In mid-2009, nativist leaders scrambled to distance themselves from Minuteman American Defense (MAD) founder Shawna Forde, after the immigrant-bashing former child prostitute was charged with two counts of first-degree murder in connection with the slaying of an Arizona man and his 9-year old daughter.

Few were as adamant in their repudiations of Forde – who now sits on death row for the murder of Raul and Brisenia Flores – as Minuteman Project (MMP) President Jim Gilchrist. Within hours of the announcement of her arrest, he stripped MMP’s website of its many laudatory references to Forde’s group, extended his “condolences” to the victims and “all those who have been affected by the alleged incident,” and wrote, “Jim Gilchrist’s Minuteman Project, Inc. is not affiliated with the Minuteman American Defense or Shawna Forde. The Minuteman American Defense is an independent patriot organization which participates in systematic border observation and reporting operations.” ( continue to full post… )

Former Arizona Senate President Russell Pearce, the author of his state’s draconian anti-immigrant S.B. 1070 law, issued a statement last night denouncing “the local media” for attempting to tie him to J.T. Ready, the neo-Nazi who is believed to have murdered four people earlier in the day before being shot to death himself.

What an utter crock. ( continue to full post… )

As the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments this week concerning Arizona’s controversial immigration law, a racist patriarch of the anti-immigrant movement once again found a mainstream platform for his hate-filled, conspiracy-mongering extremism.

CNN posted a report that contrasted two perspectives on the hot-button issue: that of Phoenix police officer David Salgado, and that of Glenn Spencer, who heads the hate group American Border Patrol.

“No better symbol of the deep political and social divide over illegal immigration exists than here on the Mexico-U.S. border, along Glenn Spencer’s rural desert property,” CNN reported. “And no better symbol exists of the contradictions and conundrums from an unresolved government enforcement policy.” ( continue to full post… )

In a move that is sure to endear it permanently to America’s nativist extremist demographic, the Outdoor Channel last night featured hate group leader Glenn Spencer on “Border Battles,” a recently debuted reality show about “what it takes to protect our nation’s borders from drug smuggling, illegal immigration and terrorism.” ( continue to full post… )

While much of the political rhetoric on the right these days is laden with violent imagery and gun-based metaphors, outright suggestions of political violence remain relatively rare. But in the wake of President Obama’s executive order last week that sharply limits deportations of non-criminal undocumented immigrants, that is changing.

Yesterday, speaking with far-right radio host Janet Mefferd, William Gheen, the leader of the nativist group Americans for Legal Immigration PAC (ALIPAC), said that legal political activity may no longer be sufficient to protect America from immigrants — in particular, he made it clear, from non-white immigrants. Gheen, who in the past tried to appear a moderate on the nativist scene, said that in order to save “white America,” it may be necessary to engage in “extra-political activities that I can’t really talk about because they’re all illegal and violent.”

His full quote: “We’re no longer referring to him as President Barack Obama, our national organization has made the decision and made the announcement, we now refer to him as dictator Barack Obama. That’s what he is. And, basically, at this point, if you’re looking for a peaceful, political recourse, there really isn’t one that we can think of, and I’m really not sure what to tell people out there than I guess they need to make decisions soon to just accept whatever comes next or some type of extra-political activities that I can’t really talk about because they’re illegal and violent.” ( continue to full post… )

Albert Gaxiola, the last of three defendants to be convicted in connection with the May 2009 slayings of 9-year-old Brisenia Flores and her father in Arivaca, Ariz., will not receive the death penalty for his role in the crime, the Green Valley News reports.

A jury in July sentenced Gaxiola to life in prison for his role in the murder of Raul Flores but deadlocked over the question of whether he should receive the death penalty for Brisenia’s slaying. On Friday, Judge John S. Leonardo of the Pima County Superior Court granted prosecutors’ motion to withdraw their notice to seek the death penalty.

Gina Gonzalez, wife of Raul Flores and mother of Brisenia, supported the decision. ( continue to full post… )

Ending the trial phase of a sad and sordid tale that has haunted Arizona for two years, a Pima County jury Friday convicted a Latino man of first-degree murder for the slayings of Raul Flores and his 9-year-old daughter, Brisenia, in a home invasion committed by members of a border vigilante group.

Albert Gaxiola was the last of three defendants to be tried and convicted for the May 30, 2009, slayings.  Preceding him were Shawna Forde, founder of Minuteman American Defense (MAD), and MAD member Jason “Gunny” Bush, both of whom have been sentenced to death.

Forde, Bush and Gaxiola went into the Flores home in Arivaca, about 50 miles southwest of Tucson, believing that because Flores was a drug dealer, he would have plenty of cash on hand. Prosecutors charged that Bush was the gunman who shot Flores dead before shooting his wife, Gina Gonzalez, in the leg. He then walked over to Brisenia, who was sleeping with her puppy on the couch, and shot her twice in the head at close range. ( continue to full post… )

A U.S. Border Patrol agent found a live pipe bomb while patrolling a known smuggling route west of Tucson on May 30, 2009, a classified memo released by a group that hacked the Pima County, Ariz., sheriff’s department reveals.

The device, described in an intelligence bulletin issued by the department’s bomb squad as “moderately complex,” exploded during the course of the squad’s investigation. The memo does not say whether anyone was hurt or speculate about who was responsible. It does caution agents working remote roads near the border to “be vigilant” and look out for “suspect items.”

The memo, released by the hacker group known as LulzSec, states that the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigated the incident but does not describe the results of the investigation. ( continue to full post… )

Arizonans who fretted that the recent cancellation of Glenn Spencer’s testimony before the state Senate Border Security Committee meant that Spencer would be prevented from sharing his paranoid visions of marauding migrants can rest easy. Even if Spencer never makes it to the Senate, interested senators are going to see Spencer — and so can everyday citizens wanting to hear the hate group leader’s nativist propaganda straight from the source.

Visits to Spencer’s Cochise County ranch, including a tour and a briefing from Spencer, are being sponsored by the Arizona 2012 Project, an affiliate of the Tea Party Patriots. The Maricopa County Republican Committee promotes upcoming tour dates on its website.

During the most recent tour Saturday, two Republican Arizona state senators, Sylvia Allen and Al Melvin, were among the approximately 50 people that Spencer estimated visited his ranch on Saturday, Spencer reported on his website. Allen, who chairs the state Senate Border Security Committee, had initially invited Spencer to testify about border issues in March. The hate group leader was disinvited after the two Democrats on the committee sent Allen a public letter requesting that his appearance be cancelled because of his “divisiveness” and “hatred.” ( continue to full post… )

Former nativist vigilante group leader Shawna Forde, sentenced to die for planning a home invasion that led to the deaths of a 9-year-old girl and her father in Arivaca, Arizona, was sentenced to an additional 65 years in prison for other charges.
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