Yes you can and it is a very safe bet to do so. Jim Gilchrist of the (real) Minuteman Project made a point to on his web site and Texas Minutemen issued a specific response to the typical accusations being spouted by Minuteman Civil Defense Corps (kicked off the project, racists language, carrying rifles, etc.) which I am including here...
note: no one was "expelled" from Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, the totally separate TEXAS MINUTEMEN organization has never had anything to do with Chris Simcox specifically because of indications that Chris Simcox was mishandling funds as far back as April, 2005. Yes, under TEXAS law, long guns can be kept in vehicles for protection and no "racist" language has ever been used by the co-founders of the TEXAS MINUTEMEN.
click the link at the bottom of the page (read more) to see the actual email that was forwarded to TXMM with the statement that Minuteman Civil Defense Corps is in fact asking for $55,000,000.00 dollars to continue a Israeli-style double fence 15 feet high with dual vehicle-trapping trenches and dual four-layer razor wire. There are also further updates to the issue of Minuteman Civil Defense Corps collecting massive amounts of money claiming to be for the fence project and it, to date is not showing up anywhere.
The person making the accusations (Chris) actually had the nerve to imply that the original Minuteman Project was a product of Minuteman Civil Defense Corps. Check this quote..
“One of the groups lending their voice to the criticism is the Texas Minutemen, an organization Simcox says has been bitter toward him since it was expelled by the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps in April 2005 for carrying rifles and using racist language.”
There was no Minuteman Civil Defense Corps during the April 2005 Minuteman Project and Chris Simcox was only a local guide for Jim Gilchrist, founder, The Minuteman Project. No member of Texas Minutemen was expelled from the project, much less any of the co-founders of Texas Minutemen. Chris is making up B.S. to have it appear as though he is the Minuteman Project. He is not. The Minuteman Project is Jim Gilchrist.
The individuals that Chris is referring to only worked for Jim Gilchrist during the original Minuteman Project, never once met Simcox during the original project and when formed in the third week of April, 2005, never associated The Texas Minutemen with MCDC in any way, to the point of flatly telling Chris in his later requests to join MCDC... NO, WE DO NOT WANT TO HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH MCDC. That is why Chris has always badmouthed TXMM and TXMM will not touch anything MCDC..
http://www.txminuteman.org/mambo/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=354&Itemid=2
BTW, if anyone has any additional questions about Texas Minutemen they can direct them here, in public, and get a straight answer, here, in public!
Thanks for letting me rant....
Thank you very much for confirming what I thought I remembered.
It's always such a shame when somebody comes along and co-opts an ongoing movement and then claims it as his own.
Unfortunately, the press has no identified the MM with Simcox, so when he goes down, a lot of people who aren't knowledgeable of the situation will just automatically assume that the rest of the group can be painted with the same brush as Simcox will be.
What's even more unfortunate, IMO, is that there are people on this forum who SHOULD know better and, even when confronted with the truth/facts, will continue to eviscerate the real Minutemen and their leaders.
I'm shocked that Alan Keyes has so closely identified himself with Simcox. This very well could be the last nail in his coffin; but, then, of course, he does have that massive mailing list and surely is getting a big jackpot for selling the names of his donors to Simcox.
Thieves always manage to find each other, though, don't they?
Thanks for illuminating the situation and saving me from having to read all the OBL gum-clacking I suspect precedes it (started with last posts first).
Thank you, TLI!
Glad to see someone on here with some facts and explanations!