Mastodawn

NEW➡️ A Quiet Retreat: Hundreds of Shipping Containers Hauled to AZ State Prison as Protests Halt Border Wall 📰 Starting Tuesday, along I-10 in Southern Arizona, dozens, maybe even hundreds, of empty shipping containers were hauled one-by-one westbound down the highway toward the Arizona State Prison Complex in the southern reaches of Tucson.

Full Story: https://unicornriot.ninja/2022/a-quiet-retreat-hundreds-of-shipping-containers-hauled-to-az-state-prison-as-protests-halt-border-wall/

A Quiet Retreat: Hundreds of Shipping Containers Hauled to AZ State Prison as Protests Halt Border Wall - UNICORN RIOT

Southern Arizona – Starting Tuesday, along I-10 in Southern Arizona, observant commuters may have noticed a peculiar uptick in the interstate’s westbound traffic — dozens, maybe even hundreds, of empty shipping containers were hauled one-by-one down the highway. From unincorporated land in Cochise County to the Arizona State Prison Complex in the southern reaches of […]

UNICORN RIOT

Unicorn Riot Dec 16, 2022

This curious cavalcade marked what may be the next phase of the monthslong saga that has resulted in the destruction of miles of Southern Arizona wilderness and has cost the State of Arizona over $108 million dollars for what amounts to four miles of discarded scrap metal.

Since the project began in late October, workers have feverishly placed hundreds of shipping containers along the Arizona/Sonora border in Southern Cochise County.

Unicorn Riot Dec 16, 2022

Workers have been staging the containers on an 88-acre plot of land in an unincorporated area of Cochise County, halfway between Whetstone and Huachuca City off Arizona State Highway 90. Photo by David Taylor.

Although Governor Doug Ducey’s office did not respond to a request for comment about the site, the aggregation of hundreds of shipping containers at this location in the midst of the massive operation along the border strongly suggests that the site is linked to the project.

Unicorn Riot Dec 16, 2022

In an official response to the DOJ’s notice of intent to file legal action submitted on Dec. 12, Governor Ducey’s office announced on Dec. 13 that “construction” of the shipping container barrier “has ceased.”

The letter appears to correspond with the mass exodus of shipping containers from the storage site. Governor Ducey’s office even asserted a willingness to remove the container wall, but only on the condition that the federal government construct a permanent wall in its place.

Unicorn Riot Dec 16, 2022

Drone footage shows an estimated 900 shipping containers double and single stacked, waiting to be added to the parade of surplus from global trade that Arizona Governor Doug Ducey was trying to leave behind as his legacy before his term ends in January. Photo by David Taylor.

Unicorn Riot Dec 16, 2022

According to the State of Arizona’s contract with AshBritt, the private disaster management company awarded the contract for the project, each twenty foot shipping container cost Arizona taxpayers $5,700. Meaning the staged containers carry a price tag of more than $5.1 million.

With the U.S. government unwilling or powerless to take any direct action on the ground to stop the destruction, halting the onslaught has become an urgent necessity for dozens of activists and locals.

Unicorn Riot Dec 16, 2022

Beginning November 29, when protestors started blockading the project’s advance, work slowed and, by December 6, halted altogether. https://unicornriot.ninja/2022/blockaders-halt-border-wall-construction-in-southern-arizona/

Blockaders Halt Border Wall Construction in Southern Arizona - UNICORN RIOT

Cochise County, AZ – Seventeen feet above the ground, towering over the native Sonoran grasses and oak saplings of the surrounding bajadas, a group of young people stretched out languidly in the sun, chatting and laughing and playing guitar. In a line to their east, the double-stacked shipping containers beneath them stretched out for over […]

UNICORN RIOT

Unicorn Riot Dec 16, 2022

It is unclear whether the containers will be stored indefinitely at the prison or whether they will be used by the prison. Neither Governor Ducey’s office nor the Arizona Department of Corrections responded to requests for comment.

Unicorn Riot Dec 16, 2022

While those in power continue to argue with each other through the courts, a small group of dedicated activists and members of the local community continue to put their bodies in the path of the machines.

“‘We the People’ will continue our presence at the border until the federal government stops the destruction and removes the containers,” some blockaders wrote in a press release Wednesday.

Unicorn Riot Dec 16, 2022

“We speak for the land that has been callously unearthed, the trees that have been uprooted and mowed down. For if we don’t, who will?” - Blockaders of the shipping container wall

Thanks for tuning in to our coverage. Unicorn Riot is an audience-supported independent media platform. Support our continued coverage by joining our community of contributors: https://unicornriot.ninja/donate/

Support Independent, Nonprofit Media - UNICORN RIOT

Join our amazing community of supporters and be a part of the next decade of Unicorn Riot, Your Independent Media. Donate Now:

UNICORN RIOT

William Simpson Dec 16, 2022

@UnicornRiot Hauling shipping containers to remote wilderness areas and creating eyesores seems to be a rightwing / tweaker thing. Ducey apparently knows his base.

@UnicornRiot They'll have some serious profit margins, cuz I can get a ready-to-use housing container delivered to any location in Germany for that amount in €, and I'm talking about a single container, not having any room to save with scalability...

AnathemaJane Dec 16, 2022

@UnicornRiot why?

Cloppst Dec 16, 2022

@UnicornRiot What an absolute waste of money.

"Extinct" Onceler Dec 16, 2022

@UnicornRiot Are they free for the taking? Because yeah, great for housing.

annia ciezadlo Dec 16, 2022

@UnicornRiot Ducey's wall of rusted shipping containers is like the world's dumbest, most destructive and expensive conceptual art project

AprilShowers99452871 Dec 16, 2022

@UnicornRiot
AZ stops building container-wall as protests continue. What a waste of resources! Put the money into feeding programs like quality school lunches.

RachelA Dec 16, 2022

@UnicornRiot these will be Taken down as soon as Katie Hobbs is swarn in