PORT ANGELES — Stop the Checkpoints plans “A Rousing Summer Recap!” and an anniversary celebration Saturday.
The meeting will be from 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the Port Angeles Library, 2210 S. Peabody St.
The meeting will mark the third anniversary of the formation of the group Sept. 6, 2008, said Lois Danks, coordinator of the group.
“We’ll briefly review the many actions and events of the summer of 2011 — from the courageous whistle-blowing by Border Patrol Agent Sanchez to the tragic death of Benjamin Salinas,” Danks said in an email.
Sanchez told the not-for-profit Sunlight Foundation Advisory Group on Transparency in Washington, D.C., on July 29 that he never intended to become a whistle-blower but decided to speak out publicly after he felt his complaints about the Port Angeles station’s “lack of mission” were being brushed aside by supervisors.
Video footage
Video footage of Sanchez’s testimony is to be shown at the Saturday meeting, and a copy of his full written testimony will be available, Danks said.
Benjamin Roldan Salinas, a 43-year-old forest worker who was in the country illegally, eluded Border Patrol agents by jumping into the Sol Duc River on May 14 and drowned.
After Forks residents mounted a massive three-week search for him, his body was discovered June 4 four miles downriver from where he jumped in during the traffic stop.
The group also hopes to show CNN correspondent Patrick Oppmann’s report, which was nationally broadcast and posted on Labor Day, about the Border Patrol’s impact on the North Olympic Peninsula.
A display of photos and media coverage of protests from Port Townsend to Forks will be on display, Danks said.
For more information, visit www.stopthecheckpoints.com.
