Report on Gilchrist/Minuteman day labor protest in Lake Forest dec. 17, '05

I'll report on the general information and what I saw and experienced there. I just got home from this. This was at Lake Forest, California where El Toro rd. and Jeronimo rd. meet. Actually on a side road behind the pizza shop.

It was this morning 8am to about 12:30pm I figure.

At 8am, there was a number of Gilchrist campaign members and Minuteman members with protest signs and cameras. They were quiet most of the time. A few ABC news men were there. Hardly any exchanges between me and the participants, that much is obvious.

Later Jim Gilchrist arrived but instead of just stopping by to say hi, he actually got out of his car and joined the rally with Lupe Moreno and others. At this point it gets awkward for me because I didn't plan on being in the same area as Gilchrist at the same time. And I left for a while, then came back. Later on, I stood fairly near him, just hoping Steve Eichler isn't gonna come up with some way to portray me as a stalker to get a restraining order on me. I wasn't there to harrass, I had no idea friggin' Jim Gilchrist was gonna be there to stay the whole time.

And you know me and my cameras, that sense of responsibility, I had to stay. Some of the participants I spoke to, although I really wanted to remain silent. Some were afraid of any pictures I may post here. Well, I'm not on a witch hunt here and I'm coming up with ethics for this. If I post any pictures of them, I'll black out the faces. Jim's name and likeness is already public so I can make an exception for him. Same with Lupe, no harm done there.

At one point I spoke with a guy named Ken, 58, who said that on a previous Sunday, he said to Gilchrist that they were spreading or showing hate(he's gonna email me what he encountered, stay tuned). He said that Gilchrist called him an Anarchist! Wow! Now where have I come across that before?

He said he asked Gilchrist about being a vigilante, and said Gilchrist actually acknowledged it, but I'm not sure how serious Gilchrist was.

One participant said that he was told I was "stalking." Ha yeah right. I pose no harm to anyone. I was there out in the open just like Ken was.

They spoke with some drivers of vehicles. I didn't see any attempted day laborer pick ups. The ABC news crew got their camera in on one conversation between participants and the driver. Gilchrist also spoke on camera.

The Micah's Way men were there again feeding food for free to the day labor workers. They didn't get any verbal hassle from the Gilchrist campaign/Minuteman people like they did before. I had a nice chat with one of them and we spoke about the symptoms of hate groups, which I've seen variants of in the last two CCIR meetings.(if anyone from Gilchrist/CCIR is wondering, NO I won't be at the CCIR meeting this December 28th)

I got some good video footage of a Minuteman/SOS member arguing with a lady in a car as it pulled out of the parking lot. He heckled to some men who were apparently day labor workers in front of the liquor store saying "deportation!" and something about Mexico and "la migra." Some jerk behavior in my opinion. I won't post who he is, I have limits, but I may view the footage to type a transcript of both parties of the argument.
I have the footage. Don't worry, I'll be responsible, this isn't a witch hunt :-)

There's one guy who didn't want me to take pictures of him, using his hand to block it. If he's reading this, I'll have him know that I'm not posting your picture. No need to. I was getting some audio from what he was saying, but it was between him and Ken. Not necessary. I was gonna walk up to him one more time and show him that I'll delete the pics and footage of him since I didn't need it. Nothing personal, okay?

One said I was attacking Mary Parker Lewis. Nope, going public. After she blasted me on the phone.

I spoke with a Minuteman I've never met before and talked about what exactly I'm doing.



And to clarify, I'm not on a clear side on the issues of the border or people here against U.S. immigration laws. I have two points and a side point to make.

1. One is going public on what I've seen. Not jumping to conclusions, just stating what I've seen and the disrespectful and even downright bizarre behavior(from Mary) I got from the Gilchrist campaign managers. I can't get a straight answer one on one from anyone in the campaign. There are people in the public who want to know if the Minuteman Project is about racism. I'm not saying that it's flat out about racism. There are no grounds to hit me on defamation, no matter how out of proportion this is blow when gossip is going person to person among them. But they need to address this in the public. Come clean on if they really are connected in some way to white supremacy or any form of racism and hate. Not dodge around it.

2. The hateful and paranoid behavior and nature of SOS/Gilchrist supporters/CCIR/Minuteman members. It's still there. I got footage of the behavior just this morning. They criticize their opposition and call them "goons"? Okay, they have a point. But I see the same behavior from some of them. Not all, but some.

Side note: I want to reach out to people new to the Minuteman/CCIR thing and ask them to keep an observant eye and ear out for any symptoms or variations of symptoms of hate groups. I made a quick flyer last night using the points of hate groups from a 2003 FBI research.


Later in the day, a Hispanic(not sure what the current term that's prefered is right now) woman born in the US brought a protest sign that said "racism" on it. I confirmed with her that she's not a member of Aztlan or whatever. Just an American citizen. Not affiliated with any group. So I was totally okay with speaking with her, me not being on a clear side in this issue. She said she'd like to join a group that opposes the Minuteman and Gilchrist supporters, but I advised her to be careful with doing that. Speaking out as a human being and an American is good enough really. No one to answer to, no group to conform to. Hey, just ask me!

The Minuteman pariticpants and Gilchrist supporters may see me talking to this person and that person and this person again, then that person over there, thinking I've joined their direct opposition. There's already talk going around them that I'm a "stalker" and stuff like that. A Minuteman said I brought "racism" into it, as in bring that word into it or threw it in there. Nah-ah. I'm just stating what I've seen. Some will draw conclusions right away, others will be thorough. And if there is a reaction aspect to this, yeah I'm reacting to Gilchrist's managers wanting me to shut up. That's part of it. Deal with it.

The same Minuteman claimed that I probably costed Gilchrist a lot of Jewish votes because of what I did(going public). 4,000 votes I think he said. Ha yeah right! Do that many Jewish voters in Orange County really read Indymedia L.A. often? I haven't gone public anywhere else.

I spoke with the ABC news people, they kinda blew me off. I spoke with an OC Weekly guy and told him some information, but he went off to get batteries for his tape recorder. I didn't see him again after that.

One a previous day I was there, one of the day labor workers tried to take my picture. So I took my camoflauge bandana and covered my nose and mouth with it, wearing my hat and shades. Since then they've been calling me "Zorro." When talking to the women with the protest sign, the only one with a sign protesting Gilchrist and his supporters, we ended up talking to some of the workers as well. Some knew some English, some didn't seem to. No problems there, they seem to know that I've broken out of the herd mentality and conditioned paranoia that is fed in CCIR meetings and other interaction with the Gilchrist supporters. Things are getting friendlier there between me and the workers there. Like I said, I haven't taken a side in this issue, but I'm not gonna have a bad attitude towards them. Yeah I know they're loitering in front of the stores and in the parking lot. But I'll address this to the city officials.

I know the city of Lake Forest can't be the Border Patrol. So if they can at least somehow move the whole day labor situation to a different location where it doesn't affect any businesses, homes, schools, or parks, that could work for now. Then the Minuteman people can go there and take photos and whatever. Just moving a situation that is still gonna be around for a while somewhere else so the pizza shop owner can continue business.

I also spoke with a couple people who were at one of the Laguna Beach SOS rallies, two who opposed SOS. I won't post their names or affiliation as a matter of privacy. But it was nice having a chat with them and being open to all their questions like how it all started for me. And the behavior that I see in the SOS/MMP/Gilchrist people, whether by intention or at least by effect. The hostility, fear, paranoia, and hate that is apparent. The same set of words that are always repeated by the participants. The behavioral nature of all this.

Yes, some of their opposition are like that too, I understand. Believe me, I'm not about to start shoving matches or whatever. And I don't plan on standing that close to Jim Gilchrist ever again.

If I have anything more to post, I'll reply. But I'm being thorough in how to go about this. I have my limits.

It should be noted that the day labor pick up spots aren't established like the one in Laguna Beach. They are possibly interfering with the established businesses there and I understand that concern.

If any Gilchrist supporters are wondering, I won't be at the next CCIR meeting. Okay? What a day today. But still, I'm kinda burned out on this, it's not so interesting. Am I losing interest? I don't need any more footage, whatever. I may do a couple interviews, add my info to a collective research(sort of like SPLC), that kind of thing. You know when Warren Betty and some other person went around in their own bus following Arnold's official bus tour? For those measures that were voted on in November? I'm not planning on doing a 'Warren' here. There are people who dislike me and yeah it is awkward. Tough. But I have to do it.

Also, in being thorough, I'm not jumping to great conclusions. And no one has a case on me to accuse me of defamation or anything like that. I'm really the least of their concerns. There may be a collective dislike for me, oh well.