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The Mother Jones Podcast

How One Border Town Beat Extremist Vigilantes

The Mother Jones Podcast

Mother Jones

Elections, Politics, Scoops, Investigations, Journalism, News

4.51.1K Ratings

🗓️ 10 April 2019

⏱️ 27 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

When gun-toting militants set up shop, this Arizona community got fed up and came together. Arivaca is a town of just 700 residents and sits 11 miles north of the Mexico border in a remote area of the Sonoran Desert. For about two decades, anti-immigrant vigilante groups have patrolled the region to try to remedy what they perceive as the federal government’s failure to secure the border. On this week's show, host Jamilah King sits down with journalist Eric Reidy and the town's "unofficial mayor" Ken Buchanan, to discuss how locals finally banded together to fight back, and what other cities and towns in America can learn from their success. Also in the show: Mother Jones Editor-in-Chief Clara Jeffery chats with actor Emilio Estevez about his new film, The Public.

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Transcript

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0:00.0

This is the Mother Jones Podcast.

0:02.0

I'm Jimmy Licking in New York.

0:04.0

On today's show,

0:08.0

on today's show,

0:12.0

How to Kid On today's show, how to kick hate in the guts, one town's showdown with extremist

0:18.8

vigilantes in the age of Trump.

0:21.0

Resistance works if you're brave enough for it.

0:24.0

You have to be willing to stand up to it.

0:25.9

You have to absolutely get in their face.

0:28.2

Their town was a magnet for hate, but locals banded together to beat it, how they did it, and what the rest of the country can learn.

0:37.0

This is not just Haribaka that this is happening.

0:41.0

It's happening across our entire country.

0:43.2

Border Town, Smackdown. That's all coming up on the Mother Jones podcast.

0:47.8

Stick around. Aravaca, Arizona. It's so small, it doesn't even have a police force. It's not incorporated. There's 700 people. 700. But it's

1:09.9

on the border so that makes it a total magnet for all these intense forces in American politics right now.

1:18.1

When hate comes to town, what do you do? do. Good morning. How are you? Yeah, we just press the record button.

1:33.6

Okay, we're all getting set up here.

1:36.3

We wanted to tell you about this story because there's some lessons from Aravaca

1:41.5

about how to take on hate.

1:44.0

Ken, introduce yourself for us and tell us where you are right now.

1:48.0

Okay, my name is Ken Buchanan.

1:50.0

I live in Aravaca, Arizona.

...

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