See Also:

BlackwaterOtay

Direct link to this page: https://copswiki.org/Common/BlackwaterOtay

Hide Table of Contents

Table of Contents

BlackwaterOtay

LATEST NEWS

Southwestern College will send its police academy students to the Blackwater Lodge and Training Center in Otay Mesa for weapons training under an agreement approved by the college's governing board. See Blackwater In Southwestern College for details.

Stop Blackwater Rally - Nisour Massacre Anniversary -- Info, pictures and articles about our successful protest on September 13th in front of the Blackwater base of operations in Otay Mesa, just north of the border to commemorate the 17 innocent civilians cut down by Blackwater gunfire on September 16th, 2007, and to protest against Blackwater's mercenary training school in Otay Mesa.

Blackwater Otay Protest Rally - Successful June 11, 2008 protest of Blackwater and their underhanded operation.

Feds Meddle In City Matters For Blackwater - Federal court apparently plans to rule in favor of forcing the City to allow Blackwater to start their operation.
Blackwater Vs City Of San Diego - Court cases pitting Blackwater Worldwide against the City Of San Diego.
Blackwater Federal Court Protest - Our presence was well placed in front of the federal courthouse in San Diego on June 17, 2008.
(BlackwaterVsCityOfSanDiegoTranscript) 2008-05-30 Blackwater vs. City of San Diego, Federal Court - Transcript -- Marilyn Huff, United States District Court, City Of San Diego
(M547) 2008-06-17 Transcript of June 17, 2008 Blackwater hearing. -- , Marilyn Huff, Features Michael Aguirre

(M525) 2008-06-06 Audit of Permits Issued for the Blackwater Facility (in Otay Mesa) -- Jay Goldstone, City Of San Diego, Internal audit skirts the key issues and was delayed two weeks until after the election. (Received Copy on 2008-06-06; Original dated 2006-06-05. Was due on 2008-05-23.)

Blackwater Linked To Border Security

Despite statements by Blackwater to the contrary, we have evidence that they have been awarded border "counter-narcoterrorism" security contracts. See here:

(M164) 2007-09-12 Contractors take on expanded role in drug war -- Katherine Mc Intire Peters, Government Executive, Confirms that Blackwater has contract in counter-narcoterrorism business ($15B)
(M216) 2007-10-22 Blackwater likely to train Mexican drug warriors - Press release from Mexico -- Antonio Garza, Mexican Ambassador to the United States,
(M212) 2007-10-19 $1.4 billion U.S.-Mexico anti-drug program to entail use of private contractors -- Alfredo Corchado, Dallas Morning News, Implies that Blackwater could be used for training of Mexican drug warriors.
(M258) 2007-10-12 Blackwater admits border security is a goal -- Raymond Lutz, Citizens Oversight, After months of assurances that Blackwater would only train law enforcement and military at the Potrero site, Brian Bonfiglio admits they are interested in border security contracts.

BACKGROUND

On Otay Mesa, only a block or so from the international border, Blackwater has set up shop in an industrial park. (Otay is pronounced "Oh-Tie")

View Larger Dynamic Map

The building is at 7685 Siempre Viva Rd, San Diego, CA 92154. Please note that only a few blocks away (two to three) is the international border, and Tijuana International Airport. The two doors south of the facility is the U.S. Border Patrol, Otay Station.

Big Picture context of the Blackwater Otay secret facility.:

From April 2003 San Diego Metro Magazine: "Oncor International reports that a 61,599 sqft shell industrial building in the new six building Britannia Corporate Center project in Otay Mesa has been sold for 3.6 million. to Home Tex Packaging Corp. The new owner plans to relocate it's textile distribution center here."

More amazing research on this company: Home Tex

Press Conference and Rally -- 25 Apr 2008

Click to play on Video Site
Our rally to put pressure on Blackwater to pull the plug on this project too! We won on their first ridiculous project in Potrero We can do the same here!
Ray Lutz explains the situation on Democracy Now! with Amy Goodman:

Click to play on YouTube site
@@ TODO - Create media topics for the above.

Front of the building with deceptive "HomeTex" sign.:

Another shot of the frontage of the building:

Back of the building has 20 truck bays. The last two bays have large blowers, two in and four out.:

BW-Otay-Back2-600x450.jpg:

Many more pictures here: http://news.webshots.com/album/563397736Tjxbjd

Those blowers are connected to a freestanding structure inside the building, which I assume is a pre-fab shooting gallery of some sort. At the other end of the building is a simulated building "shoot house" like the ones they were planning for Potrero, I assume.

According to Anne Krueger, Union Tribune reporter, Blackwater VP Brian Bonfiglio has admitted these facts and will be giving her a tour of the facility.

Was there any public review of these plans? Is the air expelled from the shoot house laced with gun powder and other pollutants? Do we care about the air, or is it okay to pollute as long as it is near the border?

It is interesting that the INPUT blowers seem to have no filtration. Apparently, if their neighbor backs up a semi truck to the inputs, the blowers would happily suck in the truck exhaust and the shooters would either go unconscious or at least start to miss their targets. I'm sure that this sort of ventilation equipment is normally found on the rooftops of the buildings and not sitting out in the parking area. With all the animosity Blackwater seems to generate in the public, they'll need to put that ventilation equipment behind locks gates, at least.

%IMAGE{"IMG_0277.JPG" type="frame" align="none" caption="A new fence is added on May 12th, fans running. I still hope a big truck does not park with motor running in front of those input fans... it might ruin a good day of a merc in training!" size="600x600"}%

Project Filings

website: http://www.sandiego.gov/development-services
PARCEL: 667-060-3500
Development 3951 by Southwest Law Enforcement
Architect: Arcadis, 128 South Tryon St., Charlotte, NC 28202 http://www.arcadis-us.com
Raven Development Group -- A subsidiary of Blackwater: http://www.blackwaterusa.com/raven/

Project	Date	Description
138862	06 Sep 2007	Building permit for interior tenant improvement. Work: 44.0 lineal feet of new partition in existing office space. OWNER: Safchild Investments, LLC, 1925 Century Park East, #1950, Los Angeles, CA 90067 (Partition mainly to cover entrances of restroom doors and to change conference room, apparently to increase size of training room.
140766	01 Oct 2007	Mechanical Permit with plans. Scope of work to include: Install 2 new A/C units, 6 exhaust fans. Electrical under separate permit. Raven Development/ Southwest Law Enforcement Training Enterprises. Plans detail interior shooting range with laminar flow ventilation equipment. Plans show input and discharge to roof and not to loading dock, as was built. There is no mention of "shooting range" except control panel has lights "Safe to Shoot", "Do Not Shoot" and switch "Range ventilation on/off". The various approval blocks do not include any approvals for a shooting range or the use of firearms in the facility.
150059	07 Feb 2008	Add modular training unit inside existing warehouse for extg Southwest Law Enforcement Facility Plans for this project have been "lost" by the development department of the City of San Diego. Reviewed the plans and applications on 09 Jun 2008. General Application shows "Project description" as "Add indoor Firing range", but computer description shows: "Scope" as "Building permit to add modular training unit inside extg warehouse for extg Southwest Law Enforcement facility." They took great care to omit the concept of "firing range" in the publicly-accessible computer record and then made the plans unavailable.
1576134	28 May 2008	Scope: OTAY MESA Building permit to add a simulator/ride inside of extg warehouse for Southwest Law Enforcement Facility (Raven Development)

Files were not available as they were in office of Afsaneh Ahmadi. To make an appointment, call 619-557-7998. I also saw this number: 619-446-5406.

I note that the project at this facility was started shortly after we announced our huge rally in Potrero, on October 7th. They pulled permits exactly one month prior to our Rally. Apparently, the rally in Potrero was enough to spook Blackwater into seeking an secret "Plan B". They added the modular training unit a month before they finally pulled the Potrero project. This was at the same time that Brian Bonfiglio was the most adamant about continuing the Potrero project. In other words, don't believe it when they say that public action has no impact!

Initial tip also implicated the shell corporation E & J Holdings based in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

City Law of Relevance

Section 53.10 Firearms, Etc. -- Firing Prohibited -- Exceptions

(a) Purpose and Intent. It is the purpose and intent of the Council of The City of San Diego that the firing of firearms and other explosives within the city limits be strictly regulated for the protection of all persons and property located in the City.
(b) Definitions. For the purposes of this section:
- (1) Firearm shall mean any weapon from which a missle, such as, but not limited to, a bullet, ball, or shell, is hurled by an explosive.
- (2) Fire shall mean to explode, discharge, or impel by using heat, purcussion or electric spark.
- (3) The term explosive is defined as it is in Section 53.05 of this Article.
(c) Prohibition. No person shall fire any firearm or explode any explosive within The City of San Diego.
(d) Exceptions. This section does not apply to firearms fired under the authority of the United States of the State of California, nor to shooting galleries or target ranges; nor where a permit has been issued or a firing area designated by the City Council pursuant to Subsections (e) and (f) hereof.
(e) Permits. The City Council, by resolution, may issue written permits to fire firearms upon such terms and under such conditions as it deems proper. The terms and conditions imposed by the Council shall be set forth on the face of any permit issued under this subsection.
(f) The City Council, by resolution, may designate certain areas within the City in which it shall be lawful to fire firearms upon such terms and under such conditions as the Council deems proper.

Land Use Types of Relevance

Land Use Types For Blackwater Otay - this topic will be filled in soon.

Timeline

%IMAGE{"IMG_0284.JPG" type="frame" align="right" caption="Carol Jahnkow, Pedro Rios, Valerie Sanfilippo at Pubic Comment on May 13." size="280x280"}%
%IMAGE{"IMG_0285.JPG" type="frame" align="right" caption="Stop Blackwater activists filled the audience at the City Council Meeting on May 13" size="280x280"}%

22 Apr 2008 - Raymond Lutz received tip regarding the facility and drove down to confirm it, informed media, Bob Filner, Stop Blackwater activists.
24 Apr 2008 - Raymond Lutz attempted to review the permits at DSD. Told that none of the permits were available to view and an appointment would be necessary with Afsaneh Ahmadi. Attempted to contact Ahmadi but she was in a meeting and would not be available for the rest of the day. They said to make an appointment, call 619-557-7998. I also saw this number: 619-446-5406.
25 Apr 2008 - Bob Filner arranged for press conference across the street from the site. "No Trespassing" signs were added all around the facility. Speakers were Rep. Bob Filner (CA-51), San Diego City Council President Scott Peters, San Diego City Council Member Ben Hueso (8th District), Peace Resource Center Director Carol Jahnkow, Raymond Lutz, Sierra Club Land Use Committee Chair Jeanette Hartman, and American Friends Service Committee Pedro Rios.
28 Apr 2008 - Attempted to make an appointment with Ahmadi but they eventually said I should come in to see the permits and talk to Sandra Stowers 687-5921.
29 Apr 2008 - Covert Canyon owner Marc Halcon, who also runs American Shooting Center, cut ties with Blackwater Worldwide, effective May 31. As a result, Blackwater Worldwide will want to open the facility for operation on June 2.
01 May 2008 - Raymond Lutz Reviewed two of three permit documents. Plans for the third permit were "lost" and not available at document control in DSD.
02 May 2008 - Raymond Lutz and Bob Filner are interviewed by Amy Goodman on Democracy Now.
05 May 2008 - Mayor Jerry Sanders requests inquiry by Jay Goldstone with report due 2008-05-23, three weeks later.
06 May 2008 - Signatures turned in by Citizens Oversight and Courage Campaign, unfortunately after Sanders already agreed to inquiry.
13 May 2008 - 8:30 a.m. - GSA vehicles arrive at facility for inspection for Navy contract. Chain-link fence installed around ventilation equipment.
13 May 2008 - 10 a.m. - Stop Blackwater coalition speaks at San Diego City Council meeting.
13 May 2008 - 12 p.m. - Raymond Lutz files appeal of permits and submits $100 counter fee to start the appeal.
15 May 2008 - Union Tribune reporter Tanya Mannes interviews Kelly Broughton, the head of DSD, Development Services Dept., who says appeal was accepted in error at the counter, and that the public has no right to appeal the permits.
15 May 2008 - Blackwater Worldwide receives contract extension for operations in San Diego.
16 May 2008 - San Diego City Attorney Mike Aguirre finds faults in permits for the facility and Mayor Jerry Sanders considered ordering work to stop on the training facility, but did not do so.
19 May 2008 - Oversight Groups submit News release implicating Mayor Jerry Sanders with delay in submitting a stop-work order.
20 May 2008 - Stop Blackwater activists appear again at City Council meeting and submit the press release to the Council.
20 May 2008 - Jerry Sanders denies occupancy permit until after review. COPs learned stop-work order was never submitted by mayor.
20 May 2008 - Raymond Lutz receives call from DSD stating that the appeal filed on 13 May 2008 is still being reviewed.
21 May 2008 - Blackwater's attorneys draft lawsuit, See Lawsuit Document
23 May 2008 - BrianBonfiglio demands approval of facility; Jerry Sanders' investigation report delayed.
27 May 2008 - Ben Hueso announces that the City has received the lawsuit at the 10 a.m. City Council meeting.
29 May 2008 - Raymond Lutz stumbles upon the hearing in the Federal Court Calendar, moved up from Monday, June 2, to May 30.
30 May 2008 - Hearing in Federal Court regarding motion for a temporary restraining order to require the city to allow Blackwater to commence operations. The judge ruled that it had jurisdiction and said she would present a written decision on June 3. See details here: Blackwater Vs City Of San Diego
Thirty protestors in front of Federal Courthouse despite short notice of less than 24-hours. Seats in hearing room full to capacity. Federal Judge Hon. Marilyn Huff ruled that she had jurisdiction in the case and implied that her eventual ruling would approve the Temporary Restraining Order (TRO).

03 Jun 2008 - Federal Judge Hon. Marilyn Huff did not complete her ruling on the matter as suggested in the May 30 hearing. Mayor Jerry Sanders wins re-election as Mayor.
04 Jun 2008 - Ruling by Judge Hon. Marilyn Huff provides temporary restraining order, thereby requiring the city to provide the occupancy permit to Blackwater.
05 Jun 2008 - Blackwater begins training operations
05 Jun 2008 - COPs resubmits appeal to be applied to the appropriate form, to be renewed under the original date.
06 Jun 2008 - Internal audit released. Two weeks late and with glaring omissions of the key questions. No mention of "ministerial" or "discretionary" in the document. Union Tribune says it exonerates Blackwater. Hardly.
07 Jun 2008 - Announcement of June 11 protest rally hits email lists.
10 Jun 2008 - Jeremy Scahill returns for appearance at the Unitarian Church and book signing of paperback edition of Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army
11 Jun 2008 - Jeremy Scahill, Pedro Rios, and other community leaders meet in San Ysidro.
11 Jun 2008 - Blackwater Otay Protest Rally at the site of the facility. Over 100 protesters hear Bob Filner (by phone), Jeremy Scahill, Nativo Lopez (MAPA), Pedro Rios, John Fanestil, Martin Eder, and others.
17 Jun 2008 - Second hearing before Marilyn Huff, argued this time by Mike Aguirre. No change in the ruling. Aguirre says he will appeal to the 9th circuit. Huff went further to say that all future permits must be handled with no more than ministerial (rubber stamp) processing.
19 Jun 2008 - Mia Farrow, the actress and activist, asked Blackwater for help in Darfur after becoming frustrated by the stalled deployment of a United Nations peacekeeping force.
20 Jun 2008 - Raymond Lutz submitted an appeal of the fourth permit, this one for the "simulator/Ride" ship simulator. Appeal brought out the question of calling it a "vocational School", asked how the facility was not in violation of California law against paramilitary training, questioned why the paper application called it a "shooting range" but the computer record called it a "modular training unit," asked why it was considered an "existing Southwest Law Enforcement Facility" when the facility was never given an occupancy permit under that name, and "Joint venture" was already defunct, and asked what fines were appropriate for Blackwater since they built the trainer prior to getting a permit.
23 Jun 2008 - Raymond Lutz went before the San Diego City Council and demanded action on the case.
23 Jun 2008 - Federal agents raided a [Moyock, North Carolina] Blackwater armory and seized 34 automatic (AK-47) rifles registered in the name of the Camden County, N.C., Sheriff's Office.
24 Jun 2008 - NRA comes out in support of Blackwater facility.
25 Jun 2008 - San Diego Development Services Department (DSD) returned the fourth permit (dated June 20) to Blackwater with 64 conditions, including the requirement that the training facility must meet ADA requirements. Blackwater says they don't need to be compliant and said the City should comply with the court's ruling.
02 Jul 2008 - James Webb, Senator of Virginia, holding up the approval of four civilian defense officials until he gets more information about the Blackwater training facility in Otay Mesa.
13 Sep 2008 - Stop Blackwater Rally - Nisour Massacre Anniversary
11 Dec 2008 - City of San Diego Agreed to settle the lawsuit with Blackwater for $150,000 instead of pursuing the appeal. The fact that Mike Aguirre did not keep his seat as City Attorney probably had a lot to do with this.
16 Jun 2009 - San Diego City Council voted to approve the settlement but added the request to BW to forgive the City of the debt and to improve Development Services Department procedures to stop other unscrupulous companies from misusing the permit process. See Resolution of the settlement and video of meeting

Articles and Media:

Image Gallery

%IMAGEGALLERY{titles="off" columns="6" warn="off"}% (Just attach your images to this topic and they will automatically be added to the gallery above!)

All Blackwater News Media - This page contains all the news media about Blackwater that has been submitted to the site. Some media that is very important was recently submitted to the site but has an earlier publication date... You can find it here.

Submit Media - Add News Media of any kind here.

Take Action

Blackwater Otay Citizen Action - See this topic for action you can take NOW to help us stamp out this blight!
Donate To Stop Blackwater - Please help us with a small contribution to defray our expenses to fight the invasion of our country.
Help Friends of Raymond Lutz win assembly seat in this area. - We wholeheartedly endorse Raymond in his campaign to a seat in the California State Assembly so he can sponsor legislation to make Paramilitary training illegal!

Blackwater_Audit_Report.pdf: Audit of Permits granted by the City of San Diego for the Blackwater Otay project (Jay Goldstone)

Discussion List

See List Serve for all email discussion lists and to add more.

Project Form edit
Project Name	Blackwater Otay
Project Description	Opposition to private mercenary training center in Otay Mesa, San Diego
Project Founder	Raymond Lutz
Project Curator	Raymond Lutz
Project Type	Issue Oversight
Project Parents	Private Mercenaries
Related Keywords
Project Status	Closed
Thumbnail Link
Forum Link
List Serve Topic

I	Attachment	Action	Size	Date	Who	Comment
jpg	BW-Otay-Back1-600x450.jpg	manage	50 K	26 Jun 2014 - 21:23	Raymond Lutz	Back of the building has 20 truck bays. The last two bays have large blowers, two in and four out.
jpg	BW-Otay-Back2-600x450.jpg	manage	52 K	26 Jun 2014 - 21:23	Raymond Lutz
jpg	BW-Otay-Front2-600x450.jpg	manage	92 K	26 Jun 2014 - 21:23	Raymond Lutz	Another shot of the frontage of the building
jpg	BW-Otay-Front600x450.jpg	manage	89 K	26 Jun 2014 - 21:23	Raymond Lutz	Front of the building with deceptive "HomeTex" sign.
pdf	Blackwater_Audit_Report.pdf	manage	2 MB	26 Jun 2014 - 21:23	Raymond Lutz	Audit of Permits granted by the City of San Diego for the Blackwater Otay project (Jay Goldstone)
jpg	GoogleMapBigPictureBWOtayStatic514x540.jpg	manage	183 K	26 Jun 2014 - 21:23	Raymond Lutz	Big Picture context of the Blackwater Otay secret facility.
jpg	GoogleMapStatic503x461.jpg	manage	151 K	26 Jun 2014 - 21:23	Raymond Lutz	Static Google Map of Blackwater's Secret Otay facility (to improve loading time).
JPG	IMG_0277.JPG	manage	488 K	26 Jun 2014 - 21:23	Raymond Lutz	A new fence is added on May 12th, fans running.
JPG	IMG_0284.JPG	manage	673 K	26 Jun 2014 - 21:23	Raymond Lutz	Carol Jahnkow, Pedro Rios at Pubic Comment on May 13.
JPG	IMG_0285.JPG	manage	728 K	26 Jun 2014 - 21:23	Raymond Lutz	Stop Blackwater activists filled the audience at the City Council Meeting on May 13
jpg	StopBlackwaterBumperSticker100x32.jpg	manage	3 K	26 Jun 2014 - 21:23	Raymond Lutz	Stop Blackwater Bumper Sticker

This topic: Common > WebHome > BlackwaterWorldwide > BlackwaterOtay
Topic revision: 12 Mar 2018, RaymondLutz

Copyright © by the contributing authors. All material on this collaboration platform is the property of the contributing authors.
Ideas, requests, problems regarding Cops? Send feedback