The neo-Nazis are claiming to have "rescued" four more suspected illegal aliens in the desert. This comes via a Sunday, July 18 post to National Socialist Harry Hughes' blog "Just Another Day..." Hughes has posted more photos of migrants as well as photos of Border Patrol agents taking them into custody.
The U.S. Border Patrol has yet to confirm the report on Hughes' blog to me.
The Pinal County Sheriff's Office did tell me that they have no record of a call coming in for that day. But then, they wouldn't have a record of it if it went directly to Border Patrol.
News that neo-Nazis such as Hughes and Mesa goosestepper J.T. Ready have been turning migrants over to the Border Patrol has been picked up by the Associated Press and other outlets. (Eleven migrants were handed over last week by the AR-15 toters.)
The AP story refers to Ready as a "reputed neo-Nazi" and an "ex-Marine." It fails to mention that Ready was twice court-martialed and given a bad conduct discharge from the Marines.
Nevertheless, since Ready and his group, which he now calls U.S. Border Guard, began their patrols in the Vekol Valley in June, it's meant a boon in public relations for the National Socialists, one in which Hughes and others get to depict themselves as humanitarians.
I asked Bill Straus, regional director of the Arizona office of the Anti-Defamation League, what he thought about the "humanitarian" label the neo-Nazis are applying to themselves.
"Yeah, I don't think anyone buys that," he replied.
"The ADL's concerned," he continued, "when any group that's not trained sufficiently or untrained takes it upon themselves to enforce the law. When it's J.T. Ready, National Socialists, neo-Nazis that take that responsibility on, the concern turns to fear. The fear of violence, let alone injustice, ramps up to a considerable degree."
Straus concluded, "I'm wondering where the outrage is."
To judge from the comments on my last blog item concerning this subject, I would say there is some outrage out there building. Certainly the neo-Nazis are milking their adventures for all they can get out of them. But no one should have any illusions about their racist beliefs.
Ready has referred to Adolf Hitler as a "great white civil rights leader," for instance. And Hughes let slip a little bit of his real feelings in his most recent post:
"Illegal immigration is not about illegal aliens going from AZ to PA to NY to VT. They come here, settle in a state and bleed it dry," he writes.
Granted, that's not much worse than you'll find on many nativist Web sites. But it does come from a self-described National Socialist, one unashamed of marching along with swastikas every chance that comes along.
