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The surviving family members of a McAllen Masonic Lodge member’s summer murder filed a lawsuit saying the organization should have known about what they say is growing anti-Masonic resentment across the country.
And Robert Wise’s wife and children said they should have known about 35-year-old Alamo resident Julio Diaz, who is accused of fatally shooting Wise, 55, and posting a video of the murder to social media.
His surviving family members filed a lawsuit against McAllen Masonic Lodge No. 1110 on Nov. 27, alleging their negligence killed Wise because they ignored what they call a national trend of vandalism and threats against Masons, and because they did not install a light and security camera system purchased in 2022 until after Wise’s murder.
They also allege that the organization failed to warn its members about Diaz, who was known to the organization, because Diaz allegedly committed an act of arson at a Weslaco Masonic Lodge, which the McAllen members frequented, according to the petition.
McAllen Masonic Lodge No. 1100 is located at 118 N. 11 Street.
Wise walked out of that building on July 10 after being a member for more than two years and after a ceremony where he was named a “Junior Deacon.”
Police allege that’s when Diaz fatally shot him.
That building has a long history. It was founded on Dec. 8, 1915, according to the petition, which said the Texas Historical Association in 1995 designated it as a historical site.
It traditionally served as a place for fairs, festivals and other community events, the petition says.
“However, as McAllen grew over the last 110 years, its affluent neighborhoods moved north and west,” the petition stated. “Situated just north of Texas Highway 83 near downtown, in the years leading up to Robert Wise’s murder the McAllen Lodge found itself in a low income, high crime area of McAllen.”
THE ESCALATION
Following Wise’s murder, on July 28 at the McAllen Lodge, McAllen Police Chief Victor Rodriguez met with members and “stated the obvious.”
“At night, when one enters or exits the McAllen Lodge, the parking lot and surrounding area and the front of the building had no lighting. It was pitch black,” the petition stated. “The premises was unlit, unfenced, and completely unprotected from any trespasser at the time of Wise’s murder.
“The McAllen Lodge knew how vulnerable it and its members were, but did nothing.”
But even before this meeting, the petition says a popular blogger who writes about Masonic news, had been reporting that ever since the COVID lockdowns that “there has been an alarming increase throughout the U.S. and Canada in incidents of vandalism and arson against Masonic halls by admitted paranoid anti-Masonic extremists and conspiracists.”
Then, on Dec. 6, 2021, the McAllen Lodge was vandalized and the location “became emblematic of the national trend on a local level.”
“Aware of the national trend and seeing it play out in their front yard, leaders of the McAllen Lodge pushed for the purchase of the light and camera system after this incident,” the petition stated. “Despite the full knowledge of the national and local trend of violence toward Masons, it took another act of vandalism in December of 2021 at the McAllen Lodge to prompt the purchase of a light and camera system.”
That happened sometime in 2022 when the McAllen Lodge purchased a light and camera system for about $2,000, according to the lawsuit.
“However, the light and camera system was not installed until months AFTER the murder of Robert Wise. In the wake of this security failure the criminal activity targeting the McAllen Lodge continued,” the lawsuit stated.
Instead, the petition said that a ranking member in 2022 spent $6,5000 for a “beach boondoggle during his grand master conference that provided food, alcohol and lodging at the beach.”
“It begs the question that if the McAllen Lodge could expend funds on entertainment why did it not spend money on security at a time when the people in authority knew there was a problem. Furthermore, how difficult would it have been to alert all Masons that a particular violent person was preying on them like a wolf in the fold.”
On March 30, 2022, someone vandalized the location with graffiti that read “Sorcery against the Holy spirit and the human race must all be stoned to death.”
After that happened, the person who was the third in command sent text messages to the top two people in charge and the petition said nothing was done.
“Five months later, on September 15, 2022, the criminal struck again. The McAllen Lodge was vandalized, the front glass door smashed and fuel thrown into the building to start a fire,” the lawsuit stated.
After this incident, the petition said a high-ranking member on a state level sent out a message warning people to be vigilant and to secure the lodge building.
“Both the McAllen Lodge and the Grand Lodge had actual knowledge of the national trend and the specific threats to the McAllen Lodge,” the lawsuit stated. “What happened to Robert Wise was completely foreseeable and yet no action was taken.”
‘VIOLENCE HAD A NAME’
The petition then cites two more arson attacks on Mason buildings on a national level and then another arson attack at the Llano Grande Masonic Lodge on Feb. 21 in Weslaco.
“This act should have prompted action. Julio Diaz, the alleged murderer of Robert Wise, videoed the Weslaco Lodge fire and uploaded it to his Instagram page,” the petition stated. “Now violence had a name and a face and it lived right next door. The McAllen Lodge routinely met at the Weslaco Lodge and Diaz knew it.”
The petition said that in the months leading up to Wise’s murder, Diaz “posted paranoid threats, rants and allegations against Masons on his social media pages.”
“The McAllen Lodge ignored what should have been obvious to even the most casual observer. The McAllen Lodge was an easy mark for any criminal to the point that its continued use of the location constituted gross negligence,” the lawsuit stated.
Wise’s family alleges that the McAllen Lodge was unwilling to take measures to stop criminal activity in the years leading up to Wise’s murder.
“That host summer night, as Robert Wise walked out to his rendezvous with death in the unlit, open parking lot, Diaz had the time and the arrogance to video himself as he killed Wise and uploaded the proof to his Instagram page,” the lawsuit stated.
On Aug. 7, Masonic leadership finally ordered the McAllen Lodge closed permanently.
“Too little … too late. Robert Wise was dead,” the lawsuit stated.
The McAllen Lodge and its leadership has yet to file a response to the lawsuit and an initial hearing has not been scheduled.
Diaz remains held in the Hidalgo County Adult Detention Center on an indictment charging him with murder and arson.
He has a $1 million bond on the murder charge and a $5,000 bond on the arson charge.
