We thought we'd seen it all with the crazy gringo expats forming militias and preparing themselves for the upcoming US civil war in the Chiriqui highlands, but things just got even crazier!
Meet William Lipton. That's his mug shot, on the left, taken when he was arrested by a Monroe County road patrol in Florida, when he was w̶a̶v̶i̶n̶g̶ flashing a gun on school property. A gun nut. One of the many gringo scum that has relocated to Panama to continue waving guns and kill people. These American outcasts hate Panamanians, hate the indigenous peoples, and are profoundly racist. Or, as Eric Jackson once put it:
The creation of an artificial siege mentality that holds gringos the special targets when actually there is a general crime wave that affects most of society; the publishing of racially inflammatory lies to defame the indigenous land and water rights movement and the labor movement; the encouraging of people to join a movement that tells indigenous people that their protests will not be tolerated; the overt advocacy of lynching; the spreading of inflammatory and dubious rumors about an unsolved death in the community (including now, by way of a "question," identifying somebody, probably unfairly, as a suspect); "anti-crime" meetings in which Don Winner sells stun guns, or at which the town drunk talks about shooting people (...)
So, then we got an email from someone in Volcan - a Panamanian - telling us a bit about all those crazy gringo pistoleros there. They shoot dogs in the streets in front of kids. They shoot chickens that dare to enter their pathetic properties. They threaten to shoot people too. Here's some of the email, in Spanish (yeah, we know, most of these expat wackos don't speak a word of Spanish, but screw'em):
Buscando por allí, un gringo me mandó un contacto en Volcán - William Lipton... luego como yo soy bastante cuidadosa, me puse a buscarlo en google... ahora yo busque en sitios gringos en Boquete y encontré que hay un gringo en Volcán Cerro Punta, entrenando a otros gringos y gringas para que carguen y usen armas. Como ustedes habrán escuchado, esta lucha es inmensa en los Estados Unidos, porque TODOS allá CARGAN ARMAS, y hay una matanza descontrolada y cualquiera le dispara a cualquiera, hasta niños de escuela. El Gobierno de USA ha estado en campañas multimillonarias y otras campañas de madres de niños asesinados para que la gente deje de usar armas.... pero hay un grupo fuerte a favor de andar armados. Ustedes saben que esa NO es nuestra cultura Panameña y mucho menos aquí en Chiriquí. Nosotros NUNCA hemos andado armados por aqui...
Bueno, allí en un sitio web (link abajo) encontré de una reunión/taller/seminario que hubo en Volcán/Cerro Punta para este propósito de los gringos cargar y disparar armas y registrarlas aquí. Aquí en Boquete y Dolega hemos tenido problemas con gringos disparando y matando perros en la calle pública frente a niños y vecinos. También otro gringo en El Alto le disparó a unas gallinas de la vecina que le escarbaban el jardín y luego las envenenó todas incluyendo el perro de una niña de 10 años.
Cuando yo veo y oigo estas cosas... me preocupo mucho... allí en ese seminario para "seguridad al cargar armas" hubo 20 participantes en Volcán, Noviembre 2012 organizados por William Lipton. Ustedes han visto a este señor William Lipton? Alguien escribió en otro lado que maneja como un maniático por Volcán poniendo niños y animales en peligro.
Then, on the Boquete Ning site, we found this report on the November 2012 town hall meeting in Volcan, organized by this William Lipton, to train gringos how to "shoot intruders":
The more than 20 participants at the gun safety seminar, had to constantly wipe the rain water from their pistols, but undaunted, continued to shoot, more females than males attended. The women had some very interesting comments concerning the safety course. One lady’s comment “NOW I FEEL EMPOWERED”. Another lady said: “even if a man is not available, I can confront an uninvited intruder with confidence”. Another comment, “if the police telephone does not answer because the police have ABANDONED the area or the police station has been trashed by “maleantes”, when time is of the essence seconds matter, minutes are an enternity [SIC], “I feel safer relying on my pistol”. Another comment, “the gun safety instructor’s wife, Brandy Gregory, shot very accurately after years of practice. With training, maybe I can emulate her.” A man stated that he was “grateful for the opportunity to practice and renew his gun marksmanship.” We plan to have another safety seminar in February.
The "maleantes" referred to are the Ngobe indigenous people. They burned down the Volcan police station (nobody was hurt) in revenge of the police killing of several unarmed protesters against the government's plans to have open pit mining inside the Ngobe comarca. Indeed: Protesting "indians" defending their land is really bad, but they'll bring out the guns even if a chicken trespasses on their property.
As we said, these people are dirty and ugly racists. Crazy scum that should be locked away in an asylum, forever.
Can something be done, officially, against a gringo gun criminal training other wingnut gringos to shoot people and feel empowered? I guess we'll soon find out. Panamanians and indigenous people alike are getting fed up with these expats and their racist colonial antics in the area. If there are any decent gringos living in the area, they should get organized to kick out this scum.
(Hat tip to Eric Jackson for alerting us!)
They will learn some Spanish and a little cultural appreciation after 10 years living with 15
“Cholitos” in a cell in the ever so humane Panamanian jails. I hope Mr Lipton can handle the other type of pistol and likes being the new girl on the block.
I find it amazing how these types seem to concentrate in the Volcán area. Where I live there is a small group of gringos and the vast majority are nice people, they do community projects that make sense, they’re not afraid of Panamanians and I’m pretty sure that anyone who’d want to start this type of crazy shit would just be laughed off the island.
I have encountered great racism and discrimination against myself and other Panamanians mostly coming from US and British Expats, here in Boquete on many occasions. It is true that there are many expats that are loving, caring, and wonderful human beings and many of them our friends. However, they do not seem to dare to have a voice to defend us Panamanians against these insults and humiliations, nor do they speak out to defend human rights and indigenous rights in Panama, nor do they help us defend our GREEN MOUNTAINOUS VALLEY from predators. They say they are scared of loosing their visas. But I defend Nature wherever I go, for the 6 months I lived in the US, I joined a group to defend the turtle-dove and rescued turtles from the highway, kitties and dogs. I went to Costa Rica to defend the Pacuare River from Hydroelectric Projects with Costa Ricans and the Terraba Indigenous populations. I have signed petitions to defend wildlife from China to Canada to Ecuador and Brazil. I have sent letters to help prisoners of conscience in Arabic countries. Why is it that they can not set-up an English-speakers or foreigners-driven international campaign to help us save our pristine rivers from transnational hydroelectric projects and the last tropical humid mountains from mining predators from Canada, if they so have decided to move HERE because it is still green and cheap? Why do they buy real-estate properties from what used to be coffee farms and cut them all down to make way for huge developments, and they buy their beautiful lots with great views? Why don´t they at least set-up a campaign to tell others abroad NOT TO DARE BUY destroyed animal habitats on the Caldera River Canyon where thousands of wild animals and baby birds have lost their habitats and have in the last month being BURNED ALIVE, in Las Huacas, millionaire development in Boquete? Good people can never stand for these things, and they can no longer turn a blind-eye or be silent. On the other hand, I heard many gringos say that our protests against mines and to defend our rivers INCONVENIENCED THEM and their guests! They LIVE HERE!
The examples mentioned in the email are rather appalling and could even provoke violence – which subsequently would be used as a confirmation for the use of arms. How similar to what EVERY US govt since WWII has done / is doing, be it with conventional or economic warfare, all over the globe.
In theory it would be rather easy to do something about foreign armed militias in Panama because such groups by definition divert the course of justice as intended by law. When dissatisfied with the rule of law (as evidenced by membership of a militia / armed gringo gang), those concerned should be obliged to pack their bags and leave.
Not to sell Volcan short, we have MANY different flavors of crazy! From the religious folk who believe they will someday rule their own planet, to the refugees from the imminent collapse of civilization (or of the dollar) to the gun enthusiasts who are but a step ahead of the evil Obama’s confiscatory policies, to the freedom lovers who recognize Obama’s tyranny for what it is, to the chem trial people who have figured out that those white lines in the sky are mind control chemicals being sprayed by the government, to the food freedom fighters who are wise to the government’s plan to outlaw vegetable gardens. We got em all! And I’ll bet I left some out.
Well put, i think you have most of the bases covered.
My god, I will probably be in the area if all hell with the Ngobe breaks loose again, but boy, am I gonna stay away from the gringos there!
A very wise idea.
Okke ! Not to make too fine of a point but I read the email as being from” here in Boquette and Dolega” not Volcan.
Look, I am certainly no fan of Mr Lipton and his wreckless driving, pistol packing ways nor supportive of his group, but In the interest of fairness I suggest he was not “waving” a gun when arrested. I know you dont want to give a false impression, to me possesion is far from brandishing.
From the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office
Daily Crime and Information Report
Issued by the Media Relations Office,
Public Information Officer Deputy Becky Herrin
Click on the highlighted headlines to hear an audio recording of the story
February 28, 2005
Boca Raton man arrested for having gun at baseball game
Marathon – A Boca Raton man was arrested Friday after witnesses reported seeing him with a gun in his pocket at a High School baseball game.
Deputies William Mader and Chuck Kellenberger responded to Marathon High School after Sheriff’s Office dispatchers received a call about a man with a gun at a baseball game taking place there. When they arrived, they found a number of witnesses who said they saw a gun in the pocket of 68 year old William Lipton. They pointed out Lipton, who was at the baseball field watching the game.
The deputies approached him and searched him for the weapon, but it was not in his pockets. They asked him if they could search his truck for a weapon and he refused to allow the search. Deputies then interviewed a number of people who said they saw the gun in his pocket. After taking several statements detailing the gun, it’s description, and it’s location in Lipton’s pocket, the deputies determined they had probable cause to search the truck without Lipton’s permission. Inside, they found a .380 Walther semi-automatic handgun under a cushion on the seat. The gun matched the description given by the witnesses.
Lipton was charged with possessing a weapon on school property and he was booked into the Monroe County Detention Center.
February 24, 2005
Fair enough. So he was flashing a gun, not waving it, at a school sports game. Question remains, who the hell does that?
a paranoid racist freak does that, that’s who. lots of darker skinned people at basket ball games, Lipton probably felt he had to defend himself against the darkies
Or someone concerned with school shootings. You know, like those hundreds of (school) shootings you never read about because armed civilians managed to prevent them.
What you have in Volcan is a previously innocuous group of expats (The Highlanders) whose social group has been highjacked by extremist nutjobs, much like the Republican Party has been hijacked by the Pee Farty Hatriots.
The Highslanders are a splinter group which Tim Lovett eloquently describes above. He failed to mention the animal hoarders, the beyond organic devotees, and the upper-colonic addicts. The Highslanders feel all tingly and goodly because they provide jobs for locals. You know, those jobs of washing shitty underware, making meals and keeping those immaculate lawns purdy for MINIMUM WAGE, while they bitch about paying social security for their workers. Paying minimum wages means they would pay les if they legally could.
most of the american that live in my GREAT community of VOLCAN are great people, in order to talk about this kind of topic you should know the people failry well and know thye are not as you think, so stop saying things that are not write and know people first before you talk
with all respect a true panamanian and a proud citizen of volcan….
I’m sure there are many great people living in and around Volcan, gringos and Panamanians. However, these right-wing gun nuts are not exceptional for their greatness, in my opinion.