Phoenix News Blog

If you haven't seen J.T. Ready on the boob tube lately, you haven't been watching TV. Seems like the wannabe Ernst Roehm of the East Valley has been getting his moment in the media sun defending the views of the National Socialist Movement, even though he states in this interview with Fox 10 that he is not currently a member. Just a supporter. Weird, as I'm told his license plate now reads "NSM USA," though I haven't been able to confirm that with him.

Ready refers to NSM in the Fox 10 video as a "white civil rights organization," and calls the Holocaust the "Holohoax." That would be the "hoax" in which 6 million Jews perished. Thing about the Nazis is, they can't decide if it was a hoax, or if they dig the fact that the Jews were slaughtered by NSM's Nazi forebears. The NSMers would like for themselves to be portrayed as victims, so they try to deny the Holocaust, but their contempt and hatred of Jews oozes through their rhetoric with little filter. (The video may take a minute to load, but it's worth it.)

There's no great irony in the fact that a week after the neo-Nazi anti-immigration rally at the Arizona state Capitol this Saturday, there will be another anti-immigration rally at the Capitol on November 14, this one put together as a Tea Party Against Amnesty and Illegal Immigration. It's being spearheaded locally by the Mexican-bashing knuckledraggers at United for a Sovereign America, and nationally by ALIPAC (Americans for Legal Immigration PAC), the North Carolina-based nativist forum, led by the one-issue wonder William Gheen. Apparently, the Phoenix event is one of scores promised across the country. 

The irony-deficiency mentioned above exists because when it comes to immigration, there's not much that separates the nativists and the Nazis. Indeed, though I doubt any of the local nativists will attend this Saturday's neo-Nazi "America First" anti-immigration rally there's plenty of overlap between the two groups, whether it be in rhetoric or, occasionally, membership. 

For example, it's well-known that Mesa neo-Nazi J.T. Ready was once embraced by United for a Sovereign America, and he and fiercely anti-Mexican state Senator Russell Pearce were pals previously. 

An NSM video promoting Saturday's rally parallels the nativist stance on immigration

As for the former association, there's still proof of it on U.S.A.'s Web site, a post from 2007, titled, "JT Ready on the Current State of Affairs," with this statement,

from firesneverextinguished

Where's Brad Pitt when you need him?

There's one group talking a big game about confronting the neo-Nazi scum at the state Capitol this Saturday: the anarchists, the traditional foes of goosesteppers going all the way back to the Spanish Civil War, and then some. They're often badmouthed in many activist circles here in town for being unruly and pigheaded, but I will give them points for at least demonstrating against Holocaust-denier David Irving when he spoke at a Phoenix diner back in July. The anarchists were the only ones there. And for ruining Irving's day at least, I'd label the demonstration a success.

They don't command large numbers, and I suspect that organizing them is a little like herding felines. But they are generally intelligent, and pro-immigrant to the point of being for open-borders. Plus they have no moral quandaries with confronting blackshirts in the streets.

Their class-based political theories are a bit nutty, though. In a recent post to the Phoenix Class War Council's blog, which describes itself as a "fanatical, revolutionary anarchist group," the writer invites the local libertarian community to join the anarchists on November 7 in protesting the Nazis. Um, sorry, but the Ron Paulites and teabaggers are a little too close to the swastika-lickers for comfort sometimes, "states rights" being the battle cry of neo-Confederates, and all that. Paul himself had no problem accepting a campaign contribution from Ron Black, proprietor of the white supremacist messageboard Stormfront.org. He even appeared in a photo op with Black and Black's son.

Will Phoenix ignore the Nazi goon squad November 7?

Let's not mince labels, here: The neo-Nazi National Socialist Movement members who'll be rallying at the state Capitol this coming Saturday afternoon are lowlife degenerates. And I don't just mean that their anti-Semitism, outright racism and adoration of mass-murderer Adolf Hitler (you know, the guy that's always on the History Channel) is vile and reprehensible. No, I mean they're real bottom-feeders, even for neo-Nazis.

For example, National Socialist Movement "commander" Jeff Schoep was, according to a bio of him in the Southern Poverty Law Center's Intelligence Report magazine, arrested in 1998 "for accompanying the mother of his daughter when she stole $4,000 worth of computer equipment." The same bio states that, "Four children were in the back seat of the car during the burglary." (You stay classy, Jeff.)

In 2005, the NSM, which is now based in Detroit, provoked a riot in Toledo, Ohio when they demonstrated there. The NSM, of course, was proud of precipitating the riot. But hardly the "storm troopers" of yore, the swastika-lickers didn't battle it out in the street with their enemies. Instead, they ran to the arms of the Toledo police, who protected them from an enraged mob.

The following year, the NSM was embroiled in charges of Satan-worshipping. Seems NSM's Tulsa post office box doubled as The Joy of Satan Ministry, of which former NSM chairman Clifford Herrington's wife was (is?) the High Priestess. Oh, and in 2004, NSM had a registered sex offender heading up its Indiana chapter, according to the SPLC.

Locally, friend of the NSM -- and of Arizona state Senator Russell Pearce -- J.T. Ready was court-martialed twice and booted from the U.S. Marines. He's had his run-ins with non-military cops as well. Ready's said to be speaking at the November 7 rally. Semper Fi, dude.

When ex-NSM member Thomas Coletto renounced the neo-Nazis publicly, he alleged that his former comrade NSM-PHX/AZ unit leader Scott Hume (alias, "Shawn Hughes") attempted to "push Satanism" on him and asked Coletto to "accept a Nazi demon," during some late-night chat sessions.

All of which raises the legitimate question: Why should anyone with half a brain bother to counter-protest such a putrid rogues' gallery? (All apologies to the Satanists out there. I'm sure most of you are lovely people.)

"I wouldn't expect that they'd get more than 30 people there," the SPLC's Mark Potok predicted recently of the upcoming supremacist shindig. "There aren't more than 250 NSM members nationally, and they've got about 80 chapters, which shows you how small some of their chapters are."

CNN screenshot

Blue Lou: Many believe Dobbs' house got hit by a hunter's errant bullet

AlterNet scribe Isabel Macdonald's scored again. You'll recall her as the Brooklyn-based journalist who along with cameraman Mark Read captured Arpaio losing it a few months back. This, during an interview with our corrupt top cop in his offices. I posted some of Macdonald's hilarious footage to my blog of Arpaio walking out of his office with his mic still on, crying for his top PR flack Lisa Allen, and referring to the two reporters as a couple of "hippies." Heh. Archie Bunker with a badge in action.

When Macdonald heard nativist alter kocker Lou Dobbs' recent radio tale of a gun fired at his home with his wife nearby -- a shot he alleged was part of a "climate" created by critics of his extremist views -- she called the New Jersey State Police, the law enforcement agency investigating the errant bullet out on Dobbs' farm. A spokesman laughed at Dobbs' characterization of the incident, according to a piece Macdonald posted to AlterNet yesterday.

"Sergeant 1st class Stephen Jones," writes Macdonald, "a NJ police spokesperson I interviewed by telephone yesterday, chuckled out loud after he heard about Dobbs' account of the gunfire incident. Jones commented that he `wouldn't classify it [the gunfire incident] as very unusual.' He also confirmed that there are hunters in the area, and stated that, `at this time of year hunter [shooting] complaints go up.'

"He observed that in the ongoing police investigation sparked by Dobbs' complaint, `nothing has been determined [regarding] what the intended target for this bullet was.'Nor did Jones confirm whether the shots near Dobbs' house appeared to be an accident or intentional.

"Another New Jersey police spokesperson, Julian Castellanos, noted that `it's a wide open area and there are hunters in the area.' Castellanos explained that the bullet had hit the house in vicinity of the attic; it `it the vinyl siding and fell to the ground' without penetrating the vinyl, he said."

Like we needed more evidence of the insidious culture of corruption that pervades the entire Maricopa County Sheriff' Office: Check out this video from Channel 12 News, as reported on by Joe Dana. According to Dana, the video is of a court hearing last week for jail inmate Antonio Lozano, who was before a judge on charges of fighting with another inmate.

During the hearing, deputies casually walk over to defense attorney Joanne Cuccia's table as she's addressing the judge, and pick up some of her paperwork. One fat MCSO guard waltzes out of the room with the docs, and reportedly makes copies, bringing them back as if it was just another day at work. Cuccia flips out, as well she should under the circumstances. And the judge halts the hearing until the matter can be sorted out at a later date.

Dana talked to veteran defense attorney Mike Black who said he's never seen anything like it. Black surmised that the deputies were under orders to do as they did. He also suggested that several laws might have been broken, from petty theft to felony tampering with evidence.

Amazingly (or not, depending on how you look at it), MCSO flacks backed up these two goons, further bolstering the contention by Black that the deputies had been told to grab the papers and make copies. They said that case law allows them to inspect anything passed between counsel and client for contraband, like drugs. What drugs they would be able to obtain by photocopying sheets of paper? Unless, they were rolling papers.

from CBS 5 KPHO

Former federal prosecutor David Iglesias said he would seek an indictment against Sheriff Arpaio

CBS 5's nearly 10-minute segment on Sheriff Joe Arpaio's abuse of power last night did not disappoint. Essentially, reporter Morgan Loew and producer Gilbert Zermeno laid out all of the major cases of retaliation by the MCSO against the sheriff's political opponents: Maricopa County Supervisor Don Stapley, Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon, ex-New Times staffer John Dougherty, Village Voice Media Executive Editor Michael Lacey, VVM CEO Jim Larkin, and so on.

CBS 5's damning report from last night's broadcast

Then they put it before a no-nonsense ex-prosecutor: former U.S. Attorney for New Mexico David Iglesias. He's a Republican, was part of the team from the Navy's Judge Advocate General Corps that inspired the Tom Cruise film A Few Good Men, and has more integrity than Arpaio has enemies. Iglesias was one of several U.S. Attorneys purged by the Bush Administration because they would not pursue politically motivated prosecutions. He has never met Arpaio, and has no ax to grind with him.

So what did Iglesias say he would do based on the evidence and his own research? Basically, he'd make Arpaio do the perp walk.

"I would go to a grand jury," said Iglesias. "I would work very closely with the civil rights criminal division in Washington, DC. And, based on the information that I have, I would seek an indictment."

Iglesias was aghast at what he saw in CBS 5's file on Arpaio detailing the sheriff's history of political payback.

"I thought, `This is remarkable, I can't believe this happening in the United States,'" stated Iglesias, who with his buzz cut looks like he stepped out of an old episode of Dragnet. "This is something that I have seen in South America, Africa, Eastern Europe, and Asia. Absolutely unacceptable. We don't do this kind of thing in this country without some kind of consequence."

Is Sheriff Joe "America's Toughest Sheriff," or "America's Biggest Wimp"? That's what I can't help wondering as I read this latest press release from his PR staff. It lamely attempts to link the folks who protest Joe almost daily outside downtown Phoenix's Wells Fargo Building -- where Arpaio keeps two floors of ultra-expensive executive offices -- to Lou Dobbs' recent report that a gun was fired outside his house three weeks ago.

"The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office security detail is re-examining the level and methods of security it provides to Sheriff Joe Arpaio," reads the statement, "in light of news coming out of New York City today that CNN TV host Lou Dobbs may have been the target of pro-illegal immigration activists when his New Jersey home was shot at three weeks ago."

Dobbs related the tale of the gunshot on his radio show and suggested that it had to do with the "atmosphere" created by critics of his extremist, nativist views. Was this unknown shooter was motivated by hatred of his persistent brown-bashing? The New Jersey State Police are investigating. As there's a campaign by Latino activists to remove Dobbs from CNN, this incident comes at a good time for Dobbs to paint himself in a sympathetic light for his bigoted fans.

What does a random gunshot in New Jersey have to do with Sheriff Joe? Nada. Zip. Zilch. But, all the same, Joe wants to piggybank on it, and have us buy the hooey that his security team is really worried about this, that somehow he might be "targeted" by Latinos, even though no one yet knows who fired this random shot at Dobbs' residence.

"Sheriff Arpaio and Lou Dobbs were called the `two most unpopular figures with millions of American Latinos,'" states the release, "on national television by Fox talk show host Geraldo Rivera this past Saturday, October 24th."

Actually, that quote is a little off. Rivera actually called Joe, "With the exception of CNN's Lou Dobbs...for millions of American Latinos, the most unpopular person in this country..." But close enough, I reckon. Still, um, so what? I thought Joe was, like, the "Toughest Sheriff in America," or something. Apparently, Sheriff Tough Guy is spooked by a random gunshot that hit no one 3,000 miles away.

Even more absurd is the suggestion that the people who peacefully protest outside Wells Fargo -- members of civil rights activist Salvador Reza's Puente Movement -- will somehow inspire an act of violence against our scaredy-cat sheriff.

Sheriff Joe, still not as big of a political dog as he thinks

Everyone's seen the recent Cronkite/Eight numbers showing that Sheriff Joe Arpaio remains popular in Maricopa County, with a 61 percent approval rating overall, and a 65 percent positive rating of those with an opinion. The same poll showed Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard with a 55 percent approval rating statewide. Of those with an opinion, 76 percent gave Goddard a thumbs up.

Arpaio's high numbers, while impressive, are countywide; Goddard's numbers, statewide. However, ABC15 equates the two in a recent report, making it seem as if Arpaio's numbers are actually from across Arizona, thereby tapping him as a viable candidate for governor against the Attorney General, whom most expect will be he Democratic nominee.

"A poll came out this week that measured several state official's approval ratings," writes ABC15 correspondent Dave Biscobing. "Arpaio easily beat several other possible Republican candidates, and the only person who fared better was Democrat Terry Goddard at more than 70 percent approval. At this point, other recent polls show Goddard wins big against any Republican. But the Attorney General's name hasn't been tested against Arpaio."

(The last two sentences concerning Goddard refer to a survey by Public Policy Polling, showing Goddard topping the Republican field of likely gubernatorial candidates.)

Arpaio, obviously, is not a state official. And Cronkite/Eight's press release concerning these latest results make it clear that only "Maricopa County voters" were asked to rate Arpaio's performance. To make this even clearer, the questions dealing with Arpaio are marked in bold and all-caps on the release, "IF MARICOPA COUNTY."

from Simcox for Senate

Despite his good looks, the "Little Prince" has not always had luck with women...

In doing research on Chris Simcox -- the minuteman posterboy currently waging a quixotic campaign for the 2010 GOP U.S. Senate primary nod against the ancient, lizard-skinned Senator John McCain -- I came across an odd exchange of legal paperwork between Simcox's current wife Alena, and Alena's mother Barbara Lang-Lyras Auffret. Seems in 2007, Auffret filed a claim in Maricopa County Superior Court against her daughter regarding the Alena Maria Lyras Trust, Lyras apparently being Alena's name before she became Mrs. Simcox.

Auffret alleged in her claim that her daughter had "unilaterally removed [her] as co-trustee of the trust and deleted Article Ten which required the approval and consent of both trustees affecting the trust." Auffret also maintained that she had "created the trust naming the defendant only as co-trustee due to defendant's inability to manage the trust alone..."

Additionally, Auffret stated that after her daughter married Simcox, her relationship with her daughter became "strained." Her daughter would not speak to her, and "prohibited [her] from visitation with her grandson." The claim mentions that Simcox was being sued by another plaintiff, who was asking for one million dollars in damages.

That's a reference to Fountain Hills resident James Campbell's lawsuit against Simcox and Minuteman Civil Defense Corps. (Simcox stepped down as head of MCDC to run for Senate earlier this year.) The legal tussle was over $100,000 Campbell donated to MCDC for the building of an "Israeli-style fence" on private property near the border. Campbell contended MCDC didn't build the sort of fence they promised, and so sued them for around $1.2 million. The suit is no longer active. Last year, Campbell told The Sierra Vista Herald that he "allowed the civil case to be dismissed because he did not want to continue to fund the litigation." 

In Auffret's application for a temporary restraining order against her daughter, things turned nastier. She alleged the following of Simcox, and made references to a troubled past on the part of her daughter.  

"In July 2005," reads the motion, "after only a few weeks of meeting Christopher Simcox, the leader of the infamous self-appointed private border patrol, The Minuteman Project, defendant married Simcox. Plaintiff seeks to protect the assets and the property in the trust from a defendant who is ill-equipped to handle the trust and unduly influenced by the head of the dubious Minuteman Project, an organization seeking donations of funds for various purposes."

Auffret once again mentioned Campbell's lawsuit, which she described as being for "fraudulent misrepresentation, breach of contract, fraudulent inducement and concealment, in connection with questionable monetary activities with the Minuteman Project." She stated that she was "concerned that the defendant will use the Trust's assets and the property to defend Christopher Simcox in the civil suit or otherwise for the benefit of the Minuteman Project."