Ready and other members of his group are armed with shotguns, rifles and other semi-automatic weapons. They have spent the past three weekends canvassing the area known as Vekol Valley in response to a surge of violence.
“I have lived here for 18 years, and the majority of them have been very peaceful,” said Harry Hughes, who lives in the area and has begun patrolling with Ready. However, he said over the past 12 to 18 months the violence in the area has escalated, with multiple home invasions, burglaries, shootings and other violence in his neighborhood.
It is a problem he attributes to the coyotes smuggling humans, drugs and other illegal items through the area. Coyotes are human smugglers paid to bring illegal immigrants into the United States.
“The federal and local government continues to ignore the problem in this area, hoping they will go away, but that is not going to work,” Hughes said. “We have decided to do something about it.”
That something is patrolling the area on the weekends from now until the end of the summer, looking for illegal immigrants participating in criminal activities. Since they started their patrols, Hughes said his group has turned several illegals into the United States Border Patrol and found a body, which is yet to be identified.
“Typically, when we find someone, they are happy to see us; we offer them some water and then turn them over to the authorities,” he said.
involved in the group, but multiple reports have stated more than 10 people were at the first two gatherings.
Ready, who could not be reached for comment, was at one time the leader of the Mesa Chapter of the National Socialist Movement, believed to be the largest neo-Nazi group in the United States. Yet, Hughes said the group has nothing to do with race, and any person is welcome to join them in their patrols.
“We are not part of the National Socialist Movement; we are just a group of concerned citizens,” he said. He added that the National Socialist Movement was not a Neo-Nazi group, but an organization that focused on civil rights for Caucasians. “They get a rep worse than communists.”
The group informed the Pinal County Sheriff’s Department of their plans to patrol the area during the summer, but Tim Gaffney, a spokesman for the sheriff’s office, said the law enforcement agency does not condone the militia effort.
"We currently have operations that are ongoing and advise all citizens not to take law enforcement matters into their own hands," Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu said in an issued statement. "Hate groups and other militia-type groups have also made arrangements to patrol, not at our request. This is not helpful, and, personally and professionally, I do not endorse, nor do I tolerate hate speech, discrimination or bigotry of any kind. These groups should stay out of Pinal County."
By Michael K. Rich at inmaricopa
