UNITED STATES: Racists shamed into retreat

A planned three-week "border patrol" by the racist Minutemen movement appears to have ended less than 24 hours after it began, after the anti-immigrant vigilantes were outnumbered by peaceful protesters. The racists were organised by the Border Patrol Auxiliary, an affiliate of the Minutemen, a far-right movement that has been organising people to hunt migrants crossing into the US illegally. While BPA leader Jim Chase had fallen out with Minutemen leader James Gilchrist over Chase's insistence that the "volunteers" should be armed, Gilchrist attended the BPA action in Campo, San Diego, on July 16. Around 150 protesters, carrying anti-racist signs, picketed the BPA meeting, and, as night fell, played loud music and shone lights to identify clearly where the hidden spies were. Chase and Gilchrist criticised police refusals to "protect" the heavily armed BPA against protesters. In a contribution on the Minutemen website, one Minuteman explained his fear: "We were left with no police support ... we had just a few firearms ... [the protesters would] shout 'I am unarmed' and then would proceed with music and lights ... had they started to come down the hill, the shooting would have begun in defense of our base camp." By morning, all the vigilantes had gone.

From Green Left Weekly, July 27, 2005.

Visit the Green Left Weekly home page.

From GLW issue 635