In an op-ed published in today’s North County Times, former-Minuteman Ray Carney of Fallbrook appears to have turned on his ally, San Diego Minutemen founder Jeff Schwilk.
Carney has previously attended rallies and has helped organize protests by the San Diego Minutemen against illegal immigration. In March, he and Schwilk were jointly sued for defamation by an ex-ACLU activist.
In that lawsuit, Carney and Schwilk are accused of sending a series of threatening and defamatory e-mails. (I detailed the suit and other various legal woes the Minutemen are facing in this story.)
But Carney, who plans to fight the suit, seems to have split with Schwilk, adding another crack to the Minutemen’s public image. He writes:
Every time Jeff Schwilk gets active, something happens and innocent people pay the price, either by arrests or lawsuits, and the only one who comes out clean, in every instance, is the founder and chief instigator, Jeff Schwilk.
Jeff has the ability to shmooze people who, by nature, are peaceful to become angry and vindictive and to commit acts they normally would not even consider. All the time, Jeff hides in the background, watching and waiting with a big grin on his face, insulated from responsibility.
I am just another patsy of Jeff Schwilk and the Minutemen fallout and, yes, I admit it, I was stupid to get involved with Jeff in the first place and will most likely pay the price for my stupidity. But once again, Jeff will come out wearing a clean white suit while everyone else gets dirty playing in his mud.
Carney also announces he is leaving the Minutemen:
I will continue to fight to protect the innocent American citizen against identity theft caused by illegal aliens, but will no longer be involved in the other aspects of illegal immigration and especially with the Minutemen.