Scottsdale resident Dennis Gilman is used to being threatened by nativists. They've called his house. Posted his address on the Internet. And whenever he shows up at, say, the Macehualli Day Labor Center in north Phoenix, where vicious nativist groups such as United for a Sovereign America keep vigil with their guns, he attracts them like a magnet, and the verbal abuse often seems close to spilling over into violence.
Being that he's as Irish as a pint of Guinness, Gilman doesn't like to back down. Also, as he'll tell you if you ask, you'd get better footage when you're up in their faces. See, Gilman is the Michael Moore of the local pro-immigration movement. His weapon is a video camera, and he uses it to expose the hate and prejudice in Arizona that seem as plentiful as scorpions. The footage he edits ends up on his YouTube channel HumanLeague002. Because of his efforts, thousands have seen the raw ugliness of the immigration debate at ground zero. Activists from around the world now seek out his mini-documentaries. And he often scores footage that the local and national news media pick up after the fact. He's what more journalists used to be: scrappy, defiant, and beholden to no one.