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Minuteman Murders: The Glenn Spencer Connection

Posted June 23, 2009 by Patrick Young, Esq.

Shawna Forde, the Minuteman leader arrested for two murders in Arizona, was caught by police near the home of Glenn Spencer. Spencer is the head of American Border Patrol, a pathbreaking group in the anti-immigrant movement. Spencer invited Forde to live on his property last year, and, while he claims now that he broke ties with her after he realized she was an unstable individual, she was apparently seeking shelter from him after she murdered 9-year-old Brisenia Flores and the little girl’s father.
This is yet more evidence that Shawna Forde, the head of Minuteman American Defence, was not a marginal figure in the Minuteman militia. Glenn Spencer is a long-time anti-immigrant leader with a large national following. He helped organize some of the first “border watch” activities that led to the creation of Minuteman nationally.
Long Islanders are familiar with Glenn Spencer, who is based in California, from his work with Steve Levy’s allies in the now-defunct Sachem Quality of Life organization. Spencer was prominently featured in a film about the 2000 attempted murder of two Mexican day laborers in Farmingville. The film Farmingville showed him addressing a national meeting of anti-immigrant groups in a Suffolk motel ballroom as well as disrupting a press conference held by the Long Island Immigrant Alliance.
Former prostitute Shawna Forde’s close connections with Minuteman co-founder Jim Gilchrist and Glenn Spencer, two of the three most prominent figures in the genisis of the “border watch movement”, are more indicators that Forde moved within the highest circles of the movement.
UPDATE: Spencer now admits that he saw Shawna Forde on June 12, 2009, more than a week after the murders, at his office. He allowed Forde to send e-mails from his office. Forde was later arrested at an FBI roadblock within one mile of Spencer’s home.
UPDATE: I found this article on Glenn Spencer’s 2001 work with the Sachem Quality of Life group. Now that Spencer has been linked to Shawna Forde, FAIR is likely to claim it never heard of Glen Spencer. But is is useful to remember that FAIR was a sponsor of the Sachem hatefest.
Video of Shawna Forde and Minuteman American Defense at work.
[Note: At Anon.‘s suggestion, I’ve corrected “Glen” to “Glenn” Spencer.]
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.
Minuteman Murderer Confesses!
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.
Glenn Spencer’s aide takes on the leader of ALIPAC.
Are Minutemen beginning to threaten each other’s lives?
Anti-immigrant leader worries there may be more Shawna Fordes in “movement”.
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.
Border Storm-Our new three-part series on the history of the Minutemen
Part-1 How the Minutemen became the heroes of the Right.
Other Articles
The New York Times covers the Minuteman murders.
Boston Globe editorialized against the “climate of vigilantism” created by the Minutemen.