Oklahoma Minutemen Hold Rally In Opposition To Immigration Rally

Oklahoma Minutemen held a counter protest Monday afternoon in east Tulsa. Hundreds of people lined Garnett near 21st Street and the protest quickly became heated.<br/><br/>News on 6 reporter Omar Villafranca

Monday, May 1st 2006, 10:32 am

By: News On 6

Oklahoma Minutemen held a counter protest Monday afternoon in east Tulsa. Hundreds of people lined Garnett near 21st Street and the protest quickly became heated.

News on 6 reporter Omar Villafranca says tempers flared at an immigration rally organized by the Minutemen.

A crowd of close to 200 people, many waving American flags and holding signs, lined the streets across from a prominent Hispanic business district. Tulsa Police were nearby, keeping an eye on the events.

Some people at the rally quietly held their signs, while others shouted. Wendell Neal with Oklahoma Minutemen:" We have over 2000 illegal immigrants, I mean aliens, that come across our border daily. Our message we want to get out to our representated officials, our goverment, our police force, our federal government and our President is secure our border."

David Shaffer is a retired US Marine. He says securing our borders and stopping the illegal flow of aliens will solve half the immigration problem. "The other half is identifying the rest of them that are illegal and doing thorough background checks on them and finding out if they're wanted or criminals or what their activities are.â€

The Minutemen don't want amnesty for illegal immigrants, but so far, they admit, not many elected officials have heard their message. Wendell Neal: â€œWell, they're certainly not listening to people that are writing in and calling. So hopefully a show of force by Americans who care about this country will get their attention."

After Mondayâ€™s rally the Oklahoma Minutemen hope elected officials will hear their message loud and clear.