Now it has dissolved into a tangle of lawsuits and blame that involves alleged fraud, theft, leadership struggles and even murder.
“As far as the movement, it’s kind of at a stalemate and that’s because of its own undoing,” said Jim Gilchrist, co-founder of the original Minuteman Project, who has been fired and reinstated as head of the group throughout the course of three lawsuits.
Over the years, more than 200 affiliated but independent organizations calling themselves Minutemen arose across the country as part of a loosely organized coalition.
Many of them have disbanded, some no longer run patrols and those that still monitor the border do so with skeletal teams.
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Another is the coalition’s attractiveness to white supremacists, neo-Nazis and other radicals, Gilchrist said.
“Some people will use a movement or any cause as a cover to veil their sinister intentions,” he added.
The Minutemen drew in “disenfranchised, mostly white men with guns and also pulled a fringe element of neo-Nazis, openly racist individuals and attention-seekers to its camp areas in the desert,” said Heidi Beirich, research director at the Southern Poverty Law Center in Alabama
could it be that you lost.... and are now being made to pay for it?
ReplyDeleteSeventh Circuit Court of Appeals Holds NRA Entitled to Attorneys’ Fees in Lawsuits Against Chicago and Oak Park, Illinois
Thursday, June 02, 2011
Fairfax, VA—Today, the U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals conclusively and forcefully held, without need for oral argument, that the National Rifle Association has the right to recover attorneys’ fees in its lawsuits against the city of Chicago's and the village of Oak Park’s unconstitutional gun bans. The court held that the NRA was a prevailing party in the case of National Rifle Association v. City of Chicago and Village of Oak Park.
“This is a Second Amendment victory and a civil rights victory. The National Rifle Association and the Second Amendment prevailed against those who sought to deny the right to keep and bear arms in Chicago and Oak Park,” said Chris W. Cox, executive director of NRA’s Institute for Legislative Action. “The attempt to avoid paying the NRA’s attorneys’ fees was rightly found to be unjust by the Court."
After the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Second Amendment guarantees a fundamental right to keep and bear arms for all Americans in the historic McDonald v. Chicago and NRA v. Chicago and Oak Park cases, it remanded them for the purpose of issuing an injunction against Chicago and Oak Park's unconstitutional gun ordinances. Before that injunction was issued, however, those ordinances were repealed. The City and the Village then argued that the NRA was not a prevailing party and should not be allowed to recover attorneys’ fees. The District Court, which originally ruled against the NRA, agreed and denied the fee award.
Today’s Seventh Circuit decision overturns that ruling, holding instead that the NRA is indeed a prevailing party and is entitled to receive reimbursement for attorneys’ fees. The amount to be recovered will be established by the District Court.
“This is a major victory for the NRA. While we are grateful to recover our attorneys’ fees, however, we remain steadfast in our belief that Chicago and Oak Park continue to circumvent the law of the land and deny their law-abiding residents the Second Amendment freedoms protected by the Constitution. We will continue to fight those efforts until the Second Amendment is fully respected," concluded Cox.
Mikeb302000:
ReplyDeleteMaybe "Minuteman" has something to with their attention span? I always had thought it was about their fantasies about making the act of having sex last that long, my bad.
"Maybe "Minuteman" has something to with their attention span? I always had thought it was about their fantasies about making the act of having sex last that long, my bad. "
ReplyDeleteYes, it is your bad. However, I am held in fascination how your only response to the previous elaborate and thought-provoking post can only be the leftover sexual inuendo of a 6th grader. Impressive.
You represent your liberal ilk well, swine.
As to the previous post, I applaud your decision to report that latest bit of current news. Let it be seen by anyone wishing to learn! NRA member for life.