Three years ago the Minutemen Project was denied entry into the Laguna Beach Patriots Day Parade. The parade committee made the ruling within 45 minutes after they applied, never even sending it to be voted on. Their reason was that the Minutemen were a “political group” because Jim Gilchrist has just finished a Congressional run (He lost to John Campbell and the election was over by this time).

The MM sued because the parade committee has allowed the Laguna Beach Peace Vigil to march in the parade for many years.  The LB Peace Vigil group holds weekly protests in town where many are seen holding signs that say “Buck Fush” and “Impeach Bush”.  (Certainly seems to be political messages to me).  The MM lost the lawsuit because the parade is a “private event”, not a “public event”, although the City of Laguna Beach promoted the parade on their website and offered A LOT of “in kind” assistance, such as free access to city buildings, trash, and police.  There is a fine line there as to whether it is a “private” or “public” event when the city is so deeply involved.

This year it was discovered that the Laguna Beach Peace Vigil attempted to stir up POLITICAL trouble by inviting the radical AND political group CODE PINK to come join them.  Their invitation encouraged CODE PINK to wear the logos, T-shirts, and hats to identify themselves. This goes against the rules the parade committee has adopted, the same rules they claimed to be enforcing when they denied the MM entrance. 

Laguna Beach Peace Vigil IS a POLITICAL group and should NOT be allowed in the parade. If they are, then the MM should be allowed to march, too.

PLEASE CHECK BACK SOON AND I WILL POST COL. QUILTER’S RESPONSE TO THIS EMAIL.
ALSO, CHECK IN THE “DOCUMENTS” SECTION WHERE I WILL POST THE ORIGINAL MINUTEMAN PROJECT’S APPLICATION FOR THE PARADE.
This should end all rumors being spread by the parade committee.

MY LETTER TO THE LAGUNA BEACH PARADE COMMITTEE:

Sandi, Col. Quilter, Dave, all others interested,

It came to my attention that the LB parade committee is confused about an email I sent out to some of my friends a week ago where I revealed that CODE PINK was invited to participate in the Laguna Beach Patriots Day Parade. (see content of email below at end of my note)

Yes, it is true. They were in fact invited. The LB Peace Vigil invited them and encouraged them to wear their identifying logos. I’m not sure if they did march in the parade or not, but if they did, there will certainly be an uproar and attention will once again be brought to the LB parade committee.

Sandi, you ask “who is CODE PINK”?  Certainly Col. Quilter knows who they are and surely does not condone their conduct.  CODE PINK is a radical anti-war group. They promote “civil disobedience” to get their message across.  They are the group who persuaded the city of Berkley to run the Marines Corps. out of town, which almost cost the city Federal funds.

CODE PINK is also the group that accosted Condolessa Rice. I’ve included a link to that incident here:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EaH4U8ozEg

I’m also including the local CODE PINK’s (the one invited to join our parade) SOP on dealing with law enforcement:

http://www.codepinkoc.org/images/dealing_with_police.pdf
As you can see they encourage “civil disobedience” and state that ALL police are liars and violent.

http://www.minutemanhq.com/hq/sop.php
Now compare that with the MM’s SOP.  You will find that the MM are a strict law and order group.

One of CODE PINK’s founders was one of the organizers of the Seattle riots in 1999 at the G8 Summit.  I’ve included a link for you here:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUKKF3_y1eY&feature=related

CODE PINK has many links on their website that lead directly to Socialist and Communist groups.  Hardly the type of group you would want marching in a PATRIOTS day parade.

In my opinion, the Laguna Beach Peace Vigil is a political group, who should not (under your own rules) be marching in the parade.  I have heard the argument that “Peace is Patriotic and everyone wants peace. Therefore we should not consider them a political group”. But, you can apply this argument to the case of the MM and say that ‘Certainly everyone wants the United States to be a sovereign nation, which would mean Border Security. The Minutemen wish to see our borders secured, therefore they should not be considered a political group.’ (The vast majority of American citizens, including Sandi Werthe and Col. Quilter want to see our borders secure).

Also, to address the other issue you bring up in your email, about the MM’s entry/denial into the parade 3 years ago.  You claim that the MM were denied because Jim Gilchrist had just finished a Congressional campaign, but as you know, the election had ended by this time. John Campbell won and therefore Gilchrist was not a candidate for anything.  Since that time he has talked a lot about running for an elected position, but he has yet to pull papers to do so.  So, for the last 3 years he has NOT been a political candidate.  Your email stated the MM were denied, because he had just finished an election and may in the future run again. Three years later and he has not run for anything.

There are a lot of rumors floating out there about the application for the parade entry. As you know, you mailed the entry form back to me after the MM were denied, so I have the official paperwork in my possession.  The paperwork reveals that the application was entered as “The Minuteman Project.” NO other name!  The application also includes a description of what we were requesting for the parade, which included ONE SIGN at the front of the float stating “The Minuteman Project. Protecting Our Country’s Borders”.  We promised we would carry NO signs, nor wear any logos.  The float would include a range of multi-ethnic MM, from Ted H. (black), Lupe M. & Ray H. (Hispanic), Frank J. & Tony D. (Cuban), George R. (Japanese) and Jim Gilchrist.

Following the float we planned to have a fun, lighthearted synchronized drill team of men and women dressed in Red, White, and Blue doing a drill of lawn chairs, binoculars, and cell phones.  It was going to be funny and non-political and within keeping of the parade’s atmosphere. There would be NO SIGNS, NO CHANTS, and NO LOGOS. All this was laid out in the official application that was presented to you.

The MM lost the lawsuit because the judge ruled the parade was a private organization who is allowed to approve whoever they wish into their parade. NOT because Gilchrist was a political candidate, as you indicated in your email.  There was much more to the issue of the whether the parade was a “private” organization or a “public” one, due to the city’s deep involvement. That year the city promoted the parade on their official website and they provided a lot of “in kind” financial help, including free access to city buildings, police and trash.  Unfortunately, the lawsuit was not able to get past the first hearing for any of this to be brought forward.

Since the MM application is in my possession and the issue has been brought back to the forefront, I will scan it and post it, along with the MM version of the story on my website http://www.betsyrosspatriots.com.  This way it will dispel all the rumors and misinformation generated over the years.

I would like to add that during my discussions with you (Sandi), you offered to consider allowing the MM to enter the parade if we disguised ourselves under a false name. You offered me some suggestions, all of which I declined, because I felt that would be sneaky, dishonest, and deceitful.  I understand there are many groups in the parade that are allowed under these types of conditions.

In closing, I will say that I am disappointed with the parade committee and especially Col. Quilter, whom I believe to be a good Patriot and one whose beliefs on border security mirror mine.  I called Col. Quilter and asked for a face to face meeting with him on this issue. I received no response from him at all. This told me he was close-minded and not willing to allow the facts or any other viewpoints to cloud his decision.

He ultimately gave an interview to a controversial talk show, The John & Ken Show on KFI 640 am.  The shock jocks asked their listeners to contact Quilter with their complaints. But, I, and the MM, are the ones who have taken the flak and the “punishment” for THEIR actions ever since.

Col. Quilter’s brother’s skit in the parade was insulting and unethical. As I mentioned in a response to the media coverage in the Laguna Beach Independent, while this skit was happening in the streets of Laguna Beach, the MM chose to do a border watch that weekend. Many brave men and women had stayed up all night in the icy cold and in pitch black darkness, where they could possibly have encountered drug or human smugglers, had been shot at or assaulted. It turned out that weekend the MM found a pregnant woman IN LABOR who had crossed 2 yards over the border.  They assisted her and called for an ambulance, that took her to a local hospital where she gave birth to a new American citizen with all the rights and benefits that includes, just for merely making it 2 yards across the border.

I have since resigned from the Minuteman Project and started my own website. My focus is to see the city of Laguna Beach day labor site be brought into compliance with our laws (certainly you are not against everyone obeying our laws, are you)?  Although, I am no longer a member of the MM I believe them to be some of the most courageous, honest, loyal, and devoted “salt of the earth” Americans one could ever encounter.

So once again, I am extending my hand and asking that we meet face to face (you, me, Col. Quilter, and Dave as our referee) in order to come to an understanding on this issue and to bury the hatchet. Then we can see how we can all work together to keep our great country of the United States the UNITED States forever. In the meantime, my hope is that you look into LB Peace Vigil actions this year by inviting CODE PINK into our parade and take the appropriate action.

With kind and respectful regards,

The following is my email sent to my concerned American citizen friends.

Hello Veterans,

I’m not sure it you have seen this invitation that was put out on OC Peace Vigil’s website.  (see below) As you can see the Laguna Beach Peaceniks invited the radical group CODE PINK to join the march and encouraged them to wear their Logos in the Laguna Beach Patriots Day parade today (March 1st).

CODE PINK’s reputation is a major Political group: Here’s a link to their website that displays all sorts of political messages.  http://www.codepink4peace.org/ How come the Patriots’ Day parade denied the Minutemen entry to the parade due to “political issues” but then allow CODE PINK to march?

Many veterans find this group foul and disgusting.  The City of Berkley was almost denied Federal funds due to CODE PINK’s role in trying to rid the city of the Marines. 

I’m wondering how our own Laguna Beach American Legion handled marching in the same parade as this group today?

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INVITATION POSTED BY LAGUNA BEACH PEACE VIGIL ON THE INTERNET

Mar 1 Saturday 11am-1pm, Laguna Beach: The LAGUNA BEACH PEACE VIGIL INVITES ALL OF YOU { Veterans for Peace, MFSO, Code Pink, Friends and Family, ETC.} and those of you who have demonstrated on Saturdays on PCH in Laguna over the past 5 years to JOIN WITH US as we MARCH in the LAGUNA BEACH PATRIOTS DAY PARADE The parade starts off at 11 AM from the Laguna Beach High School parking lot at the corner of Short Street and Park Avenue and ends by about 1 PM near the City Hall on Forest Avenue. The theme of the Parade this year is: The Stars and Stripes Forever We are group number 81. We are allowed to display only our own banners and a number of pro-peace signs ( negotiated with and pre-approved by the parade committee ) , BUT we will have many signs there, if you need one, AND please wear your group’s shirts, hats and insignia etc. to help let the community know the diversity and strength of our commitment to PEACE . For further information, call Pat Cohee:(949) 494-6649 e-mail: