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In the News War of Words Among "Border Protection" Groups Intensifies

By Patrick Young, Esq. July 2, 2009 2:39 PM

I just received this e-mail written by Glenn Spencer's aide at American Border Patrol, Melissa Jaramillo, detailing multiple charges of impropriety by the head of one of the country's largest anti-immigrant groups, ALIPAC. As regular readers know, a Minuteman leader named Shawna Forde and her two accomplices were recently arrested for killing a little girl and her father as part of a Minuteman American Defense operation. Forde was an associate of Minuteman co-founder Jim Gilchrist. She was arrested near the offices of Glenn Spencer, one of the intellectual authors of the "border protection movement" that inspired Minuteman.

ALIPAC, one of the harshest voices in the immigration debate, is led by William Gheen. Gheen has been a leader in the effort to try to paint Shawna Forde as an outlier to the anti-immigrant movement, in spite of significant evidence to the contrary. More recently, he has used his web site to attack Spencer, Gilchrist, Melissa Jaramillo and others in what has become an Internet battle with potentially mortal consequences.

I am reprinting Melissa Jaramillo's letter without edits. It is addressed to William Gheen, head of ALIPAC. Here it is in its entirety:

First - this email is from me and me alone. I am using my personal email
address to send it as I am NOT writing on behalf of any organization. No one
asked me to write this email. We are in America and we still have Freedom of
Speech. Know that Freedom of Speech does not include libel and slander.

Second - you using the murder of that poor girl to attack others and solicit
funds shows me how disgusting your character is. You didn't give two-shits
about that girl or that incident until Shawna was arrested. Instead of
attacking and blaming everyone, send that girls family some money and apologize
for not trying to help psycho girl get better. Instead, you created a movement
for everyone to show hatred towards her. What did you expect would happen after
you were done "ruining her" and made sure that not just the opposition hated her
but those within the movement hated her as well. You really gave her nothing
left to live for. While Shawna had a thug with a gun to kill people, you are no
different, you just use a different media. Yes - you are no better than she!

You're such a liar. Why is it so hard for you to keep your facts straight?

You wrote:
~ "While Spencer denies knowing what Chuck Stonex (Forde's Executive Officer in
her group MAD) was up to, he admits that Stonex came to Glenn Spencer's American
Patrol HQ from another state, was treated to BBQ, left that property to treat a
gun wound. Furthermore, we find the admission that Spencer was in phone contact
with Stonex after he left the BBQ to be highly suspicious and indicates that
Glenn Spencer also knew that someone had been shot and that Stonex was going to
treat a wound! " ~ end quote

You're so full of it. I haven't the time to set all of your claims in your rant
straight, but I will on this one paragraph. Chuck did not leave the BBQ to
treat the wound. Chuck came to the BBQ AFTER treating the wound. He called in
the morning to say he wasn't going to make it to the BBQ. He did make it - he
showed up late. He stated an animal had been hurt. Glenn was not in contact
with Chuck after Chuck left. We find Chuck's involvement questionable as well
and he is no longer welcome at the ranch.

Glenn did not like Shawna. Glenn was not in phone contact with Shawna earlier
this year. I was. I never had an issue with Shawna. I believed he rape story.
I saw the paperwork from the hospital. So shoot me for befriending somebody
that was just a bit off. Attack me and leave Glenn out of it. I find you to be
a little off as well. I find there is something wrong with you. You lack
character and integrity. You are not trustworthy and I think you are a bit
psychotic. There must be something wrong with you, as your vicious and
continued attacks against others fighting for the same cause is nothing but
destructive for the movement and they make you look obsessed. That's it, you're
obsessed with the destruction of anyone who does not bend to your will. God, I
hope you don't have a wife or children - especially teenagers because they have
a mind of their own. I believe it is your actions and the actions of those like
you who helped to drive Shawna over the edge. Go after her family - they knew
of her plans. Go after the MM in Colorado - they knew of her plans. None of
them tried to talk her out of it or stop her. You did nothing to stop her
either. Hell, not even you thought she would end up doing something so
atrocious. Furthermore, it is not aiding and abetting to have a brief chit chat
with somebody who came by out of the blue. Believe you me, had I known about
the incident in Arivaca and the Shawna was wanted for questioning, I would have
shut the door in her face and contacted the authorities.

Stop your lies and retract your libel for your own good.

And another thing - I choose my friends. I talk to who I want to talk to.
Nobody chooses them for me and nobody tells me who I can and can not talk to -
not even Glenn. I am my own person with my own thoughts. Search your forum and
find the disclaimer I made when I first signed up that says my views and
opinions are my own and not those of American Border Patrol. Ken Dreger does
the exact same thing. He's a member of your org, does that mean he speaks on
behalf of you everytime he posts? Does he speak on behalf of MCDC or BPAUX
everytime he posts? Do his views and opinions reflect those of ALIPAC? Ask him
if a person can be a member of an org yet speak on their own behalf. I bet you
and he disagree on that point.

Do you think Bush will be charged with something for his false military record
claims? What's your thoughts on that? Let's play the guilt by association
card, shall we? That's the card you are playing against Glenn and that is the
exact same card that will have all anti-illegal immigration organizations balmed
for the murders. We'd only seen her a few times last year, but you want to
blame us for what she did or accuse us of aiding her? Then I accuse you of the
same thing. I accuse you of attacking her so viciously that you sent her over
the edge and made her do what she did. How's that?

The caution: Think very carefully and be sure to be clear on the facts. Think
about what you are doing and know that it is wrong and it is a crime. I find
your statements to be libelous and your actions to be harrassing and I, as an
individual and not as a spokeperson for any organization, will not tolerate such
behaviour.

I am generally a nice person and I like to help people in need. I have 6
children, am a full-time college student, take care of an uncle who can not take
care of himself and run a teen's auto shop - most of that with the help of my
husband.

I am too busy to play your games. Be well William and end it here. If you
continue, things will only get bad for you. The media and opposition are
soaking all of this up right now and they will use it against all orgs in the
movement. You know it and I know it. Now get on with the real mission -
immigration.

Warmest Regards,
Mel

Ken - I'm sorry to use you as an example, but you're the only one I could think
of who posts of his own free will and not on behalf of any org and you state it
perfectly clear. ;-)

More Links to the Minuteman Murders

Since the police first revealed the Minuteman connection to the murders of ten year Brisenia Flores and her father Raul, Long Island Wins has provided intensive coverage of this story. Here is an index of the most important articles we've posted:

The Crime

The shocking murder of a little girl and her father focused our attention on recent Minuteman activities in Arizona.
The 911 call by a mother who had just seen her husband and child murdered.
Excerpts from the police reports on the murder investigation.

Anti-Immigrant Groups Deny Ties To Shawna Forde, The Mastermind Of The Murders

Although Forde was a part of Minuteman from its early years, anti-immigrant groups around the country immediately branded her an insignificant figure, in spite of ample evidence to the contrary.
More on Shawna Forde's extensive connections with anti-immigrant groups.
While the Minutemen depict her as a minor figure, their own web site described Shawna Forde as a person in the leadership.
Shawna Forde had close ties to Jim Gilchrist, co-founder of the Minutemen. Is Gilchrist an important figure in that movement?
This article looks at Gilchrist's communications with Forde after the killings.

Inside The Mind Of Shawna Forde

Video interview with Shawna Forde on "patrol" along the border.
Shawna Forde's blog from the Tea Party a month before the killings.
And here is an article the main Minuteman Project website published from Shawna Forde.
Here are first person reports of the Minuteman rally in Everett Washington organized by Shawna Forde at which Jim Gilchrist was the keynote speaker.

The Glenn Spencer Connection

Glenn Spencer, one of the founders of the "border protection movement" and the man who inspired Suffolk's anti-immigrant movement had ties to Shawna Forde. She was arrested nearly two weeks after the killings immediately after visiting him.
Glenn Spencer speaks out on the Minuteman murders.

The Minutemen Speak

The weird response of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps to the media coverage of the murders.

The Civil War in the Anti-Immigrant Movement

The fallout from the killings has led to a brutal civil war among anti-immigrant groups, with vicious charges being traded by erstwhile allies.

Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy And The Minutemen

Steve Levy's endorsement in 2006 by the founder of the Minutemen.
Steve Levy and the Suffolk Minutemen.

The New York Times covers the Minuteman murders.

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