Some new developments in the YFZ case, most notably the witness of a Texas doctor who has visited the YFZ hostages and says what he has seen makes him him “upset” and “very sad for what we have done.” As reported by ABCNews:
Pfeifer and others who have been inside the temporary shelters told ABC News that the women and children repeatedly said they wanted to go home. Pfeifer said the conditions inside the shelter were cramped, with cots lined up close together and lots of women tending to infants.
At least one mother, who said she was separated from her older daughter, appeared angry, according to Dr. Stephen Smith, who has treated some of the families. The tearful woman said that state authorities had moved her teenage daughter because they wanted to speak to the girl further.
Smith said he is upset by what he has seen there.
“All of the mothers and children that I spoke with wanted to go back to the ranch, without a doubt,” Smith told ABC News. “Personally, it makes me very sad for what we have done.” When asked if they were afraid, the women replied, ‘Of course not, we have unwavering faith,’” Smith said.
Sad and horrified, I should think. Now the hostages are being moved to a “coliseum” while the judge in the case, overwhelmed by the humanitarian catastrophe she and her fellow brutes have created, says she won’t rule this week on whether the kids and mothers can go back home:
Dozens of buses filled with the children were seen late Monday driving under police escort from Fort Concho, where they had been held since being taken from their ranch earlier this month, to the local coliseum, where some children have already been staying.
The move comes shortly after a local judge indicated she would not make a decision this week on whether to keep the 416 children in state custody or return them to their parents in what is shaping up to be the largest child custody case in state history. . . .
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Gravitas 04.14.08 at 7:54 pm
I am still hoping to hear that someone is going to sue the pants off the state of Texas. The post traumatic stress disorder (PSTD) that such events cause is no overnight affair. These people, men, women and children, will probably suffer from the effects of this horrific and apparently unjustified invasion for the rest of their lives.
KleigLights 04.15.08 at 11:07 am
This travesty brings to mind the infamous Haun’s Mill Massacre. No, they aren’t being shot at point blank range. But they may as well be. It is religious persecution with horrendous harm — apparently inspired by Southern religious kooks. These women and children insist they have not been abused. Then who is the more Christian — a group that quietly practices polygamy, a Biblical practice, or those who kidnap the wives and children of polygamists? And when they can’t support their claims–as they have yet to do–they refuse to return them back to their homes?
Martin 04.15.08 at 1:29 pm
If like me you’re very frustrated by what’s going on here, please visit and sign our petition asking the Governor of Texas to step in and take personal responsibility for returning these kids to their families. And ask your friends to sign it, too:
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/endcpsabuse