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2 Accused In Ariz. Killings Had Anti-Immigrant Ties : NPR
Two of the three people charged with killing a Hispanic man and his daughter
in Arizona had ties to a group that strongly opposes illegal immigration.
Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik says the motive behind the killings was
robbery — and he believes the money was to fund the suspects' anti-
immigration activity.
Raul Flores, 29, and his 9-year-old daughter were shot in the head May 30
after a group of people dressed in camouflage entered their home in the small
southern Arizona town of Arivaca. The girl was apparently shot because she
was a witness. Her mother, whose name is not being released, was shot in the leg.
The woman was on the phone with a 911 operator when the attackers
returned. She had a pistol and fired at the attackers. She wounded one man,
but the group got away. Then late last week, Dupnik announced the three
arrests and discussed the motive.
"The husband who was murdered has a history of being involved in narcotics
and there was an anticipation that there would be a considerable amount of
cash at this location, as well as the possibility of drugs," Dupnik said.
One of the three suspects lived in the area. But the other two, Shawna
Forde and Jason Bush, are leaders of an anti-illegal-immigrant group in
Washington state called Minutemen American Defense. Its Web site says it
secures the U.S. border from human and drug trafficking.
Three years ago, Forde appeared on a local PBS TV program in Yakima,
Wash. "I know the Minutemen and many other organizations will not stop,"
Forde said. "We will start at a local level and work our way up. We will not
stop until we get the results that we need to have."
The two largest Minuteman organizations — the Minuteman Civil Defense
Corps and the Minuteman Project — said Forde and Bush are not associated
with them.
However, Stephen Eichler, executive director of the Southern California-
based Minuteman Project, said that Forde wrote articles that were posted on
the Minuteman Project Web site. They've been removed. Eichler said he and
Minuteman founder Jim Gilchrist are horrified by the Arizona killings and by
some of the people their movement has attracted.
"There's a lot of racists getting into movements because there are a lot of
groups that feel threatened today which are very right wing, very
conservative. And they feel threatened that our nation is moving in a
different direction than it has in, say, the past 30 or 40 years," Eichler
said. "So, instead of being reasonable about that, they become hostile."
Late Tuesday, a sheriff's captain said more arrests may be made in the
Arizona case.
In addition, Bush has been charged with killing a homeless Hispanic man in
Washington state 12 years ago and is a suspect in at least one other home
invasion.
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