Bringing Life to BB

 By Buggs for Borderland Beat

Dear Borderland Beat followers:

We are moving and trying to bring Borderland Beat back to life, hopefully new and improved for 2021. We thank you for your patience and loyal support during these trying times. Borderland Beat remains one of the best sources for current and accurate information on the Mexican drug cartels, all made possible with your support, our followers! We are forever grateful. The Borderland Beat audience is one of the best well informed audience when it comes to the Mexican drug cartels. 

We understand that the decision to suspend the website was deeply felt by our large number of followers, most of which are composed of US law enforcement and others who follow the events of drug cartels. We are making some significant changes to the blog, a new look that will be easier to navigate and allow for more features. 

We are also trying out a new forum that integrates better with the blog in a seamless way. Please register, use a user name and set your information to private, unless you want the information you enter public. 

Stay tune, a lot of exciting things coming up.

"Press, do not shoot!"

Yes, we are reorganizing and changing things but one thing that will not change is our commitment to produce reliable content and continue our mission to provide the best and complete picture of the activities from the Drug Trafficking Organizations (DTO). The unplugging of Borderland Beat was unprecedented, and it denied the sharing of vital information that is important in understanding what is happening in Mexico, something that frankly, mainstream media has failed to cover properly. We must continue to dedicate ourselves in the delicate task of researching and investigating the illicit activities of the Mexican drug cartels. If you want to get involved and can help in any way, please get ahold of me.

As many of you know Borderland Beat was named as a defendant in a privacy lawsuit along with a numerous other Mexican news outlets. The lawsuit was filed by San Francisco attorney Jeffrey Mendelman in federal court in September 2020 (Hyperink to doc 1).

He asked for and obtained permission from the Court to file the lawsuit under the pseudonym “John Doe.”   

He named “Borderland Beat” as one of the defendants, as well as yet-to-be-determined persons (“Roes”) who are allegedly responsible for Borderland Beat.  Borderland Beat is not a legal entity, but an anonymous person with administrative privileges has responded to the complaint as “Roe 1.”  She is being defended by Joshua Koltun, a First Amendment attorney with particular experience defending the right to speak anonymously (Hyperlink to Doc 15).

The parties recently filed the attached joint report that summarizes what is at issue in this case (Hyperlink to Doc 19).

Roe intends to defend the lawsuit vigorously to protect Borderland Beat’s right to free speech and protect the anonymity of our contributors. Allowing organized crime to use the US legal system to kick down news outlets that report on Mexican crime syndicates is unacceptable. A lawsuit seeking $250,000 in reparations for damages is beyond belief. 

Killing the Messenger,
Will not Silence the Truth

The Committee to Protect Journalists has reported that at least 56 journalists have been executed since 1992. I can assure you that we will do everything in our power to get Borderland Beat back in business and not allow anyone to intimidate us or silence us. 

I plan to keep everyone informed on the progress of the legal proceedings here in this blog and share as much information as possible. Again, thank you for your loyalty and support for our Borderland Beat community.

Categories: blog, Borderland Beat, journalist, lawsuit