Minuteman leader arrested in Arizona child murder

CounterVortex

Last weekend, Shawna Forde, 41, leader of the Minuteman American Defense (MAD) group, and two of her associates were arrested in connection with the murder of a 9-year-old girl, Brisenia Flores, and her father, Raul, in Arivaca, Arizona. Local police are reporting that Forde and her posse broke into the Flores home dressed as law enforcement officers looking for money and drugs to finance her border-watch group—with the intention of leaving no witnesses behind.

Much like Jim Gilchrist’s Minuteman Project and Chris Simcox’s Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, Forde’s group is a nativist organization made up of volunteer border vigilantes. MAD has gone into damage control, posting a statement expressing condolences for the Flores family and distancing itself from the violent crime. Yet directly below its offering of “deepest regrets,” the website boasted a “Message from Shawna Forde, Executive Director” (since apparently taken down):

I would like to let everyone know that we are in full operation we have people coming from Florida and other parts of the country to assist in gathering exclusive footage of drug cartel drug smuggling and humane trafficking [sic]… We will expose and report what we know and find, we will recruit the serious and train the revolutionist, time for words have passed the time for bravery and conviction are now. I shall lead you to challenge yourself and your American heart into the future of what was once a great country and will be again but at what price?

On three different occasions in the past, Forde claimed to have been shot, raped, and beaten by Spanish-speaking assailants. Most inside her own anti-immigrant community questioned her credibility and accused her of faking the attack.

Forde denies involvement in the Flores killings. She and her cohorts face two counts each of first-degree murder and other charges. (AlterNet, June 17; Huffington Post, June 13)

See our last post on the politics of immigration.

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  1. Sounds like hearsay to me
    Not enough information to make a decision one way or the other, and if shawna did do this it is a travesty to all the true patriots, aka MINUTEMEN fighting to regain patriotism in this country, anyone who would fight them on illegal immigration is a traitor to The USA and a willful particapant in terrorism in the USA.
    And i love the quote on this page it is the resounding voice of patriotism, NOWHERE in the constitution does it allow civillians the right to stand idley by and let these constant acts of war on its country stand.

    1. Sounds like the usual incoherent right-wing trolling to me
      “Hearsay”? Shawna was arrested. Why don’t you go tell the Arivaca cops they acted on “hearsay”?

      I am most curious which passages of the constitution and which “acts of war” you are referring to. I’ll be waiting.

      1. Derka Der
        Your absolutely correct, They arrested him so he must be guilty, You should read what it is that i wrote, I said based on the information provided it sounded like hearsay to me, I didnt say there wasnt any proof.
        And as far as “acts of war” Last time i checked invading a country is an act of war, And as far as right wing goes i dont choose any label except AMERICAN, and not the fancy prime time politically correct version of patriotism, I bleed red white and blue, And as far as you arguing with me on the validity of illegal immigration it is borderline retarded.
        The whole reason we have borders is to seperate our way of life from that of mexico, canada, If you want to be a citizen of this country there are legal ways of doing so, but these people do not want to be american they want to be mexican american or canadian american, if your country is so great stay there and get the fuck out of our country, if you want to legally become a citizen i praise this.
        So as far as i am concerned i cant wait until the next civil war in this country so i can shoot your stupid ass in the face.
        THATS ALL

        1. nutcases can’t drive
          > it sounded like hearsay to me, I didnt say there wasnt any proof.

          So is there proof or not? Also, if you love this country, learn the language. Reading and writing. You can skip arithmetic if it hurts your head.

          > i cant wait until the next civil war in this country so i can shoot your stupid ass in the face.

          But how do you really feel?

          Honestly I’m more worried about your driving than anything else. You’d last about ten seconds in the bigger cities. Good thing you old bitter white guys don’t procreate.

      1. Learn English???????????????
        What the fuck are you talking about, Learn English, can you say retarded.
        Anyway so tell me MR English PRO what are the more pressing issues in this country, Let me guess your version of importance, first probably Health care right, because we all know Americans need to have more money taken involuntarily from us, its bad enough we have to pay for every free loaders mortgage and insurance why not have to pay twice hey fuck it lets pay three times, and then second you probably are more concerned with gas prices, we all know that our govt should step in and set the prices on a private commodity, why not??
        They can just tax ciggerettes again to offset the gas prices and pay for poor children with cancer right!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
        But i have a better idea lets make it mandatory to have an IQ test in order to have a child, sorry your IQ is below 120 your not allowed to breed, yes i think this would work or better yet lets just hand over the reins of our freedoms to the US govt, Can anyone say WW3 maybe this time the socialist/fascists will win cleansing the world, This is about as ignorant and short sighted as your comment, and for future reference if you are going to leave a backhanded comment, you should give examples for discussion, and not get personal fuck face i hope you get ghonnorhea of the throat fuck ass

        1. high school English
          Actually my personal opinion is the most pressing issue is winding down Iraq and Afghanistan. I think gas prices are way too low. I also think you’ll find people will take you more seriously if you learn punctuation and spelling. As for IQ tests to have children … ? I’m not for it and I’m sorry if you feel stupid. Crack a book.

          I actually hope you get really bad acne during the school year. High school should only be four years.

  2. this is for the posts below
    What the fuck are you talking about, Learn English, can you say retarded.
    Anyway so tell me MR English PRO what are the more pressing issues in this country, Let me guess your version of importance, first probably Health care right, because we all know Americans need to have more money taken involuntarily from us, its bad enough we have to pay for every free loaders mortgage and insurance why not have to pay twice hey fuck it lets pay three times, and then second you probably are more concerned with gas prices, we all know that our govt should step in and set the prices on a private commodity, why not??
    They can just tax ciggerettes again to offset the gas prices and pay for poor children with cancer right!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
    But i have a better idea lets make it mandatory to have an IQ test in order to have a child, sorry your IQ is below 120 your not allowed to breed, yes i think this would work or better yet lets just hand over the reins of our freedoms to the US govt, Can anyone say WW3 maybe this time the socialist/fascists will win cleansing the world, This is about as ignorant and short sighted as your comment, and for future reference if you are going to leave a backhanded comment, you should give examples for discussion, and not get personal fuck face i hope you get ghonnorhea of the throat fuck ass

  3. Minuteman leader convicted in Arizona child murder
    From the Arizona Daily Star, Feb. 14:

    A Pima County jury convicted Shawna Forde today of two counts of first-degree murder in the May 30, 2009 deaths of Arivaca residents Raul Junior Flores and his 9-year-old daughter, Brisenia.

    The jury also convicted Forde of attempted first-degree murder in the shooting of Flores’ wife, Gina Gonzalez, as well as related aggravated assault and robbery counts.

    Gonzlez started crying as soon as the first guilty verdict, the killing of her daughter, was read just before noon in a packed courtroom at Pima County Superior Court.

    The jury deliberated for seven hours over two days. Jurors will now be asked if the death penalty ought to be considered.

    On the first day of the trial, which has gained national attention, Gonzalez testified her husband woke her to say the police were at the door. The woman at the door identified herself and the man with her as law enforcement officers looking for fugitives, Gonzalez said.

    When her husband questioned the veracity of their story, Gonzalez said the gunman opened fire, shooting her husband and Gonzalez. As Gonzalez played dead on the floor, the gunman fired two bullets into their youngest daughter’s head, despite the little girl’s pleas. Their oldest daughter was spending the night at her grandmother’s house.

    Moments after the couple and two accomplices left, Gonzalez testified the woman returned to find her on the phone with 911 and called out to the gunman to finish her off. Gonzalez said she fled to the kitchen, armed herself and fired back when the gunman tried to kill her again. He then fled.