Last Thursday, Brewster County sheriff’s deputies arrested an Alpine man — James Bart Saunders, 58 — after he stabbed a tire on a border wall contractor’s truck in Study Butte. Saunders faces charges of criminal mischief, more than $100 and less than $750, a class B misdemeanor punishable by up to 180 days in jail and a fine of up to $2,000.
Saunder’s attorney, Shane O’Neal, released a statement on the incident that said “Saunders takes full responsibility and apologizes for his actions.”
O’Neal said Saunders was camping in the national park and encountered a friend that had “spent countless hours” trying to save native plants being bulldozed by Southwest Valley Constructors, which has the $1.7 billion contract for new surveillance technology, roads and vehicle barriers in the park.
“Shortly afterwards, when visiting the Cottonwood General Store, he saw one of their trucks and did something impulsive and counterproductive — he put a knife in the tire,” O’Neal said. “James is not an activist, is not on social media and has no association with the larger movement against the wall. He is a father and retired teacher who has to explain to his daughter that he let his emotions get the better of him and regrets his actions.”
O’Neal added that Saunders’ “biggest concern now is that his impulsive acts will reflect poorly on a larger movement that he agrees with but is not affiliated — [one] he realizes he has harmed.”
Saunders taught for Alpine ISD for more than 15 years, but had recently retired and was only substitute teaching. O’Neal said Saunders informed the district of the charges. Alpine ISD did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
