Immigration Backlash

Issue Number:

128

Winter

2007

Hate crimes against perceived undocumented immigrants are on the rise; Skinheads turn on one of their own; FAIR's many ties to white supremacists are explored.

In This Issue

Hate Crimes Against Latinos Rising Nationwide

Hate Crimes Against Latinos Flourish

By Brentin Mock

There's no doubt that the tone of the raging national debate over immigration is growing uglier by the day.

19-Year-Old Assaulted, Left To Die By Former Neo-Nazi, Skinhead Comrades

Attack Illuminates Skinhead Underworld

By Susy Buchanan
Ilustration by Frank Stockton

A near-deadly desert attack, headed for trial next spring, throws light on the incredibly brutal underworld of racist skinheads

Federation for American Immigration Reform’s Hate Filled Track Record

By Heidi Beirich, Intelligence Project Director

Despite its ugly record, the Federation for American Immigration Reform is still taken seriously by officials and the media

Memphis Area Love In Action Offers Residential Program to “Cure” Homosexuality

'Ex-Gay' Movement Making Strides

By Casey Sanchez

The Christian “ex-gay” movement, which claims to “cure” homosexuals, is booming across the country. At the same time, it has left a trail of shattered lives in its wake.

More Features

Neo-Nazi, White Supremacists Call for Lynching of Jena 6 Editorial By Mark Potok, Senior Fellow Before the first anti-racism demonstrator had set foot in Jena, La., this fall, white supremacists already were burning up the Internet with furious denunciations, bloody predictions, promises of apocalyptic violence, and calls for lynching.	Former Ex-Gay Minister Scott Harrison Speaks Out About His Sexuality, Ministry Former 'Ex-Gay' Minister Speaks Out Interview conducted by Casey Sanchez Scott Harrison desperately tried to change his sexual orientation in various "ex-gay" ministries for eight years, three of them as a ministry leader in Southern California.
Norse God Odin Visits Neo-Nazi Anti-Immigration Rally After Party in Omaha, Neb. The Last Word By Susy Buchanan and David Holthouse The Norse god makes a rare appearance at a neo-Nazi beer bash. His son, Thor, proves something of an embarrassment	Life of Olympics Bomber, Holocaust Denier Eric Robert Rudolph Examined in New Book A penetrating writer examines the life and motivations of serial bomber Eric Rudolph. Even for her, he's hard to figure out
White Supremacist Arthur Kemp Steps Up as Leader of the Neo-Nazi Group National Alliance By Heidi Beirich, Intelligence Project Director A former South African intelligence operative, once accused of pro-apartheid crimes, is shoring up a U.S. neo-Nazi group	Aryan Circle Blamed for Two Cop Killings Aryan Circle Blamed for Two Cop Killings By Brentin Mock Even more radical than the prison gang that spawned it, the Aryan Circle, blamed in a recent cop-killing, has officials worried
North East White Pride Attracts 10 Supporters to Boston MLK Day Protest New England Neo-Nazis Avoid Squabbles By Susy Buchanan When North East White Pride (NEWP) announced it would protest in front of Boston's Afro-American History Museum on Martin Luther King Day 2006, the New England neo-Nazis were hoping to draw a crowd and garner attention for their fledgling organization.	Neo-Nazi Preston Wiginton Joins Forces With Young Americans for Freedom at Michigan State University Student Hate Group Roils Michigan State By David Holthouse Preston Wiginton is one busy neo-Nazi. In October 2005, he won the "Strongest Skinhead" contest at Hammerfest, a racist skinhead festival in Draketown, Ga., where he announced that he was organizing secret paramilitary training.
Extremismo Nativista En la propaganda nativista, dos pistoleros convictos se convierten en heroes Los activistas enemigos de la inmigración sostienen que Corbett está siendo condenado injustamente debido a la presión de México.	Furia Contra el Otro Por Brentin Mock Exacerbados por la dura retórica de nativistas, expertos y políticos, los ataques de odio hacia quienes son vistos como 'invasores' latinos son cada vez más frecuentes
Los Nativistas Inmunes Por Heidi Beirich A pesar de sus vergonzosos antecedentes, los funcionarios y los medios de comunicación siguen tomando seriamente a la Federación Norteamericana para la Reforma de la Inmigración

Briefs

Major Verdict Against Gay-Bashers By Rhonda Brownstein Anti-gay activists who picketed a funeral have lost a huge judgment for inflicting emotional distress. It's unclear if the verdict will hold since Phelps' offensive speech is aimed at private, not public, persons.	NH Tax Protesters Arrested Without a Shot Tax Protesters Concluding a tense standoff that began five months earlier when they were convicted of tax evasion, federal marshals in Plainfield, N.H., managed to seize two tax protesters who had threatened law enforcement officials with death.	Idaho 'Survivalist' Home Goes on Sale Right-Wing Survivalists "Survivalist Home for Sale," read the identical classified advertisements placed in several Idaho newspapers last July. "Appraised at $227,000, moving overseas, make me an offer." The ads detailed an impressive array of custom features.
Willis Carto Apparently Adopts Christian Identity Radical Religion "Radical traditionalist Catholic" E. Michael Jones, a rabid anti-Semite, visited the Washington, D.C., offices of veteran Holocaust denier Willis Carto last March. While there, he found out something surprising: Carto has apparently become an adherent of Christian Identity.	Center Lawsuit Expanded to Include IKA Ku Klux Klan The Southern Poverty Law Center in July refiled an earlier lawsuit against two Klansmen to add the nation's second-largest Klan organization, its national leader and two other individuals as defendants.	FLDS Leader Convicted in Child Rape Racist Cults Polygamous prophet Warren Jeffs has been convicted on two counts of rape as an accomplice and faces up to life in prison when he is sentenced late this year. This is Jeffs' first criminal conviction, although the cult leader faces civil lawsuits in several other cases filed by former followers.
Rival Skinhead Clans Declare Truce Hammerskin Nation and the Vinlander Social Club — America's two largest coalitions of racist skinhead gangs — have negotiated a truce ending a three-year feud, according to a remarkable declaration published in September by Vinlanders co-founder and Hoosier State Skinheads leader Brien James.	Minuteman Sparks Kansas City Brouhaha Anti-Immigration Movement The appointment of a member of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps (MCDC) to the Board of Parks & Recreation of Kansas City, Mo., has created a political firestorm for Mayor Mark Funkhouser.	Nativists Make Heroes of Border Shooters Nativist Extremism Border Patrol agents Ignacio "Nacho" Ramos and José Alonso Compean attacked an unarmed border-crosser who was trying to surrender, shot at him 15 times and wounded him as he fled, then tampered with the crime scene and failed to report the shooting as required to their supervisors.
Aryan Encyclopedia Takes Off White Nationalism White nationalists already have their own websites for social networking and video sharing. Now they've built Metapedia, a knockoff of the online, reader-edited encyclopedia Wikipedia that they call "an alternative encyclopedia dedicated to the pro-European cultural struggle."	Enticing Charge Dismissed Against Neo-Nazi Neo-Nazis A federal judge this October dismissed charges of sexual enticement of a 10-year-old girl and witness intimidation against neo-Nazi leader Kevin Alfred Strom, but only after two days of lurid and extremely compromising testimony.	Neo-Nazis Arrested in Jewish Homeland In a case that sent shock waves through Israeli society, police in September announced the arrests of a group of young neo-Nazis who allegedly attacked foreign workers from Asia, religious Jews, gay men and lesbians, the homeless and drug addicts.
Execution Video Surfaces in Russia The video is hard to watch. Just three minutes long, "Operation of the National-Socialist Party of Russia to Arrest and Execute Two Colonists From Dagestan and Tajikistan" opens to the sound of machine-gun fire.	Hammerfest Concert Oct. 6, 2007 At least 100 members of Hammerskin Nation, a racist skinhead group with chapters around the country, tried to attend the latest annual Hammerfest concert in Portland, Ore.	Swiss Nativist Party Surges Ahead Capitalizing on widespread fears about immigrants, the far-right Swiss People's Party (SVP) in October surged forward to take 29% of the votes for the nation's lower house, the best result for any Swiss party since 1919.
German Mob Hunts Down Indians In the latest outbreak of xenophobic violence in the former East Germany, a mob of 50 German youths screaming neo-Nazi slogans chased down and violently attacked eight Indian visitors and the man who tried to give them refuge.	Moviemiento Antiinmigratorio La designación de un miembro del Cuerpo miliciano de defensa civil Minuteman (MCDC) para la Junta de Parques y Recreación de Kansas City, Missouri, causó una tormenta de fuego política para el alcalde.	Overheard, Winter 2007 Quotes From the Right Quotes from Ted Smith, Michael Savage, Neal Boortz...
The Blotter: Winter 2007 Updates on Extremism and the Law