U.S. rancher charged with murdering Mexican trespasser claims self-defense, fired ‘warning shots’

By Peter LaBarbera

George Alan Kelly, booking photo, Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office, via Nogales International

The lawyer for George Alan Kelly, the elderly Arizona rancher accused of first-degree murder for shooting a Mexican man trespassing on his property, says he saw armed men approaching him pointing an AK-47 rifle at him, and fired warning shots to scare them away.

Kelly is being held on $1 million bail and is charged with first-degree, premeditated murder for the Jan. 30 shooting of a man later reported to be a Mexican national named Gabriel Cuen-Buitimea, on his Kino Springs, Arizona ranch, according to Fox News.

“The leader of the armed group of men saw Mr. Kelly and pointed an AK-47 right at him,” wrote Brenna Larkin, Kelly’s court-appointed attorney, in a court filing reported by Fox News.

“Mr. Kelly, fearing for his life and safety, fired several shots from his rifle, hoping to scare them away from him, his wife, his animals, and his home. As he shot, Mr. Kelly took care to aim well over the heads of the armed group of men. The group then began running into the desert surrounding his home. Once the group had fled, Mr. Kelly walked over to his barn to see if it was safe and secure.”

The million-dollar bail has outraged conservatives and those concerned about criminal activity at the border due to relaxed border enforcement under President Biden. After the left-leaning GoFundMe site booted all online fundraising for Kelly, saying it bans appeals on behalf of anyone accused of a violent crime, supporters moved to the Christian giving site GiveSendGo and quickly surpassed the organizer’s original goal of $25,000. The amount raised at press time was more than $281,000.

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Fox News reports that Kelly “saw a group of men moving through the trees around his home. They were armed with AK-47 rifles, dressed in khakis and camouflaged clothing and carrying large backpacks … None of them were known to him. He had not given any of them permission to come onto his land.”

“That’s when Kelly, ‘understandably concerned,’ retrieved his rifle and told his wife to stay inside the home before firing warning shots at the group, including the leader who ‘pointed an AK-47 right at him,'” reports the Daily Mail. “The group fled and it wasn’t until hours later when the man’s body was discovered by Kelly, even after U.S. Border Patrol had come to inspect the property and allegedly found nothing.”

The frail, elderly Kelly’s age has been reported by various media and observers as 73, 74 and 78. At a recent preliminary hearing, he politely asked the presiding judge for reading glasses so he could read a provided document. He also requested to speak with his wife, who he said was left alone at his home with no one to take care of her or the sprawling ranch, which is near the town of Nogales, Arizona. Photos of the Kelly’s ranch house and the surrounding land can be viewed in the Daily Mail report.

Larkin’s court filing said the deceased man had “a radio with him, and he was wearing tactical boots, indicating he was possibly involved in illegal activity,” according to the Daily Mail, which last week reported that Cuen-Butimea “had a history of illegal border crossings in the area near where Kelly and his wife live.”

The GiveSendGo page for Kelly, launched by Shannon Pritchard, names Kelly’s wife, Wanda, as the recipient of the donations. Fox News mentioned the GiveSendGo page but did not provide a link to it.

The following is taken from Pritchard’s GiveSendGo donation page for Kelly:

“George Alan Kelly, a 73 year old farmer is in the Santa Cruz, Arizona, jail pending a $1 million bond for killing an invader to the United States, who was near his home on the border with Mexico. Neighbors say that he had been having difficulty keeping invaders out and say that Mr. Kelly would have acted in good faith.

“It is a tragedy that a simple farmer, who should be protected by the government has been abandoned and had to defend himself. That is bad enough, but the government that caused this, now wishes to persecute him. Not only that, they are holding this old farmer on 1 million dollar bail, which anyone can see is purely political. This will ruin the remaining years of this gentleman’s life, through no fault of his own. Are you as outraged as I am? This man should not have to spend a night in jail….

“This is amazing, when I started this campaign I set a goal of 25k and thought it would be hard to reach. But the injustice shown to Mr. Kelly has moved many hundreds of Christian Patriots to rally to his defense. The communists in charge of Santa Cruz will not let Mr. Kelly even talk to his wife according to the news reports.  So he does not yet know of your support and generosity.”

The largest gift recorded was $2,500 by Harold Green, who added this message: “Such a travesty what this administration is doing to American citizens. Stand strong Mr. and Mrs. Kelly. You were defending against a known repeat border crosser that this administration continues to encourage … !!!! We got you!”

Below is video of the preliminary hearing in which Kelly asked to be able to speak with his wife:

EDITOR’S NOTE: What is behind the current war against America’s children? Why are so many adults killing their unborn children right up to the moment of birth, or even after? Why are millions of kids sexualized virtually from birth, and injected with an experimental “vaccine” proven to be both ineffective and dangerous, then as toddlers transported to events glorifying mentally ill, demonically possessed men dressed as women?

Why are America’s children systematically sexualized at school, and by transgender recruiters on social media platforms like TikTok, seducing many into “identifying” as the opposite gender, or a brand-new imaginary gender, then encouraged to take powerful drugs and hormones and have their healthy breasts amputated or undergo chemical or surgical castration?

Why are our children simultaneously indoctrinated with toxic Marxist ideologies like “critical race theory” intended to condition them to hate and reject their own country, parents, faith, race, gender and themselves? Why are they simultaneously being frightened of the future by being fed lurid, terrifying – and groundless – apocalyptic tales of the imminent destruction of the world due to global warming?

No wonder youth suicides have skyrocketed, as have depression, anxiety, addiction and drug overdoses. Indeed, fentanyl, the No. 1 cause of death of younger Americans 18 to 45, destroys multitudes of children annually.

Make no mistake: The harm being done to America’s children in this multi-front war is not accidental: Children are the primary target.

WHY? How can all this be happening in the greatest nation on earth? Who and what is behind it? And HOW CAN IT BE STOPPED?

Find out in the explosive January issue of WND’s critically acclaimed monthly Whistleblower magazine, “WINNING THE WAR AGAINST AMERICA’S CHILDREN,” available in both print and state-of-the-art digital editions.

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Peter LaBarbera

Peter LaBarbera is a former reporter for the Washington Times and LifeSiteNews.com, and a former contributing editor for Human Events. He is the founder of AmericansForTruth.org, which exposes LGBT extremism. His reporting was instrumental in passage of a federal law barring U.S. taxpayer funding of any international group with pedophile ties. A former editor for Family Research Council and Accuracy in Media, he and his wife of 34 years are the proud parents of five children. Read more of Peter LaBarbera's articles here.


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