MSU hate group brings in speakers with ties to white supremacy

EAST LANSING — The Michigan State University chapter of Young Americans for Freedom has a lineup of speakers for this school year that includes three people with ties to white supremacy groups.

YAF will host Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, which publicly opposes immigration, on Oct. 4; Chris Simcox of the anti-immigrant Minutemen Civilian Defense Corps on Nov. 13; and sometime in the spring, Jim Gilchrist of the Minutemen Project, which funds civilian border patrols.

MSU YAF was listed as a “hate group” in April by the Southern Poverty Law Center. It is the first university-supported hate group the civil rights organization is aware of. YAF, a conservative political group, has chapters on campuses across the U.S. The law center is the nation’s leader in tracking and monitoring hate groups and its quarterly publication, Intelligence Report, is sent to 50,000 law enforcement agents.

MSU YAF chairman Kyle Bristow has links to the white supremacy movement himself. Until recently, he  co-administered a Facebook group with Preston Wiginton, who posts on the white supremacy website, Stormfront.

Continued - But Bristow denied he is a white supremacist. “I am not tied to any white supremacist,” he said. “That is ridiculous.” . He also denied that the speakers invited to MSU are white supremacists.

MSU spokesperson Terry Denbow was not immediately available for comment on the speakers.

The Center for Immigration Studies was founded by John Tanton and is an outgrowth of the anti-immigration group the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR).

“In California 2030, the non-Hispanic whites and Asians will own the property, have the good jobs and education, speak one language and be mostly Protestant and ‘other,’ ” wrote Tanton in a 1986 memo. “The blacks and Hispanics will have the poor jobs, will lack education, own little property, speak another language and will be mainly Catholic.”

Simcox visited the MSU campus last April. His appearance lead to protests and the arrests of five Hispanic students. During the event, Simcox taunted one protester as a “gang banger.” He also referred to protesters as “riffraff.”

According to documents received under Freedom of Information Act requests to MSU, prior to his April 2007 appearance at the school Simcox sent an email to an unidentified Hispanic organizer on campus, warning her to stay away and including a picture of what is apparently a bloodied and dead Hispanic male. The email and photo were provided to MSU administrators; no action has been taken against Simcox.

Simcox also claims he saw the Chinese Army operating military exercises on the Mexican border following the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Mark Potok of the SPLC said. Simcox has since changed his story from Chinese soldiers to Mexican drug cartels.

Gilchrist was originally aligned with Simcox, but broke off to create his own Minutemen Project. His organization reputedly allows white supremacists to operate in border patrols. Although Gilchrist has condemned white supremacy, he has also defended it.

In an interview with Fox News’ Alan Colmes on April 5, Gilchrist said, ” I … have no control over someone posting an e-mail. …. I’ve been to that Stormfront ( a white supremacy site) website. I have put a warning on our website: You are not welcome here if you’re a member of any supremacist group, whether it be of any color, race or creed.”

“There are supremacist groups out there of all races, colors and creeds,” Gilchrist continued. “It’s not just white supremacists. Why are you picking on them? There are brown. There are purple. There are red.”