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Arizona - A History of Hate, A Future of Progress

While the politics of hate have become normalized within Arizona, we can prevent the politics of Arizona from becoming normalized throughout the country. Immigrants and advocates in Arizona have become accustomed to threats and acts of violence. For some, threats have become literally a day-to-day occurrence. Others within Arizona have become desensitized to stories and events that would shock the conscience elsewhere in the country.

We are called to share facts and to act. We can help honor the experiences of all victims of intolerance, violence, bigotry, and hatred by never becoming accustomed to their mistreatment and suffering. Let this be a moment where we expose our individual experiences of hatred, violence, and intimidation, so that we can uncover the seeds of Arizonas before they take root in our own communities.

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Please share stories and evidence from your experience in the form below. We will collect stories from across the country to expose the political violence brewing in the US.

**Please include photos, screen captures, links, videos, etc. Try use first-person narrative and be as descriptive as possible (background information, context are very helpful).

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Timeline of Hate

February, 2011. Tea Party Patriots to Hold National Convention in 'Capital of Prejudice.'

January 10, 2011. Right-Wing Protestors Arrive Armed at State Capitol two days after Shooting.

January 8, 2011. Sheriff Dupnik: "Arizona has become the capital for prejudice."

January 8, 2011. Roberta Dills aka “Laine Lawless” very well known in Tucson as a member of the Minutemen, issued the following on her Facebook page: "AZ Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords (Dem) assassinated in Safeway store parking lot in Tucson by another Democrat! Too bad Traitor Raul Grijalva wasn’t with her! He won’t be missed!"

January 8, 2011. Tucson Tea Party Pledges to not Tone Down Rhetoric after Shooting

January 8, 2011. Representative Gabrielle Giffords, an Arizona Democrat, and at least 17 others were shot Saturday morning when a gunman opened fire outside a supermarket where Ms. Giffords was meeting with constituents.

January 6, 2011. FBI informants identify Leland “Cockroach Hunter” Sprout as probable 4th suspect in Arivaca murders

January 3, 2011. Videographer Releases Footage Tying 1070 Sponsor Russell Pearce to Neo-Nazi, JT Ready

November 3, 2010. James Patock, 66, of Pima County, Arizona, is arrested on the National Mall in the District of Columbia after law enforcement authorities find a .223 caliber rifle, a .243 caliber rifle barrel, a .22 caliber rifle, a .357 caliber pistol, several boxes of ammunition, and propane tanks wired to four car batteries in his truck and trailer.

October 24, 2010. AZ Rep. Raul Grijalva Speaks on Mail Attack

October 22, 2010. Swastikas and Toxic White Powder: Mail Attack on Rep. Grijalva

September 2, 2010. Gov. Jan Brewer Refuses to Recant "Desert Beheading" Lies "They are lies that convince people that Arizona is a dangerous place." - Terry Goddard

August, 30, 2010. AZ Governor Jan Brewer Brewer, Signer of SB 1070, Linked To Private Prisons Housing Jailed Immigrants (Corrections Corporation of America) Gov. Jan Brewer’s campaign chairman and policy adviser is also a lobbyist for the largest private prison company in the country. According to campaign finance records, CCA executives and employees contributed more than $1,000 to the governor’s re-election campaign. The company’s political action committee and its lobbyists contributed another $60,000 to Brewer’s top legislative priority, Proposition 100, a sales tax to help avoid budget cuts to education. Caroline Isaacs from the American Friends Service Committee, which advocates for social justice issues, said the money is evidence of influence the company has on the governor.

August 14, 2010. Former Arizona Sheriff Richard Mack tells those in attendance at the American Policy Center's 2010 Freedom Action Natonal Conference, "My dear friends, I pray for the day that the first sheriff in this country is the one to fire the shot heard 'round the world and take out some IRS agents!"

August 14, 2010. Tea Party holds Rally on Glenn Spencer's Ranch

July 30, 2010. Arizona Judge Bolton Receives Death Threats for her Partial Injunction of SB 1070

July 30, 2010. Human Rights Organizer Sal Reza Wrongfully Arrested by Sheriffs

[Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVK7lINvlk0]

July 29, 2010. AZ Gun limits lifted: On the same day that portions of Arizona's controversial immigration bill SB1070 took effect, July 29, 2010, the Grand Canyon state implemented its new Constitutional Carry law. Under this groundbreaking new act (SB1108), any law-abiding adult in the state -- not just residents -- can carry a firearm discreetly without a government permit or red tape.

July 29. 2010. Grijalva’s Yuma Office Shot at on First Day of SB 1070

July 19, 2010. Arpaio Plans to Jail Arizona Immigrants in 'Tent City' - "I put them up next to the dump, the dog pound, the waste-disposal plant," Arpaio once saidof his tactics, which have also included chain gangs (for men and women), public parades in pink underwear (for men only), and massive illegal-immigration sweeps.

July 18, 2010. Arizona Immigration Battle Turns Bitter

July 17, 2010. Militia With Neo-Nazi Ties Patrols Arizona Desert

July 16, 2010. Joe Arpaio Launches 16th Immigration Sweep in Desert

July 13, 2010. Yaqui traditional healers verbally abused, racially profile, in southern Arizona

July 6, 2010. Neo-Nazi JT Ready Speaks at AZ Tea Party Event

July 2, 2010. AZ Gov. Brewer Falsely Claims Beheadings in Desert

July 1, 2010. Arizona hotels to help finance state PR campaign; goal to bill state as 'safe' destination

June 30, 2010. Arizona immigration law backer politician Barry Wong wants to cut power from illegal immigrant homes

June 24, 2010. The new Arizona state immigration bill (SB-1070) signed into law on April 23 will seriously obstruct, if not undermine, the practice of medicine in the state of Arizona.

June 21, 2010. Arkansas Tea Party leader Bobbi Miller calls/says to Lydia Guzman, "You Better Watch Your Back." Link to Bobbi Miller's blog for the hate group "The 912 Poject." Miller also target's Guzman's organization "Respect/Respeto;" an example of Miller's tweet: http://twitter.com/Bobbi85710/status/7352030113

June 10, 2010. Gabby Giffords' Opponent, Jesse Kelly holds "Get on Target" Shooting Rally

June 9, 2010. Neo-Nazi JT Ready & Neo-Nazi friends conduct a "Border Ops" patrol on Arizona Border

May 29, 2010. [video] White supremacists with loaded weapons appear at immigration rally

May 29, 2010. [Video] To Arpaio: "Are you or do you plan to use some of these concentration camps because [immigrants] keep re-entering and killing us? Arpaio: I already have a concentration camp. It's called Tent City.

May 25, 2010. Phoenix Mayor Gordon Placed Under Protection, Receives 5,000 Threats for Stance Against SB 1070

May 24, 2010. [video] On The Rise: KKK, Skinheads & More Hate Groups Moving Into Arizona KPHO Channel 5 does feature on the rise of White-Supremacist groups moving to Arizona because SB 1070. ADL rep states, "the line between mainstream and extreme has never been thinner.."

May 15, 2010. Juan Varela Gunned Down Over SB 1070

May 7, 2010. [video] ASU students impersonate police officers to ask students for immigration paperwork

May 7, 2010. [video] White Man Shoots Latino Neighbor In AZ Over Immigration Law

April 2010. Arizona Pushes School Districts to Reassign Instructors With Heavy Accents or Other Shortcomings in Their English. The Arizona Department of Education begins telling school districts that teachers whose spoken English it deems to be heavily accented or ungrammatical must be removed from classes for students still learning English. School principals and administrators say the department is imposing arbitrary fluency standards that could undermine students by thinning the ranks of experienced educators. Teachers who don't meet the new fluency standards have the option of taking classes to improve their English, the Journal reports, but if they fail to reach the state's targets would be fired or reassigned.

[video] http://blog.altoarizona.com/blog/2010/05/arizona-wants-to-reassign-teachers-with-accents-video.html

April 30, 2010. Less than 20 days after AZ Gov Brewer signs SB 1070, she signs another bill that bans ethnic studies in Arizona schools (HB 2281). The bill was written to target the Chicano, or Mexican American, studies program in the Tucson school system, said state Supt. of Public Instruction Tom Horne (who also used bill to publicize his campaign for AZ Attorney General.

Video debate between Prof. Michael Eric Dyson & Tom Horne on Anderson Cooper: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gOW2vBGHBU

April 29, 2010. Flagstaff, AZ City Council receives death threats over unanimous opposition to SB 1070.

April 23, 2010. Grijalva Receives Death Threats

April 21, 2010. [video] Truck driver forced to show birth certificate claims racial-profiling

April 19, 2010. Arizona legislature demands immigrants and President of the United States verify their status.

April 16, 2010. (SB 1108) Arizona to allow concealed weapons without permit - Governor Brewer signs legislation into law

April 16, 2010. SB 1070 Gains Momentum on Fake Ties to Rancher's Death

March 26, 2010. [video] Palin Puts Giffords District in Crosshairs, Office Door Shattered

March 25, 2010. Rep. Giffords responds to vandalized office and hateful rhetoric on MSNBC. Speaking of Palin's cross-hairs site: "When people do that, they’ve got to realise there’s consequences to that."

March 22, 2010. Rep. Giffords' Tucson office vandalized after health care vote

March 14, 2010. J.D. Hayworth Compares Gay Marriage to Bestiality Speaking about Massachusetts' legalization of marriage, Hayworth implies that the law directly allows for marriage between man and horse. (audio clip)

January 14, 2010. Nativist Pulls Gun While Protesting Day Laborers

December 23, 2009. Nativist Violence at Day Laborer Site

December 2. 2009. Bomb Threat during Sheriff Sick-Out at Phoenix Courts

November 6, 2009. Birther J.D. Hayworth Calls For President Obama To Produce Birth Certificate

August 28, 2009. Arizona Man Arrives at Presidential Event Armed, Death Threats to Obama Rise 400%

August 17, 2009. Chris Broughton openly carries a handgun and AR-15 semiautomatic assault rifle to a health care rally in Phoenix, Arizona. Simultaneously, President Obama addresses a VFW Convention across the street.

July 15, 2009. Tucson Attorney Isabel Garcia Receives Death Threats

June 18, 2009. Armed Radical "Minutement" Kill Father and 9-Year-Old Daughter in Anti-Immigrant Hate

June 11, 2009. Phoenix Mayor Gordon Calls on Arpaio to Denounce Nazi Ties

May, 2009 Murders of Raul and Brisenia Flores by Minutemen

May 4, 2009. Sheriff Arpaio Takes Pictures with Neo-Nazi

April 19. 2009. Photo Tax Collector Shot

April 16, 2009. Orlando Diaz, victim of vicious Hate Crime in North Phoenix

April 16, 2009. Obama Threatened at Arizona Tea Party Rally

April 13, 2009. Nazis Flier Phoenix

April 7, 2009. Dept. of Homeland Security issues Report on Right-Wing Extremism

April 2, 2010. Sen. Russell Pearce Uses Murdered Rancher as False Logic for SB 1070.

March 26, 2010. [video] MCSO McDonald's Raids: Viridiana Ramirez, cuffed and held for four hours, pleaded with MCSO that she was born in this country and could prove it.

February 2. 2009. Nativists Terrorize Day Labor Center Anniversary

February 2. 2009. Judge Roll Receives Death Threats during Civil Rights Case

February, 2009. Julian Mora, and his son Julio, sue Sheriff Joe and other members of the MCSO for racial profiling.

November 24, 2008. Study Finds Arpaio Targets Latinos

October 07, 2008. Arpaio Raids Mesa City Hall with Dogs & Rifles

July 2008. In webisode series, Arizona conservative talk host, Jon Justice, creates pinata effigy of Arizona immigrants rights activist Isabel Garcia. Justice dresses the pinata in a sombrero, molests pinata, and mimics Spanish accent while spouting racist stereotypes.

Webisode 4: Justice molests Garcia pinata, stating "she's actually kinda light, you know? Chorizo is not that fattening," and mimicking Mexican accent. (webisode removed from youtube.com by Journal Broadcast Group - transcript found here: http://mexicotrucker.com/wp-content/uploads/webisode4transcript.pdf)

Webisode 5: Continuing to mock Garcia and Chicano activists, Justice responds to offended viewers of Webisode 4 (in voice of pinata): "No you did not fondle me at all. As a matter of fact, when you held me, it felt so warm ... like the inside of a freshly cooked chimichanga."

May 24, 2008. [Video] Arpaio does early crime supression sweep in response to Pruitt's boycott

April 4, 2008. Phoenix Mayor Gordon calls for FBI investigation of Arpaio

April 2, 2008. Hispanic Leaders Fear Arpaio's Patrols Could Spark Violence

February, 2, 2008. Neo-Nazi Protests Day Laborers

November, 17. 2007. Sheriff Arpaio "Its an Honor to Be Considered KKK"

November 9. 2007. Neo-Nazis Rally in Phoenix

November 8, 2007. Study Reveals Racial Profiling by Arizona Highway Patrol

June 25, 2007. White Supremacist, JT Ready, Speaks at 'Where's the Fence' Rally

Summer, 2007. NDLON Releases Report on Violent Attacks on Day Laborers

May 17, 2007. Concealed guns at Capitol stir conflicting proposals

March 7, 2007. Roy Warden's Vitriolic Tirade at Tucson City Council regarding state initiatives Legalize Arizona Workers (LAW) and SOLEN (Support Our Law Enforcment Now) (Youtube video @ 3 min, 40 sec.: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_66wkQxJzg&feature=related)

February 25, 2007. Rep. Bill Konopnicki threatened for voting "no" on workers comp bill

January 30, 2007. Rep. Kyrsten Sinema Recevies Death Threats for Militia Banning Bill

January 24, 2007. Arizona State House Evacuated for Suspicious Packages

January 2006. J.D. Hayworth publishes book on immigration called, "Whatever it Takes." In it, he adopts Henry Ford's racist turn-of-the-century view called "Americanization." Among Ford's statements that Hayworth endorses are, "These men of many nations must be taught American ways, the English language, and the right way to live.”

November 28, 2005. Stalking the Day Laborers

August 13, 2005. Southern Arizona conservative radio host, Jon Justice, threatens to drown dogs on air. Claiming to be raising awareness for two child drownings in public parks, but likely to boost ratings at a time when Justice's show was hurting, host threatens to drown puppies on air, repeatedly playing clips of howling and squeeling dogs on air.

2003 Arizona Man with Militia Ties Convicted of Soliciting Murder of Judge

January 7, 1999. $35 million civil-rights lawsuit was filed, alleging violations of the constitutional rights of legal immigrants and citizens who were detained in Chandler, Arizona

August 21, 1997. Reporter Barry Graham Endorses Mary Rose Wilcox Being Shot

1987 AZ Governor who Cancelled MLK Day Impeachment Includes Roll in Obstructing Death Threat Investigation

1987 Bono of U2 receives Death Threats for Stance on Martin Luther King - “Something strange happened toward the end of the Joshua Tree tour,” Bono said in an interview collected in the oral history “U2 by U2,” released in 2006. “We had campaigned for Martin Luther King Day in Tempe, Arizona, where the tour opened back in April. There was a governor there called Mecham who was holding out against it, and we had got involved in local politics there and took a stand. We went back to Tempe at the end of the tour, in December, to play the Sun Devil Stadium.

“I was getting death threats throughout the tour. . . . This character was a racist offended by our work, he thought we were messing in other people’s business and taking sides with the Black man. One night the FBI said: ‘Look, it’s quite serious. He says he has a ticket. He said he’s armed.’… So we played the show, the FBI were around, everyone was a little unnerved. You just didn’t know, could he be in the building?”

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