Chris Simcox

Chris Simcox (born 1961) is the American co-founder of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps (MCDC) and the project's main spokesperson. In June 2016, Simcox was convicted of child sexual abuse and is serving a 19.5 year sentence.

In October 2002, Simcox issued a public call to arms, inviting readers of his newspaper, the Tombstone Tumbleweed, to join a "Citizens Border Patrol Militia" whose function, Simcox said, would be to "shame the government into doing its job" of controlling the United States's border with Mexico.

He founded Civil Homeland Defense, a group which patrolled the border, and within the next two and a half years sought to assist the United States Border Patrol.

Simcox's practice of reporting illegal immigrants attempting to enter the country has been controversial, and questions concerning its legality have been raised. When Civil Homeland Defense was first formed, Simcox's opponents claimed that it is illegal for a normal citizen who is in no way affiliated with law enforcement to detain people in the United States. Simcox claimed at that time that these detentions were justified under a "citizen's arrest" policy. Since the inception of the MCDC, however, their "Standard Operating Procedure" (SOP) states that "Minutemen Observe, Report, Record, and Direct Border Patrol or other appropriate emergency or law enforcement agencies to suspected Illegal Aliens or Illegal Activities."

In December 2004, Simcox teamed with James Gilchrist to organize the Minuteman Project, which brought nationwide attention to the southern border. Some have accused the Minuteman members of being vigilantes, but supporters claim that there has never been a case of a member of The Minuteman Project physically harming anyone. However, the former Border Operations Manager of The Minuteman Project, Shawna Forde, was convicted of double murder after leaving it to form a splinter group.

The other organization Simcox headed, the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, was co-founded by J. T. Ready, a neo-Nazi who killed four before taking his own life. The group was dissolved in 2010, with its leader citing concerns of being held responsible should members fail to follow the proper "rules of engagement" on the border.

...
Wikipedia