Minuteman Civil Defense Corps

The Minuteman Civil Defense Corps is a volunteer group headed by Chris Simcox and dedicated to preventing illegal crossings of the United States border. Arguing that the government is insufficiently concerned with securing the U.S. border,[1] they have organized several state chapters, with the intention of providing law enforcement agencies with evidence of immigration law violations.[2] Simcox states that the group merely reports incidents to law enforcement, and does not directly confront immigrants. There is a standard operating procedure (SOP) that must be followed by Minutemen volunteers. Rules include not speaking to, approaching, gesturing towards or having physical contact in any way with any suspected border crossers they may see.[3] The organization has been criticized as being a right-wing militia.[4] The MCDC is often confused with or thought to be affiliated with The Minuteman Project Inc., but the two groups are wholly distinct.[5] The group was originally co-founded by American neo-Nazi, J. T. Ready.[6]

On March 15, 2010, Minuteman Civil Defense Corps President Carmen Mercer sent an e-mail to the group's members in which she stated,

"For eight long years we Minutemen played nice; yet for the past eight years we firmly expressed our opinions and desires for the border to be secured. This muster will be completely different. President Barack Obama and John McCain have left us no choice. This March we return to the border locked, loaded and ready to stop each and every individual we encounter along the frontier that is now more dangerous than the frontier of Afghanistan."

After receiving what she described as a "dramatic" response from members who promised to return to the border armed, Mercer called for the dissolution of the group on March 23 citing her concern of being held responsible should members fail to follow the proper "rules of engagement".[7]

On June 8, 2016, Minuteman Civil Defense Corps co-founder Chris Simcox was found guilty of child molestation, [8] and on July 11, 2016, was sentenced to serve 19.5 years in an Arizona prison. [9]

References

  1. ↑ "About Us". Retrieved 2006-07-09.
  2. ↑ "MM Brochure" (PDF). Retrieved 2006-07-22.
  3. ↑ Standard Operating Procedure for Minuteman Civil Defense Corps
  4. ↑ Ramirez, Anthony (2006-06-04). "Angry Exchanges, To and Fro, at Rally". NY Times.
  5. ↑ Gilchrist, Jim (2007-11-07). "The Minuteman Project is a separate and distinct organization". Immigration Headliner News. Archived from the original on 2008-01-09.
  6. ↑ Walker, Hunter. "Minuteman Founder Doesn't Want To Be Confused With Alleged Murderer". Politicker. Retrieved 2012-05-06.
  7. ↑ "Minuteman Civil Defense Corps announces dissolution/ March 31, 2010 / Sonoran News". Sonorannews.com. 2010-03-31. Retrieved 2010-09-04.
  8. ↑ http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/jun/8/chris-simcox-minuteman-civil-defense-corps-co-foun/
  9. ↑ https://www.reuters.com/article/us-arizona-minuteman-idUSKCN0ZR2ON
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