Showing posts with label U.S. Border Guard. Show all posts
Showing posts with label U.S. Border Guard. Show all posts

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

ARIZONA…where the hate groups flock

J.T. Ready and his U.S. Border Guard group are just the latest hate group to pop up in the news in Arizona after he shot and killed his girlfriend, her daughter and her boyfriend and the girlfriend’s granddaughter, only 15 months old.  We still have the neo-Nazi skinheads, the National Socialist Movement led by Harry Hughes, the Ku Klux Klan, the Vinlanders Social Club, another racist skinhead group and Minutemen American Defense.

Shawna Forde, founder of MAD and two of her henchmen were convicted of first-degree murder in 2009 for the deaths of two, one a 9-year-old girl.  Dennis Mahon, a White supremacist from Illinois, even came all the way to Arizona in 2004 to send a mail bomb to Don Logan who was black and working for the city of Scottsdale.  Jeffrey Harbin from the Nat’l Socialist Movement in Apache Junction was convicted of making explosive devices in 2011.

A USA Today article chronicles how easy it is for the hate groups to get started and flourish in the great state of Arizona.  Bill Straus, Arizona regional dir. of the Anti-Defamation League said, "Immigration is pretty much unarguably the No. 1 recruiting element in the White supremacist world."  Having lived in the state for over 20 years, I can vouch for the fact that there is little temperance here for minorities, particularly undocumented immigrants.


Hate in the South

Arizona’s anti-immigration law, SB-1070, sponsored by former state senator Russell Pearce, a known racist, and signed into law by Gov. Jan Brewer, also known for being one of the worst governors ever to lead a state, was the impetus for these hate groups to raise their ugly heads and send Arizona into a tailspin that has made it the laughing stock of the country.  Not to be outdone, the boneheaded state legislature passed its share of stupid laws in its support.

Brian Levin, dir. of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at Calif. State U.-San Bernardino, claims that he knows of neo-Nazis who “…want to make pilgrimages to Arizona.”  Levin continues, "They believe that there are a lot of people in the state who are sympathetic to them."

The above is a fact that should be troubling to Gov. Brewer and the legislature but both are clueless in the matter.  The key factor here is that Arizona would have to tighten its gun laws—the loosest in the nation—to do anything about the extremism, and the state’s gun bubbas would never allow that.  They, along with the Tea Party, have Arizona so tightly controlled at the moment that it has become near impossible to even raise progressive ideas.  But it is happening.

FAIR and hate groups video:

USA Today says that Ready’s death, “…has pulled back the curtain on the shadowy world of extremism in Arizona that seems to teeter on the edge of violence.”  So add to the cross-country ridicule of Arizona the fact that it is now the leader in “Hate-States.”  Pathetic!  Alabama-based Southern Poverty Law Center says there were a total of 17 hate groups in Arizona as of 2011.  And it can all be traced back to the proliferation of guns to create this hate and violence.

James Turgal, special agent in charge of the FBI's Phoenix division believes that domestic terrorism is “very active” in Arizona, giving credit to the Nat’l Socialist Movement, neo-Nazis and something he called the “anti-government sovereign citizen” movement.  And Mark Potok of the SPLC was quoted as saying, "There are a lot of really thuggish individuals associated with the nativist movement in Arizona."  That’s a term no state should want associated with its citizenry. 

If the dethroned Russell Pearce gets his way, he will be back in Arizona’s senate by the end of the November elections; he is running for a seat in another state district from where he was booted recently.  In all likelihood the lame-brained legislature would probably elect him president again, and the great state of Arizona would return to business as usual.

UNLESS…progressives continue to do their thing and start a conservative cleansing that will rid us of these un-patriots.

Monday, May 7, 2012

Arizona neo-Nazi murderer J. T. Ready was NRA member


J.T. Ready and pal Russell Pearce

Jason Todd ‘J.T.’ Ready was well known in Arizona as a confirmed racist and neo-Nazi who never missed the chance to demonize the Hispanic community, sometimes along with his pal, Russell Pearce.  See a list of my blog posts on Ready and Pearce here.  It was this past Wed., May 2, when Ready decided to end his career of terrorizing Latinos and shot five people including himself.  I have covered this man for the last three years and this was totally unexpected. 

There was Ready’s girlfriend, Lisa Lynn Mederos, 47, her daughter, Amber, 23, Jim Hiott, Amber’s fiancĂ©, 24, and Amber’s daughter, 15 months.  There is total tragedy in the whole incident, which someone other than Ready should have seen coming, but the killing of a toddler makes it even more horrendous.  Another of Lisa Lynn’s daughters, Brittany Hazel Menderos, 19, was in a bedroom and heard the shootings and was first to discover the bodies. 

The Young Turks on Ready massacre:

For years J.T. Ready has conducted armed civilian patrols at the U.S. border with Mexico with the group he founded, U.S. Border Guard, and although saddened over the loss of their leader and his victims, say they will continue Ready’s work.  In the past, Ready has stated, “I firmly believe in having a minefield across the border.”  He added, “This is 100% effective.”  As a part of the Arizona militia scene he was known to take matters into his own hands.

Ready was a former Marine who started his militia activities after his bad conduct discharge from the service in 1996, preceded by two courts martial.  At one point he belonged to the National Socialist Movement which supports white supremacy.  In 2007 he marched in Omaha, Nebraska with a swastika banner with brown-shirted NSM members.  He was also a member of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corp. serving in their border project. 

In 2008, Ready became a Republican precinct captain in Mesa, AZ, further promoting his political career.  Republicans tried their best to get him removed from the position due to his extremist views but apparently Ready had deep support in the Arizona GOP that was able to help him survive.  There is probably another story in just who this was.  And he was currently a prospective candidate for Pinal County Sheriff, running as a Democrat.


J.T. Ready (2nd from right)
as neo-Nazi

Harry Hughes, regional director of the National Socialist Movement said Ready had left the organization two years ago but it is obvious that he left his imprint on the group from the following:  Ready said that only non-Jewish, white hetrosexuals should be American citizens.  Also, that all non-white people should leave the U.S.  Ready entered the news early when firing on a Hispanic man in 2006 with a BB gun while running for the Mesa, AZ City Council.

When police searched the house after the massacre, they found six 40 mm projectile grenades, which an Army surplus store manager said was not available in any store.  They had to be acquired on the black market.  Also found were two 55-gallon drums that the bomb squad said was no immediate danger.  And finally, authorities recovered 2 handguns and a shotgun.  It isn’t clear yet just what gun or guns Ready used on the victims and himself.


J.T. Ready protesting

And now to my headline signifying that J.T. Ready was a member of the National Rifle Assn. (NRA), which is true.  Back in 2010 I was doing several blog posts on Ready and Russell Pearce, the defrocked Arizona senator.  The comments, as usual, were vitriolic of me but in support of Pearce, even Ready, in his quest to rid Arizona of undocumented immigrants.  There is no compassion in that state for illegals, a stigma that remains until this day.

I have never minced words about J.T., and one of his supporters took me to task in a comment for berating him for his tactics.  It was posted on Facebook, where I had shared the post.  That same day, Ready posted another comment in reply to his supporter saying not to worry, it {me} was just sophomoric writing.  I couldn’t resist and headed over to Ready’s Facebook page and left him a message.  Ignoring his comment, I asked him point blank if he was a NRA member.

His exact reply was: “I am not current on my dues.  I hold numerous NRA instructor certificates.  You may see wahtwe(sic) do at:” and he directs you to this site.  Warning.  Page 13 has a gruesome picture.  But you can see from the pictures and captions, J.T. Ready was firmly against animal abuse.  Read more on the issue here, here, here and here.

It is not clear just how close Ready’s ties with the NRA were.  His statement above is proof of membership, but apparently he couldn’t or wouldn’t pay his dues.  Over the years I have covered Ready, I cannot remember the National Rifle Assn. ever even questioning his activities.  So far I have seen no statement from the NRA on the issue.  Read more about this on Common Gunsense. 

Since Ready is or was a member of the NRA, and because he operated in a state (Arizona) where the organization has been successful in forcing the loosest gun laws in the country through a clueless Governor and state legislature, I think we are due the consideration of a statement on how this man was armored up to the hilt and allowed to wreak havoc that killed 4 innocent people including a toddler.

More on J.T. Ready tomorrow including his close association with former Arizona Sen. Russell Pearce who was booted from office.

Donald Trump Says He Will Be Indicted On Tuesday

  THAT'S TODAY... Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has brought the case to this point, now looking at a possible indictment. Trum...