Jim Gilchrist

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Jim Gilchrist
Born	January 13, 1949 (1949-01-13) (age 60)[1] North Providence, Rhode Island, USA[2]
Occupation	Activist, Author
Political party	Republican

James "Jim" Walter Gilchrist, Jr. (born January 13, 1949) is the American co-founder, along with Chris Simcox, of the Minuteman Project, a group whose aim is to prevent illegal immigration across the United States's southern border.

Contents 1 Early life 2 Co-founder of the Minuteman Movement 3 Campaign 4 MMP internal strife 5 2005 election bid 6 Political views 7 Criticism 8 Books 9 See also 10 References 11 External links

[edit] Early life

Gilchrist holds a B.A. in newspaper journalism from the University of Rhode Island, a B.S. in business administration from California State Polytechnic University, and an MBA in taxation from Golden Gate University. He is a former newspaper reporter and a retired California CPA (Certified Public Accountant).

Gilchrist is a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps and recipient of the Purple Heart award for wounds sustained while serving with an infantry unit in Vietnam, 1967 - 1969.

He currently resides in Aliso Viejo, California.

[edit] Co-founder of the Minuteman Movement

Jim Gilchrist and Chris Simcox are widely recognized as the founders of the Minuteman Project. The two staged a month long border watch project and that event catapulted the Minuteman movement into the national spotlight.^[3]

[edit] Campaign

Gilchrist made an impressive showing in the December 6, 2005 Special election, running as an independent Gilchrist received greater than 25% of the vote.^[4] The congressional campaign afforded Gilchrist the opportunity to move immigration law enforcement to the forefront of the national debate.

[edit] MMP internal strife

After a small number (minority) of the members of the purported board of director's for Minuteman Project, Inc. took control of the organizations bank account and, at least temporarily, took control of the Minuteman Project's main web site^[5], Minuteman Project founder Jim Gilchrist filed a lawsuit in Orange County, California, against three of members of the group's board of directors: Marvin Stewart, Deborah Courtney and, Barbara Coe. Stewart, Courtney and Coe allege that they constituted the Board of Directors of Minuteman Project, Inc. and fired Gilchrist for a variety of reasons, including fraud, failure to secure nonprofit status, mismanagement and falsifying documents.^[6] Gilchrist and his opponents both claimed victory.^[6]

Gilchrist maintains that he is the sole-director with decision-making power, that the three were members of an advisory board that has no legitimate authority, and that, even if it was a board of directors, the three represent a minority of the seven-member board.^[7] An unidentified official from the Secretary of State's Office in Delaware told a reporter that, according to the documents originally filed with the State of Delaware, only Gilchrist could legally make changes.^[6] Stewart and Courtney filed papers with the Secretary of State of Delaware claiming that they now constituted the Board of Directors and that they had elected themselves the Officers of the Corporation.^[6] Barbara Coe immediately resigned her position with Minuteman Project, Inc.^[8]

A partial injunction was issued by California Superior Court Judge Randell Wilkinson preventing the three board members from using Minuteman Project stationary preprinted with Jim Gilchrist's signature on it and spending any of the organizations funds. The judge said that there were "serious issues concerning the credibility of the claims of both Jim Gilchrist and the defendants."^[9]

Jim Gilchrist was ordered to post a $15,000 bond to continue his efforts to regain control, prior to a final ruling being made.^[10] Gilchrist withdrew his lawsuit and the bond was returned to Gilchrist. In subsequent litigation, both parties have claimed to be in control of the organization. Gilchrist was ordered to pay former board member Coe's attorney fees of over $9,000.^[11] In December 2009, Judge Randell Wilkinson dismissed some of the charges agasint Gilchrist in the lawsuit. The trial of the remaining charges is scheduled to begin January 4, 2009.^[12] Courtney made public a charge that Gilchrist had used the names of two imprisoned U.S. Border Patrol agents to raise funds which were used to pay lawyers in the lawsuit.^[12]

[edit] 2005 election bid

Gilchrist unsuccessfully ran as an American Independent Party candidate for the United States House of Representatives representing California's 48th Congressional District to replace Republican Chris Cox, who resigned to become Chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

In the low-turnout open primary for Cox's seat held on October 4, 2005, Gilchrist finished behind two Republicans but ahead of all other candidates, including Democrats. He received 14.8% of the vote (a total of 13,423 votes). He was the only one running under his party, and therefore automatically advanced into the run-off.

Gilchrist lost to Republican state Senator John Campbell in the December 6 general election, receiving 25.5% (26,507) of the vote. Campbell received 44.4% (46,184), Steve Young (Democrat) 27.8% (28,853), Bea Tiritilli (Green) 1.4% (1,430), Bruce Cohen (Libertarian) 0.9% (974).

Gilchrist has provided conservative opinions on various issues but emphasized that immigration and the border is the primary issue from which the others flow.

He has stated that he would consider a presidential run in 2008 with the Constitution Party, should the two major parties offer candidates with no proactive history on the issue of illegal immigration.^[13] He stated "If John McCain enters the race for president I will definitely run. John McCain should have forfeited his right to run for president on the Republican Party the moment he put his name on immigration legislation with Sen. Ted Kennedy." However, McCain did enter the race, but Gilchrist later withdrew his intention to run, citing concerns about viability in third parties.

[edit] Political views

Gilchrist holds conservative views on education, health care, and taxes. Gilchrist was registered with the American Independent Party, the California affiliate of the Constitution Party, but has since re-registered as a Republican,^[14] and is an adamant supporter of immigration enforcement, law enforcement and the military. He has announced his endorsement of Mike Huckabee for President in December 2007.^[15] The endorsement of Huckabee by Gilchrist met with strong criticism from other minutemen and anti-illegal immigration activists.^[16][17] It should also be noted that this was a personal, individual endorsement by Gilchrist, not an endorsement by any minuteman organization.^[16]

[edit] Criticism

According to a report from the Southern Poverty Law Center, Gilchrist willingly allowed members of the National Alliance, one of the United States' largest neo-Nazi organizations, to help with his 2005 House run. Gilchrist has claimed that he refuses to work with white supremacists, but the SPLC report questioned his sincerity. The report interviewed a former volunteer in Gilchrist's campaign who said that "they were basically allowing Nazi skinheads and white nationalists to work the phone banks and do IT and distribute National Alliance fliers targeting non-whites," and that "[when I told them] that didn't want to work for a campaign that was tainted by white supremacy in any way, they told me not to cause a stir."^[18] Gilchrist has denied allowing racist individuals in the project.^[19]

In October 2006, Gilchrist appeared on Democracy Now and abruptly ended the interview after Karina Garcia started accusing him of being a murderer and said that he has ties to the National Alliance.^[20]

In a March 2006, interview with the Orange County Register, Gilchrist stopped just short of calling for his followers to pick up their guns: "I'm not going to promote insurrection, but if it happens, it will be on the conscience of the members of Congress who are doing this," he said. "I will not promote violence in resolving this, but I will not stop others who might pursue that."^[21]

[edit] Books

• Minutemen: The Battle to Secure America's Borders, by Jim Gilchrist, Jerome R. Corsi, and Tom Tancredo. Los Angeles: World Ahead Publishing (2006). ISBN 0-9778984-1-5.

[edit] See also

• California 48th Congressional District Election, 2005
• Minuteman Civil Defense Corps
• The Minuteman Project Inc.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Official Website of Jim Gilchrist
• Orange County Organizer: Interview with Jim Gilchrist
• Orange County Organizer: Audio of Gilchrist interviews and speeches