0 481496 Arizona Legislature shows public safety is bipartisan /news/2023/04/21/arizona-legislature-shows-public-safety-is-bipartisan/ /news/2023/04/21/arizona-legislature-shows-public-safety-is-bipartisan/#respond Fri, 21 Apr 2023 21:23:48 +0000 Last week legislators in Arizona demonstrated that bipartisan leadership on criminal justice can produce strong, outcomes-oriented policies that make everyone safer. The post Arizona Legislature shows public safety is bipartisan first appeared on Arizona Capitol Times.]]> As Arizona’s legislators look ahead to future collaboration on common sense public safety policies, they should consider applying outcomes-based models to the state’s struggling prison system.... Get 24/7 political news coverage and access to events honoring top political professionals Subscribe Already a subscriber?  Login The post Arizona Legislature shows public safety is bipartisan first appeared on Arizona Capitol Times.]]> /news/2023/04/21/arizona-legislature-shows-public-safety-is-bipartisan/feed/ 0 262055 Man charged in case of woman missing from Navajo Nation /news/2023/04/05/man-charged-in-case-of-woman-missing-from-navajo-nation/ /news/2023/04/05/man-charged-in-case-of-woman-missing-from-navajo-nation/#respond Wed, 05 Apr 2023 23:05:49 +0000 A federal grand jury has indicted a man on assault and carjacking charges in connection with the 2021 disappearance of a Native American woman whose case has helped to raise awareness about missing people and unsolved slayings in Indian Country. The post Man charged in case of woman missing from Navajo Nation first appeared on Arizona Capitol Times.]]> Seraphine Warren, center left, is embraced by state Sen. Shannon Pinto outside the state capitol building on Feb. 4, 2022, in Santa Fe, N.M. They participated... Get 24/7 political news coverage and access to events honoring top political professionals Subscribe Already a subscriber?  Login The post Man charged in case of woman missing from Navajo Nation first appeared on Arizona Capitol Times.]]> /news/2023/04/05/man-charged-in-case-of-woman-missing-from-navajo-nation/feed/ 0 261582 Environmental group wants to join legal battle to force Ducey to remove containers /news/2022/11/18/environmental-group-wants-to-join-legal-battle-to-force-ducey-to-remove-containers/ /news/2022/11/18/environmental-group-wants-to-join-legal-battle-to-force-ducey-to-remove-containers/#respond Fri, 18 Nov 2022 18:47:58 +0000 A national environmental group wants to join the legal battle to force Gov. Doug Ducey to take his shipping containers off the international border. The post Environmental group wants to join legal battle to force Ducey to remove containers first appeared on Arizona Capitol Times.]]> Border Patrol agents patrol along a line of shipping containers stacked near the border on Aug. 23 near Yuma, Ariz. A national environmental group, the Center... Get 24/7 political news coverage and access to events honoring top political professionals Subscribe Already a subscriber?  Login The post Environmental group wants to join legal battle to force Ducey to remove containers first appeared on Arizona Capitol Times.]]> /news/2022/11/18/environmental-group-wants-to-join-legal-battle-to-force-ducey-to-remove-containers/feed/ 0 258281


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U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement | Arizona Capitol Times Your Inside Source for Arizona Government, Politics and Business Mon, 15 May 2023 17:30:56 +0000 en-US hourly 1 /files/2023/05/az17.jpg U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement | Arizona Capitol Times 32 32 43761567 Border crossings off from last week’s highs as US pins hopes for order on mobile app /news/2023/05/15/border-crossings-off-from-last-weeks-highs-as-us-pins-hopes-for-order-on-mobile-app/ /news/2023/05/15/border-crossings-off-from-last-weeks-highs-as-us-pins-hopes-for-order-on-mobile-app/#respond Mon, 15 May 2023 17:30:56 +0000 Pandemic-era limits on asylum known as Title 42 have been rarely discussed among many of tens of thousands of migrants massed on Mexico's border with the United States. Their eyes were — and are — fixed instead on a new U.S. government mobile app that grants 1,000 people daily an appointment to cross the border and seek asylum while living in the U.S. The post Border crossings off from last week’s highs as US pins hopes for order on mobile app first appeared on Arizona Capitol Times.]]> Colombian migrants gather in a self-made shade made of branches while waiting to be processed by the U.S. Border Patrol agents near the Jacumba Hot Springs,... Get 24/7 political news coverage and access to events honoring top political professionals Subscribe Already a subscriber?  Login The post Border crossings off from last week’s highs as US pins hopes for order on mobile app first appeared on Arizona Capitol Times.]]> /news/2023/05/15/border-crossings-off-from-last-weeks-highs-as-us-pins-hopes-for-order-on-mobile-app/feed/ 0 262589 Arizona’s senators must reject Biden’s latest radical nominee /news/2021/04/13/arizonas-senators-must-reject-bidens-latest-radical-nominee/ /news/2021/04/13/arizonas-senators-must-reject-bidens-latest-radical-nominee/#respond Tue, 13 Apr 2021 21:41:17 +0000 We are counting on Sens. Kyrsten Sinema and Mark Kelly to do the right thing and put Arizona’s interests over politics and loyalty to Biden and Majority Leader Schumer. The post Arizona’s senators must reject Biden’s latest radical nominee first appeared on Arizona Capitol Times.]]> Colin Kahl (Wikimedia Commons) For those of us who have spent our careers defending America’s borders, and those of us who live along them, there really... Get 24/7 political news coverage and access to events honoring top political professionals Subscribe Already a subscriber?  Login The post Arizona’s senators must reject Biden’s latest radical nominee first appeared on Arizona Capitol Times.]]> /news/2021/04/13/arizonas-senators-must-reject-bidens-latest-radical-nominee/feed/ 0 248890 Illegal immigration cost far too great for Arizona /news/2020/10/27/illegal-immigration-cost-far-too-great-for-arizona/ /news/2020/10/27/illegal-immigration-cost-far-too-great-for-arizona/#respond Tue, 27 Oct 2020 17:25:42 +0000 Turning a blind eye to illegal immigration doesn’t come cheap, and Arizona taxpayers have been forced to subsidize our broken immigration system for far too long. For the sake of law-abiding, tax-paying citizens, we must remain committed to securing the border and not allow our recent successes to lull us into a false sense of complacency. The post Illegal immigration cost far too great for Arizona first appeared on Arizona Capitol Times.]]> In this June 23, 2020, file photo, President Donald Trump tours a section of the border wall in San Luis, Ariz. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File) Illegal... Get 24/7 political news coverage and access to events honoring top political professionals Subscribe Already a subscriber?  Login The post Illegal immigration cost far too great for Arizona first appeared on Arizona Capitol Times.]]> /news/2020/10/27/illegal-immigration-cost-far-too-great-for-arizona/feed/ 0 246750 Tucson’s rebuke to the ‘sanctuary’ movement speaks volumes /news/2019/11/21/tucsons-rebuke-to-the-sanctuary-movement-speaks-volumes/ /news/2019/11/21/tucsons-rebuke-to-the-sanctuary-movement-speaks-volumes/#respond Thu, 21 Nov 2019 16:55:17 +0000 Tucson’s resounding rejection of an activist-led push for “sanctuary” policies is a welcome sign that sanity can still prevail even in an age of growing extremism. The post Tucson’s rebuke to the ‘sanctuary’ movement speaks volumes first appeared on Arizona Capitol Times.]]> Tucson’s resounding rejection of an activist-led push for “sanctuary” policies is a welcome sign that sanity can still prevail even in an age of growing extremism. Proposition 205, the latest... Get 24/7 political news coverage and access to events honoring top political professionals Subscribe Already a subscriber?  Login The post Tucson’s rebuke to the ‘sanctuary’ movement speaks volumes first appeared on Arizona Capitol Times.]]> /news/2019/11/21/tucsons-rebuke-to-the-sanctuary-movement-speaks-volumes/feed/ 0 132067 GOP lawmakers have ‘both barrels’ aimed at Tucson over sanctuary measure /news/2019/10/25/gop-lawmakers-have-both-barrels-aimed-at-tucson-over-sanctuary-measure/ /news/2019/10/25/gop-lawmakers-have-both-barrels-aimed-at-tucson-over-sanctuary-measure/#comments Fri, 25 Oct 2019 11:00:07 +0000 The ballots that landed in Tucson mailboxes contain routine political questions such as who’s the best candidate for this race? And, Should elected officials get raises? But there was one philosophical question: Is taking a stand against federal immigration practices worth promised retribution from state lawmakers? The post GOP lawmakers have ‘both barrels’ aimed at Tucson over sanctuary measure first appeared on Arizona Capitol Times.]]> Three GOP lawmakers are preparing legislation to punish the city of Tucson, shown here in an aerial view, if voters pass a ballot measure to make... Get 24/7 political news coverage and access to events honoring top political professionals Subscribe Already a subscriber?  Login The post GOP lawmakers have ‘both barrels’ aimed at Tucson over sanctuary measure first appeared on Arizona Capitol Times.]]> /news/2019/10/25/gop-lawmakers-have-both-barrels-aimed-at-tucson-over-sanctuary-measure/feed/ 4 131712 David Garcia’s call to reform ICE politically risky in Arizona /news/2018/07/20/arizona-david-garcia-steve-farley-kelly-fryer-call-to-reform-ice-politically-risky/ /news/2018/07/20/arizona-david-garcia-steve-farley-kelly-fryer-call-to-reform-ice-politically-risky/#respond Fri, 20 Jul 2018 11:00:31 +0000 The post Report: White House didn’t OK immigrant releases first appeared on Arizona Capitol Times.]]> In this Friday, July 25, 2014, file photo, U.S. President Barack Obama speaks to the media. (AP Photo/File) WASHINGTON ai??i?? More than 2,000 immigrants facing deportation... Get 24/7 political news coverage and access to events honoring top political professionals Subscribe Already a subscriber?  Login The post Report: White House didn’t OK immigrant releases first appeared on Arizona Capitol Times.]]> /news/2014/08/13/report-white-house-didnt-ok-immigrant-releases/feed/ 0 76675 Crowd gathers in Phoenix to protest deportations /news/2013/10/15/immigration-protesters-gather-in-phoenix-arizona-to-protest-deportations/ /news/2013/10/15/immigration-protesters-gather-in-phoenix-arizona-to-protest-deportations/#comments Tue, 15 Oct 2013 14:54:21 +0000 Protesting immigration activists danced and chanted Monday outside a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in Phoenix, calling on President Barack Obama to end all deportations. The post Crowd gathers in Phoenix to protest deportations first appeared on Arizona Capitol Times.]]> Upset with President Barack Obama’s immigration policy, about 250 people march to the U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement office with a goal of stopping future deportations... Get 24/7 political news coverage and access to events honoring top political professionals Subscribe Already a subscriber?  Login The post Crowd gathers in Phoenix to protest deportations first appeared on Arizona Capitol Times.]]> /news/2013/10/15/immigration-protesters-gather-in-phoenix-arizona-to-protest-deportations/feed/ 1 63960


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voter | Arizona Capitol Times Your Inside Source for Arizona Government, Politics and Business Tue, 16 Sep 2025 23:49:28 +0000 en-US hourly 1 /files/2023/05/az17.jpg voter | Arizona Capitol Times 32 32 43761567 9th Circuit Court rules Fontes cannot enforce ban on offensive speech at polling places /news/2025/09/16/9th-circuit-court-rules-fontes-cannot-enforce-ban-on-offensive-speech-or-conduct-at-polling-places/ Tue, 16 Sep 2025 23:48:58 +0000 /?p=495739 Key Highlights: Court said the EPM provisions were too broad, could criminalize unintended conduct Threat of prosecution could chill otherwise legal activity Judges refused to curb the authority of the […] The post 9th Circuit Court rules Fontes cannot enforce ban on offensive speech at polling places first appeared on Arizona Capitol Times.]]> Key Highlights: Court said the EPM provisions were too broad, could criminalize unintended conduct Threat of prosecution could chill otherwise legal activity Judges refused to curb the authority of the Secretary of State to certify incomplete returns Secretary of State Adrian Fontes cannot enforce his ban on offensive or insulting speech at or around polling places, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday. The court concluded that the provisions Fontes included in the Elections Procedures manual are so broad that they could criminalize unintentional conduct. Judge Kim Wardlaw, writing for the unanimous three-judge panel, also said the language would outlaw any activity that has the effect of harassing, intimidating or coercing voters, regardless of whether that was the intent. And the threat of prosecution, she said, could “chill” individuals from engaging in otherwise legal political activity. “Indeed, it is inherent in the very nature of political and electoral expressive conduct that plaintiffs may not know which political issues may become relevant or offensive at the polls,” the judge wrote. “And it is inevitable that some political and election speech — matters of public concern — will have the effect of being offensive to someone.” But the judges punted on a separate question of whether Fontes can give himself the power to finalize election returns and declare winners even if the results from one or more counties are missing because their supervisors refused to certify the results. Wardlaw acknowledged that such an action, if it were to occur, could disenfranchise some Arizonan voters by leaving their votes out of the final tally. And that could change the results of some elections. She said, though, the challengers never made a clear showing that a county actually would balk at finalizing results. And that, Wardlaw wrote, meant they have no standing to contest the provision. Central to the lawsuit is the Elections Procedures Manual. In essence, it operates as a supplement to state election laws, spelling out procedures and policies in more detail than the statutes enacted by the Legislature. It also has the force of law, with violators subject to criminal penalties. What Fontes put in the manual would prohibit “any activity by a person with the intent or effect of threatening, harassing, intimidating, or coercing voters” both inside the 75-foot limit at voting locations, where certain activity like campaigning already is prohibited, as well as outside that perimeter. He even included examples of what would be banned, such as raising one’s voice or taunting a voter or poll worker, using threatening, insulting, or offensive language to voters or poll workers, and intentionally disseminating false or misleading information at voting locations, like flyers that misstate the date of the election, hours of operation or location of polling places. That drew a challenge from American Encore, an Arizona-based group run by Sean Noble, that bills itself as promoting free enterprise policies. It has also channeled funds into Arizona’s political campaigns, notably supporting Republican Doug Ducey’s victory in his first gubernatorial race in 2014. Also filing suit was America First Policy Institute. It was formed in 2021 by allies of Donald Trump in the wake of his 2020 loss in the presidential race to support free market and Trump policies. The challengers said they fear the provisions enacted by Fontes could be used to restrain what they say is their normal, lawful election-related activity. That includes electioneering activities, training volunteers and poll watchers and advocating for certain government policies. They also said that what Fontes seeks to declare illegal could extend to things like wearing an “All Lives Matter” hat, a shirt that says “Vote to Protect Unborn Children,” and a hoodie that reads “Israel has a right to exist” or “Never forget October 7th.” Wardlaw said an injunction against enforcement is appropriate given the vagueness of what the manual would and would not make someone subject to criminal penalties. But that’s not all. The judge stated that the provisions Fontes seeks to enforce exceed those outlined in state law. That statute makes it illegal to “knowingly” threaten or intimidate people to compel them to vote or refrain from voting for a particular candidate or ballot measure. By contrast, she said, what Fontes proposed in his rules would criminalize any conduct that has the “effect of threatening, harassing, intimidating or coercing voters.” What’s missing from that, the judge said, is a requirement that the person intends to do any of those things. Instead, someone could be charged with breaking the law simply because the listener felt threatened or intimidated, even if there was no intent to do any of that. Wardlaw also took exception to Fontes’ use of the word “harassing,” a term not defined in the manual. She said that may encompass “a broad range of activities that are viewed as insulting or offensive,” activities that the First Amendment protects. All that, the judge said, entitles challengers to an injunction because the threat of criminal prosecution for violating the provision could have a “chilling” effect on what people say, do, or wear, even outside of the 75-foot boundary. And it’s not just the threat of criminal prosecution. She said the language that Fontes inserted into the manual and the examples he gave were intended to be used by election officials to identify and “promptly remedy” any conduct that could be viewed as voter intimidation. “Plaintiffs may be dissuaded from engaging in their intended speech even if there is no threat of criminal prosecution because election officials may nonetheless report them to police or remove them from the polling location based on guidance provided by the Elections Procedure Manual,” the judge wrote. And that threat, she said, is sufficient to create a risk of the provision being enforced against them, especially considering “the increasingly contentious elections our country has experienced over time.” Tuesday’s ruling is not the last word. All it does is uphold an injunction issued by a trial court judge barring Fontes from enforcing the law. But it still gives him a chance to argue at a full-blown trial that the restrictions are both legal and necessary. Fontes said the case is about the public’s right to “participate freely in the democratic process.” “On one side is the voters’ freedom to assemble, to engage, and to be heard without intimidation or interference,” he said. “On the other side is a claim to behavior that could trample those rights,” Fontes continued. “As secretary of state, I will always stand on the side of protecting voters — their voices, their rights, and the integrity of our elections.” But attorney Andrew Gould, who represented the challengers, called it “a great victory for free speech.” The problem with the language adopted by Fontes, he said, is it gave “too much discretion to government officials to criminalize and punish speech that they viewed as offensive or harassing.” On the issue of canvassing election results, Gould said he was surprised that the appellate judges refused to curb the authority of the secretary of state to certify incomplete returns. He said this isn’t an academic question, saying the court was aware of what happened three years ago in Cochise County. There, supervisors balked at doing the local canvass, with the two Republicans on the three-member board saying they had unanswered questions. It took a court order to complete the canvass, freeing up Democrat Katie Hobbs, then the secretary of state, to certify the election results, which declared her governor. Fontes, also a Democrat, was named secretary of state. The results of neither of those races would have changed with or without the 47,284 Cochise votes. But if the final canvass had been conducted without those votes, Republican Tom Horne would have lost the race for state schools chief to Democratic incumbent Kathy Hoffman, and Democrat Kirsten Engel would have more votes than Republican Juan Ciscomani for the Congressional District 6 seat. Gould also said there have since been other situations where county supervisors have indicated they might try the same thing. But Wardlaw said none of this rises to the level where she and her colleagues need to get involved. She pointed out there are other actions — short of not counting a county’s votes — that the secretary of state can take. That Wardlay noted, includes what happened in 2022 when a judge ordered the reluctant Cochise supervisors to comply. And she said there are real penalties for officials who refuse, pointing out that Supervisors Peggy Judd and Tom Crosby both were indicted on felony charges. Judd entered into a plea deal; Crosby’s case is still pending.The post 9th Circuit Court rules Fontes cannot enforce ban on offensive speech at polling places first appeared on Arizona Capitol Times.]]> 495739 Thousands of Arizona voters won’t be removed from rolls, AG concludes /news/2025/08/18/thousands-of-arizona-voters-wont-be-removed-from-rolls-ag-concludes/ Mon, 18 Aug 2025 22:35:27 +0000


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Interviews /2014/chroniques/110-j-ai-prefere-fauve-a-feu-chatterton /2014/chroniques/110-j-ai-prefere-fauve-a-feu-chatterton J'AI PREFERE FAUVE A FEU! CHATTERTON   En plus, j'aime pas Fauve. Enfin si j'aime, mais comme tout le monde je ne le dis pas. Disons que je ne le dis pas devant tout le monde. Vous me suivez ? A la rigueur, si je croise, par hasard, quelqu'un qui aime Fauve et qui a le courage de me le dire, et bien je lui saute au cou en disant "Mais moi aussi putain !!!". Mais ça n'arrive jamais. Alors je le dis à ma femme quand elle s'endort. Au moment où elle me dit bonne nuit et qu'elle éteint la lumière, je compte jusqu'à 100 et je lui sors un discret : "J'aime bien Fauve". Et de loin, j'entends un : "quoi !?" auquel je réponds :"rien." Non, à quarante ans on ne peut pas aimer Fauve. C'est pas raccord. C'est pour cela que le grand complot Judéo-Arabo-Andalou mené par les traders de Wall Street nous ont sorti Feu ! Chatterton. A moins que ça ne soit Donald Trump, bref. Ils se sont dit, Fauve c'est bien mais c'est pour les jeunes, alors trouvons un truc pour les vieux. Pas difficile de trouver un jeune chanteur maladif et des musiciens sortis diplômés d'une école de commerce. Il faut juste qu'ils soient Parisiens et le tour est joué. Un musicien Parisien est plus facile à vendre qu'un musicien du Creusot. Ne me demandez pas pourquoi, c'est comme ça. Tu leurs payes des bons instruments en leur indiquant que ce ne sont que des accessoires car de toute façon ils joueront en playback sur une musique composée par David Guetta. Vous ne le savez pas, mais David Guetta est le grand compositeur du fameux complot Sino-Inuit-Argentin cité plus haut. Tout ce que vous entendez à la radio où à la télé, c'est David Guetta qui l'a composé. Si je vous jure !!! Ils changent juste les noms d'artistes pour que ça ressemble à de la diversité. Pour le look, les musiciens n'ont pas trop le choix. Soit la chemise noire passe-partout ou soit le tee-shirt indémodable des années 80 ans aux couleurs psychédéliques. La barbe ayant déjà eu son heure de gloire, on rase tout le monde, sauf le batteur qui, lui, a le droit d'être ringard. Avec un instrument qui fait pok-pok, qu'on met sur scène juste pour la déco ; le batteur est généralement un ancien prof de maths reconverti, juste bon à envoyer le tempo depuis son métronome caché. Ensuite vous prenez le chanteur comédien looser que vous avez remarqué dans une pub pour un dentifrice, vous lui flanquez un costard trois pièces et une moustache pour… Pourquoi d'ailleurs…? Ha si, pour qu'il ai l'air d'un Parisien qui se la pète et vous l'envoyez six mois faire un stage en entreprise chez les Républicains. Il apprendra tous les tics et tocs de Nicolas Sarkozy qu'il utilisera généreusement sur scène pour avoir l'air…habité. J'espère d'ailleurs qu'il ne s'en sert que sur scène car sinon, pour se verser le café le matin, ça doit pas être du gâteau. Pour les paroles et bien c'est pas très compliqué, il suffit de prendre des mots, en ouvrant au hasard des recueils de poésie d'auteurs Russo-Albanais du début du siècle. Ça donne à peu près ça : "Heureux ceux partis dans l'ivresse, qui à jamais ne trahissent, du sommet de tes fesses aux profondeurs des abysses…etc…etc…" Ensuite vient le matraquage médiatique. C'est très facile quand on fait parti du complot Bolloré-Inrock-Canal+-Télérama, on en met un peu partout, les journaux, les télés, les bus, les radios… Et voilà, vous avez devant vous Feu ! Chatterton. Un groupe pour les vieux qui vous fait sentir jeune.   Le truc qui cloche c'est les gens dans la salle…Ils avaient l'air de vraiment apprécier. Et ils étaient nombreux en plus ! Dés le premier morceaux, les cris et les applaudissements couvraient la voix du chanteur. Je les ai regardé et me suis demandé comment ils pouvaient être aussi naif. Ça se sent à plein nez quand même que ce sont les Australo-Zairois menés par le club des Ardéchois Tranquille qui dirige tout ce cirque ! Et j'ai pourtant essayé de leur dire !! Hé ho réveillez-vous !!! On ne vous fait pas toujours écouter ce que vous avez envie d'entendre !! Et puis ça saute aux yeux ! Fauve ; Feu ! Chatterton…Ça commence exactement par la même lettre ! Il faut pas être con non plus. Non, y a pas à dire, heureusement que je vois clair dans les yeux de ceux qui dirigent le monde, sinon j'aurais pris du bon temps à écouter Feu ! Chatterton. Je l'ai vraiment échappé belle.   ]]> xavier@backnroll.com (Xavier) Chartreuse Express Tue, 08 Mar 2016 23:25:04 +0100 Ghost@La Belle Electrique /2014/interviews/109-ghost-la-belle-electrique /2014/interviews/109-ghost-la-belle-electrique ]]> erwan@backnroll.com (Erwan) Interview Wed, 24 Feb 2016 19:50:44 +0100 Mountain Men et Thomas Schoeffler /2014/interviews/36-mountain-men-et-thomas-schoeffler /2014/interviews/36-mountain-men-et-thomas-schoeffler ]]> christophe@backnroll.com (Christophe) Interview Tue, 24 Mar 2015 10:53:05 +0100

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