South Texas sheriff unaccustomed to challenges threatens reporter

bill press

SAN DIEGO, Texas — For 20 years, Duval County Sheriff Santiago Barrera Jr. did what he pleased with no challenges to his reign.
He decided who sat in his jail and when they were released. Sometimes it was before a judge got involved and other times it was after.
He didn’t appreciate competition from the ranks. Barrera had the commander of a tri-county drug task force demoted last year after the commander announced he was running against Barrera for sheriff of the southern Texas county of about 12,000.
“I brought the Sheriff’s Department from nothing to what it is right now,” he said.
So no one took it lightly when the 67-year-old Barrera said Jan. 29 that he would lock up local reporters if they kept “interfering” in his business.
Barrera lost his re-election bid this month, but will have nine more months in office to make good on his threat.
Barrera is accustomed to things being done his way in a part of Texas where elected officials don’t easily fade into the woodwork.
It was less than 10 miles away where Alice Mayor Grace Saenz-Lopez told neighbors last summer the Shih Tzu she was dogsitting had died when, in fact, she was keeping it for herself. Saenz-Lopez later resigned.

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This entry was posted on Thursday, March 13th, 2008 at 11:31 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

14 Responses to “South Texas sheriff unaccustomed to challenges threatens reporter”

  1. Stephany says on March 16th, 2008 at 4:33 pm :

    “Clinton also took a keen interest in foreign policy, traveling to more than 80 countries, with her husband and alone, to promote U.S. policy and the cause of women and children.”

  2. Monroe says on March 16th, 2008 at 5:24 pm :

    She wasn’t just a housewife! She was the most travelled and outgoing first lady ever! She did a lot in the whitehouse!Plus having her husband, a great two-term president, aiding her with advice is a good thing to have by her side.

  3. Gervaise says on March 16th, 2008 at 6:14 pm :

    If there is accurate, reliable evidence of a terrorist plot, you are still opposed to ’spying’ on them?You were also against searching Moussaui’s laptop?

  4. Munroe says on March 16th, 2008 at 7:05 pm :

    There’s nothing consistent about Ron Paul except for being consistently wrong. In his time as a rep he has violated his stated beliefs countless times and I’ve complied a list of times so long it makes Mitt Romney look like Ted Williams.How Paul lovers can still run around repeating the lie that he is “principled” and “consistent” I do not know. At least less of you guys are raving about how he’s a “constitutional scholar” since he claimed it was full of references to god.

  5. Carine says on March 16th, 2008 at 7:55 pm :

    If they have reasonable suspicion that someone is planning murder, they can get a warrant and they can get a tap. What they can’t get now is a warrant to tap someone who they have no reason to suspect. That’s what immunity is about — about those of us they don’t suspect, not those of us they do.

  6. Pamelia says on March 16th, 2008 at 8:46 pm :

    Damn! Really the worst piece of news I had on a beautiful day like today. I am on H1B and all the closet racists are going to be out in couple of days cribbing about how much we take their jobs etc.The chinese invaded our market with their goods but I dont go about rabidly blaming them. If i am smart enough I can outwit them. So please stop your crap sensational news. I know you got laid off last week and you never go laid. so please stop? pretty please with sugar on top.uh guys, can’t we all live peacefully? seriously :(

  7. Veronica says on March 16th, 2008 at 9:36 pm :

    Maybe because he thinks warrantless eavesdropping is already illegal and the bill is unnecessary?

  8. Jayna says on March 16th, 2008 at 10:27 pm :

    I want to know why Ron Paul voted against this.

  9. Sophia says on March 16th, 2008 at 11:18 pm :

    Great. It’ll mean something when they actually manage to override his veto.Here’s hoping.

  10. Sue says on March 17th, 2008 at 12:08 am :

    Are you answering for Paul? If so, which parts of the bill does he disagree with?

  11. Renie says on March 17th, 2008 at 12:59 am :

    I believe that “FISA Amendments Act of 2008″ is the name of the Senate’s version. The House named their bill as “RESTORE Act of 2007 (Responsible Electronic Surveillance That is Overseen, Reviewed, and Effective Act of 2007)”

  12. Deidra says on March 17th, 2008 at 1:49 am :

    They are. Just now they’re allowing legal battles to take place over constitutional violations.

  13. Kilie says on March 17th, 2008 at 2:40 am :

    How many times have we seen Bill Gates grousing about how hard it is to find software talent in America? I seem to remember the good old days when so many of the brightest people in the business were climbing over each other to get into Microsoft. By a strange coincidence, this was also a time when Microsoft was minting new millionaires faster than you could count them. In the past few years, I’ve seen a number of good people leave Microsoft for greener pastures. Maybe Mr. Gates would catch more fish if he used better bait. Perhaps when you’ve been the richest geek in the world long enough you forget that there are other younger versions of yourself with aspirations of their own who might actually be interested in amassing a little wealth too.