In January, Texas governor Greg Abbott ordered the National Guard to deny Border Patrol agents entry at Shelby Park in Eagle Pass, Texas. But there’s one group Abbott hasn’t locked out: far-right content creators.
At a press conference on Thursday, Donald Trump posed with Abbott, Major General Thomas Suelzer, who oversees the Texas National Guard, and Border Patrol union leader Brandon Judd at Shelby Park, which is now fenced off from the public, its entrance guarded by Texas National Guardsmen and Humvees.
Before Trump’s campaign visit, at least four far-right media personalities were also granted access to the park, according to newly verified footage. The right-wing content creators who propagate Covid-19 conspiracy theories, support the QAnon movement, and promote invasion rhetoric have shared footage from Shelby Park over a combined eight days since Texas officials seized control of the area on January 10.
In footage shared on January 22, a vehicle trails closely behind an unmarked, white Ram truck. Soon, a parking lot with a handful of law enforcement vehicles, grounded airboats, and a trailer emblazoned with the words “Texas Department of Public Safety” enter the frame. The Border Chronicle has geolocated the video to a location inside Shelby Park—barely 200 feet from the main gate guarded by Texas authorities.
The video was originally posted to X (formerly Twitter) by a QAnon-affiliated media platform. In addition to espousing child-sex-trafficking conspiracies and other baseless QAnon narratives, the outlet’s website spreads disinformation about Hillary Clinton, John McCain, and other political leaders.
The outlet claimed that a TNG public affairs officer had “escorted” the content creator around Shelby Park, according to earlier posts shared to X and reviewed by The Border Chronicle. TNG and Department of Public Security officers are stationed at the park as part of Abbott’s Operation Lone Star, a multibillion-dollar state immigration-enforcement project. Abbott also announced in February that he plans to build a military base for Operation Lone Star within a few miles of the formerly public park.
Neither the Texas National Guard nor DPS responded to The Border Chronicle’s requests for comment.
A video shared by the QAnon outlet similarly shows a vehicle following an identical white truck past concertina wire, near the Shelby Park boat ramp, which provides access to the Rio Grande. “There is now a forward operating command facility on-site here,” reads a caption on X. While Operation Lone Star participants sometimes drive white trucks, the agency did not confirm whether national guardsmen led the tour.
The DPS command post appears in various images posted by the account, verifying the location of this footage inside the park.
“There may be a SCIF [sensitive compartmented information facility] here as well,” adds the content creator, alongside photos that show rows of riot shields and shipping containers lined with razor wire.
Posts shared to X indicate that on at least one other occasion, the QAnon-inclined content creator had been welcomed into Shelby Park under Operation Lone Star. One message from January 13 purports that the outlet contacted a TNG public affairs officer, who escorted them inside the fence. About 55 minutes after the message was published, a photo appeared showing the intersection adjacent to the park’s main gate, seen through metal bars. “Inside the fence now,” reads the caption.
Footage reviewed by The Border Chronicle suggests that TNG has welcomed other far-right media personalities to Shelby Park and the surrounding area.
On January 20, footage shared to an anti-mask Instagram account operated by content creators Jerry Pena-Ahuyon and Celeste April Sparks depicts a riverbank framed by a distinctive red truss bridge. The Border Chronicle has geolocated the footage to a location about 1.75 miles south of the Shelby Park boat ramp.
“Big thanks to TNG for allowing us to get this footage,” the video’s caption reads.
Access to property south of Shelby Park appears less restricted. While concrete and metal barriers separate these banks of the Rio Grande from the nearest access road, various access points were inconsistently secured, according to footage shared with The Border Chronicle by Francesca D’Annunzio, an investigative reporting fellow at The Texas Observer, and freelance reporter Alissa Azar. Prominent No Trespassing signs dot the fence.
Sparks and Pena-Ahuyon were arrested later the same day on drug possession charges, while leading a tour for members of a North Carolina–based militia, according to The Texas Observer. Pena-Ahuyon was also charged with unlawfully carrying a weapon, according to the police report. The group had been spotted earlier by an FBI surveillance plane, which alerted DPS that members were allegedly pointing guns at migrants.
The Border Chronicle has geolocated footage posted to Sparks and Pena-Ahuyon’s Instagram account from inside Shelby Park on five separate days since Texas authorities seized the area.
Another right-wing content creator, Jonathan Lee Riches, also posted footage from inside TNG-controlled Shelby Park. In a livestream archived from YouTube and shared on X, Riches claimed that he was granted “exclusive access” to Shelby Park.
While Riches does not overtly support far-right conspiracy theories, in a February trip to the U.S.-Mexico border he promoted “invasion rhetoric” and singled out two charitable NGOs: the American Red Cross and Catholic Charities. These organizations have been targeted by far-right content creators and conspiracy theorists in recent months.
In a statement to The Border Chronicle, Riches’s producer emphasized that during his visit to Shelby Park, Riches was “required to abide by all requirements for press and media.” The producer also claimed that Riches’s coverage is apolitical and predicated on showing “respect to everyone, especially the migrants.”
Under Operation Lone Star, the Texas National Guard and DPS dictate which media outlets can gain access to Shelby Park. Images and videos gathered there by right-wing content creators are used to stoke fears about immigration, founded on “invasion” and “great replacement” rhetoric, which incite violence toward border residents and Latinos. In 2019 a white nationalist gunman targeted Latinos, killing 23 people and injuring another 22 at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas. The gunman cited the great replacement and an “Hispanic invasion” online before the shooting.
At a Thursday press conference in Eagle Pass, shortly before Donald Trump arrived, business owner Jessie Fuentes spoke about how residents had lost Shelby Park to Abbott’s Operation Lone Star. “It’s our connection to the river. That’s our green space. We have our ties with Mexico. And this is where we have this one governor. … He and Mr. Trump are hurting our community. … This unwanted attention, this unwanted militarization of our community, is not welcome. … You won’t invite us or have a sit down with us. … Shelby Park has been destroyed.”
Avery Schmitz is a freelance reporter covering extremism and political violence along the U.S.-Mexico border. His work has been featured in Rolling Stone, Bellingcat, Lawfare, and Scripps News.
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