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Photos Place Shawna Forde at Border With Minuteman Leader

Posted December 7, 2009 by Patrick Young, Esq.

Last week, my colleague Ted Hesson received a copy of two photos from Immigration Clearinghouse. They depict Minuteman leader Jim Gilchrist with accused killer Shawna Forde at a September 2007 border action (click here for full-size photo).

Forde is accused of leading a Minuteman American Defense operation involving the execution of Raul Flores and his daughter Brisenia. After the killing, many Minutemen claimed that Forde was not part of their movement and that she was just a criminal with no relationship to the several dozen Minuteman groups around the country.
Jim Gilchrist, the co-founder of the Minuteman movement and the head of the Minuteman Project, said as recently as October that he did not have extensive contacts with Forde. He equated one of his three meetings with her to something as innocuous as her sitting in an audience listening to a speech he gave.
The newly available photographs do not in and of themselves prove that Forde was a close ally of Gilchrist’s, nor that she was prominent in the anti-immigrant movement. Unsure of the context of the pictures, Ted Hesson asked Gilchrist to comment on them. On Friday, the Minuteman leader responded. In his e-mail, Gilchrist describes Forde’s involvement with William Gheen of the anti-immigrant ALIPAC, as well as her connections to other anti-immigrant groups like the San Diego Minutemen, the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, and the Campo Minutemen.
Here is a substantial part of the reply Ted Hesson received from Gilchrist:
These photos were taken in September of 2007 in Palominas, Az. while I was there to help launch a border observation operation sponsored by Patriot’s Border Alliance (a group that splintered off from Chris Simcox’s now defunct MCDC group).
As I recall, Shawna Forde was at a campsite I visited in Palominas and asked for a photo to be taken by one of the men at that outpost. This was one of three brief meetings I had with Forde from Feb. 2007 to March 2008.
Forde had interactions with several border observation activists on the borders (both Mexican and Canadian) and immigration law enforcement activists (in the Seattle, Wa. area). She was also actively solicited by William Gheen of ALIPAC to act as a fund raiser for him in the Seattle area. She said she refused Gheen’s offers and wanted to work alone…to have her own group. Forde also was apparently trained in field activities by MCDC ( in Az.) and another group called Mountain Minutemen (in Campo, Ca.). She also had a short stint with Jeff Schwilk’s San Diego Minutemen (SDMM), according to her.
When Forde claimed to be a victim of a beating and attempted rape, and then a shooting, in Washington state back in December 2008 and January of 2009, William Gheen of ALIPAC, Jeff Schwilk of SDMM, Brook Young of the defunct Immigration Watchdog (N. Hollywood, Ca.), and Chelene Nightingale of the defunct Save Our State (SOS) in Los Angeles launched an vicious and relentless internet email and blogging campaign designed to emotionally bludgeon Forde into oblivion.
While I make no excuse for Forde’s ALLEGED involvement in the home invasion robbery/homicide for which she is being charged, I do put some of the blame for her ALLEGED errant behavior on the shoulders of William Gheen, Jeff Schwilk, Brook Young, and Chelene Nightingale for their deliberate and vile actions toward Forde that, in my opinion, may very well have pushed her over the emotional edge, culminating in her ALLEGED involvement in ALLEGED criminal activity.
As a victim myself of similar email and blogging hate campaigns sponsored by these delusional and incurably mean propagandists, it is my opinion that as long as these kinds of people are involved in the immigration law enforcement advocacy movement it’s future success is very bleak.
One of these persons, Chelene Nightingale, is attempting to run for governor of California. Few persons know how really vicious she and her above-mentioned allies really are, in my opinion. Fortunately, Nightingale has about as much chance of becoming governor of California as Charles Manson has of being Pope of the Catholic Church.
Respectfully Yours,
Jim Gilchrist, BAJ, BSBA, MBA, CPA(ret.) - Founder and President, Jim Gilchrist’s Minuteman Project, Inc. [dba The Minuteman Project, Inc.]
[Note: I inserted the links in Gilchrist’s message. And thanks to Ted Hesson for his work on this article-PY]
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.
Death penalty sought in Minuteman Murders.
Shawna Forde’s defenders.
More on the Shawna Forde support group.
Anti-Immigrant Groups Deny Ties To Shawna Forde, The Mastermind Of The Murders
Extensive documentation of Shawna Forde’s links to the Minutemen.
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.
Did Shawna Forde shoot herself to gain sympathy for her cause.
Did Shawna Forde fake her “rape”?
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.
Part 2-The Minutemen Splinter Amid Charges of Racism and Theft
Part 3 The Minutemen: Dissolution and Death
Other Articles
The New York Times covers the Minuteman murders.
Boston Globe editorialized against the “climate of vigilantism” created by the Minutemen.
Anti-immigrant leader worries that there are more Shawna Fordes.
Minutemen are both bumbling and dangerous.
Round-up of new information on the murders 7/12/09
Did Jason Bush kill Washington State teen?
Jason Bush, the Minuteman gunman, has been charged in two other white power killings.
Jason Bush claims he was not the killer.
The link between the Minutemen and the militias.
San Diego Minutemen and White supremacy.
National head of Minuteman Civil Defense Corps (MCDC) involved in fraudulent tax scheme.
Update on Minuteman Murders and tax fraud scheme. 8/20/09
Minuteman Problems Deepening.
Another Minuteman, this one with 15 felony convictions, Jailed while on his way to join Shawna Forde.
Jim Gilchrist’s response to my allegations.
Jim Gilchrist says he did not have extensive contact with Shawna Forde. Is he telling the truth?