Another Extremist Calls for Anti-Immigrant Forces to "LOCK & LOAD"

by Alex DiBranco · 2010-04-16 10:57:00 UTC
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As soon as one crazy nativist extremist group advocating violence goes down, another jumps up to take its place.

Last month, the anti-immigrant Minuteman Civil Defense Corps (MCDC) disbanded after an email telling supporters to show up at the border "locked and loaded." When it looked like people were actually riled up by all the inflammatory rhetoric and ready to show up armed, MCDC President Carmen Mercer claimed that isn't what she wanted (need to work on those mixed signals), so the organization was going to disband, rather than be responsible for all the dangerous people with guns. Now the hate group the California Coalition for Immigration Reform (CCIR) is stepping up to bring the crazy, issuing a call to "LOCK & LOAD" on an anti-immigrant listserve.

Barbara Coe, founder and chairwoman of CCIR, wants nativist forces to stand up against "Hate/Destroy America Commie/Muslim OBAMA" in defense of "law-abiding American patriot Sheriff JOE ARPAIO," who she calls a spokesperson for their cause. To review, Arpaio (a.k.a. "America's Worst Sheriff") is the Arizona sheriff who is too busy hunting down hard-working undocumented immigrants to look for actual violent criminals and rapists, is flouting federal immigration law and the Department of Homeland Security, and is being investigated by a grand jury for abuses of power. Great spokesperson you have there.

If you remember, the California Coalition for Immigration Reform is also the group trying to infringe on birthright citizenship through a state ballot initiative. Coe herself is a member of the Council of Conservative Citizens, a white supremacist organization that opposes non-European immigration; has appeared in rallies alongside Holocaust deniers and Klan members; and likes to refer to Mexicans as "savages," or sometimes "barbarians," to mix things up a bit. What are the chances she'll also have a "change of heart" and recant the call to arms? And, perhaps more importantly, what are the chances that the damage hasn't already been done?

Photo credit: brian.ch

Alex DiBranco is a Change.org Editor who has worked for the Nation, Political Research Associates, and the Center for American Progress. She is now based in New York City.
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