Thousands of patriots peacefully gathered at the U.S. southern border just outside of Eagle Pass, Texas, for the “Take Our Border Back” truck convoy.

The event was intended to point out how porous the U.S. border with Mexico has become and participants were no longer just going to passively sit back and watch.

Holding an event this high profile, event organizers took proactive steps to prevent this from turning into another J6.

First, the event was held 22 miles north of Shelby Park on private property in Quemado, Texas, adjacent to the border. Second, the private property was gated with controlled access where every guest was vetted before being allowed to enter to prevent the event from being co-opted by Ray Epps wannabes. Third, the press were invited to cover the event and representatives from NBC, CBS, Nexstar’s NewsNation and, of course, The Hayride were in attendance.

The event organizers repeated to the crowd that this event was a peaceful protest and that no one should break the law or exude hateful speech.  Those who did were kicked out of the event.  Likewise there were provocateurs who were not granted access to the event tried to disrupt the event speeches by horning-in outside the gates with rhetoric similar to that of Nick Fuentes.  The emcees said those provocateurs did not represent the event and while the their speech was protected by the First Amendment, the event being a private event on private property, the event organizers had the right to refuse entry and that the event was more much secure than the southern border itself.

 

One of the event speakers, former Texas Real Estate Commissioner Weston Martinez, took it a step further by stating he acquired the parking permit 3,000 feet along the road outside the venue for the event, he himself had the right to have the provocateurs evicted by Maverick County Sheriff’s deputies from that stretch of road as to no longer be able to disrupt the proceedings and scare attendees away.  Martinez went on to state that his plan for the border crisis was to enforce a water treaty between Mexico and the United States which would allow the Rio Grande to be dammed like the Panama Canal and allow the water to rise into the river’s flood plane preventing anyone from wading across the river.

Martinez emphasized that not only securing the border was necessary for securing the future of the country but also securing elections was just as vital.  Martinez talked about his history of pushing election security reform legislation in the Texas Legislature for over a decade and that it was the basis for the election integrity legislation that finally passed the Texas Legislature only in the past couple of sessions.

The event itself was attended by over 1,000 people from countries across the globe including the Philippians, Canada, and Cambodia.  The common belief amongst the crowd is that in order for a country to survive it must have sound elections, a secure border, and a well-regulated immigration policy.

After his speech Martinez went down to the Rio Grande which was only a few hundred feet away from the event.   

He pointed out the new border fence erected by the Texas state government as a placeholder for an actual border wall that the federal government needs to build.  The fence itself was a standard chain link fence with barbed wire along the top and bottom with this section of fence ending at a locked gate

 

There was evidence of migrant climbing over the fence from the foot prints, shoes, clothing and empty water bottles left.

There was also no restrictions of U.S. Citizens going to the fence.  During the time we were with Martinez documenting the fence, a U.S Border Patrol agent drove by, waived at us, and proceeded to the locked gate.  Martinez also pointed out Texas law on the books from the 1883 that makes it a felony to cut barbed wire in Texas and that Joe Biden was in fact violating Texas Law by having his agencies cut barbed wire set up by the state to line its border with Mexico.

We later traveled to Eagle Pass and saw Shelby Park.  Large sections of roads leading up to the park were closed off to the public by law enforcement.

There was a small section of road that ran on perimeter of the golf course that was open.  A large portion of the golf course was surrounded by sections of border wall constructed during President Donald Trump‘s first term.  Other parts were closed off by barbed wire installed by the Texas National Guard and the Texas Department of Public Safety.

Less than a mile south of Shelby Park we came to a startling discovery.  There was a large gate constructed into the border wall that was left wide open and apparently unguarded with only paper signs that read “private property”  We were at the gate for several minutes documenting this and no one came to either investigate us or stop us.

 

Live from Texas Border (still open) https://t.co/I61Ygxa5Ot

— Weston Martinez (@WestonMartinez) February 4, 2024

What the news is spinning about the Texas sealing the border by force is nothing more than theater.  Shelby Park itself is a little more than two miles in length while the Texas Border with Mexico is 1,254 miles long.  The effort in Eagle Pass can be likened to trying to put out a forest fire with a garden hose.  While it is welcome that an enforcement effort is taking place in Eagle Pass and a partial fence is constricted in Quemado, much more needs to be done to secure the southern border — exactly why the event on Feb. 3 even took place.

To paraphrase the fictitious Howard Beale from the iconic 1976 movie “Network,”  we’re mad as hell and we’re not going to take it anymore. Texans and their friends across the world are indeed not taking it anymore, but that “mad as hell” part was kept in check to keep footage of it from becoming fodder for the Democrats going into November. What we saw on Feb. 3 was a winning path forward for America First Revivalism.