When Jared Loughner opened fire in Tucson on January 8th at Rep. Gabrielle Gifford’s Congress on Your Corner event, headlines understandably filled with the story and images of 9 year old victim Christina-Taylor Green. Her innocence and civic pride were rallying points in President Obama’s speech to the nation in the days following the shooting, but I couldn’t help but think about another 9 year old who lost her life in southern Arizona.
Her name was Brisenia Flores.
In 2009, she begged for her life before getting killed under orders by one of the founding members of the Minutemen Civil Defense Corp, just one of the many hydra-heads of border vigilante groups that roam the border region of Arizona. Today, justice was served:
A Pima County jury convicted Shawna Forde today of two counts of first-degree murder in the May 30, 2009 deaths of Arivaca residents Raul Junior Flores and his 9-year-old daughter, Brisenia.
The jury also convicted Forde of attempted first-degree murder in the shooting of Flores’ wife, Gina Gonzalez, as well as related aggravated assault and robbery counts.
Gonzalez started crying as soon as the first guilty verdict, the killing of her daughter, was read just before noon in a packed courtroom at Pima County Superior Court.
The jury deliberated for seven hours over two days. Jurors will now be asked if the death penalty ought to be considered.
The connection to the Minutemen and other so-called border defense groups is important to this story because Shawna Forde is just one point of the vigilante net that stretches across Cochise, Pima and Santa Cruz counties. One of her compatriots, who goes by the pseudonym Laine Lawless, made her own headlines last month during Forde’s trial:
On Tuesday, Laine Lawless, who manages a web site called “Justice for Shawna Forde,” objected to being ordered from the courtroom but was ordered to leave.
On Wednesday morning, as Forde’s sister, Melanie Aranda, was being questioned on the stand, a woman in a black wig and wearing a black overcoat entered the courtroom and sat down behind detectives.
A detective turned around, realized it was Lawless, and got the attention of Deputy County Attorney Rick Unklesbay, who asked the court to stop proceedings.
The jury was led from the courtroom and Leonardo was informed of the situation.
“Ms. Lawless is standing here in some sort of disguise,” Unklesbay said.
Leonardo questioned Lawless as to why she was in apparent violation of his earlier order regarding witnesses.
This piece of work is the founder of Border Guardians. You can use the Google for their site because I refuse to give their hate any traffic.
It’s my belief and one shared by the SPLC that the fallout from the Flores murders is what caused the fracturing of the Minutemen Civil Defense Corp into several smaller vigilante groups – a network that has many ties to current Senate President & SB1070 author Russell Pearce. JT Ready anyone?
The fever has not broken in Arizona, yet, but with today’s Guilty verdict we’re one step closer to greater justice for those of us who are disproportionately affected by a broken immigration system. Please help me and many other Latino/Latina bloggers tell Brisenia Flores’ story. It’s our hope that this nine year old girl can have the same effect on the nation as Christina-Taylor Green, reminding us of our shared humanity, and bring about a more level-headed discussion to resolve the complicated issues that face us all.
Gracias.
Props to VivirLatino, Nezua and others for staying on this over the past 2ish years.
I’ve been reading about the madness that is in Arizona for quite a few months…SMDH…I so hope Shawna Forde gets the max, and that these groups and individuals take notice. When all their behinds are in jail, then what?
Not necessary. Not even remotely necessary.
A child. A little girl.
The max.
Long term? A true opposition party needs to be grown from the bottom-up to show AZ that there’s another way from the Arpaio/Pearce/Brewer madness. The state Dems have been anemic the past few cycles and keep losing seats. I mention the politics because the AZGOP is entirely in league with these vigilante groups & attitude of white supremacy (e.g. Ethnic Studies Ban)
with these hate groups, they ARE the hate groups. One of the reasons I don’t want the Dems “reaching out” to them. They need to be working for the people who elected them, because we truly didn’t want the other guys.
If there is a line between the GOP, Teabaggers, Aryan Nations, Abortion Bombers, Rally Thugs, Minute Men, Mobs who harrass teachers for teaching science and art… then it’s a very, very fine line.
Peace and Strength to you my dear friend.
DJ! I owe you a phone call, sorry for being horrible in getting back to you. As you can see, things have been crazy around here. Lots of love.
You owe me nothing my friend. I was so worried about you and also I wanted to send you words that make you feel better. I love you and hope to see you again soon.
I’m sorry that I used your diary to speak of humanity and how to turn hate into peace.
I try to focus on something positive, something that will end the hate and violence… Something that will help someone change from being a feeler into being a doer. 🙂
That’s who and what I am. More so than ever.
good news, thanks for posting!
thanks for reading, Errol! 🙂
I saw the report on this last night on CNN and wasn’t aware of it until then. Thank you for fleshing it out as it is an example of pure hate where there are no excuses or justifications.
I also saw it on Yahoo’s front page in the News section, which made me happy. These murders were a shock to our area in 2009 and the activist community tried and tried to get it into national headlines. Even though it took the spectacle of this trial almost 2 years later, at least more people are learning of the tragic loss of Brisenia.
The vigilante groups kept getting hotter with their violent rhetoric and brandishing of weapons, it was only a matter of time before something like this happened. They’re quick to distance themselves from Shawna Forde, but the reality is that they are all connected in ideology & sometimes membership.
I’ve seen it reported on a few major sites also. But, even still, I cannot help but wonder about the level of national outrage which would have occurred if a hate-filled band of Hispanics burst through the door a middle class white family and gunned down a little girl in cold blood while she was begging for her life. I know that around here, every crime or suspected crime involving someone with an Hispanic name or appearance brings renewed cries for an Arizona style approach to dealing with the problem of “those people”.
I’m afraid that it is going to get much worse before it gets better. This mentality will not die a quiet death.
may that racist murdering bitch burn in hell
…after she suffers a lifetime of solitude in a cell, pondering that 9-year-old life she snuffed out.
solitude?
Oh no. that is too good for that piece of shit. I hope she gets the shit beaten out of her EVERY SINGLE DAY. THEN she can be dumped in the hole to think about it, before getting the carp pounded out of her again.
she killed a child. On purpose. She’s a fucking piece of shit who hopefully will get everything she has coming to her. her prisonmates will NOT look kindly on her.
Maybe. There’s a healthy Aryan Nation population in every state prison. Do they care about killing kids? I dunno. Maybe.
there are also a lot of latina women in prison. and black women. those ladies aren’t gonna be too smiley with the Forde or whatever her name is.
It’ll take some time before she gets the protection of the Aryans, and one of the other gangs (latin kings, crips, bloods, etc) will have plenty of opportunities.
But I don’t think that “prison violence” is part of the justice system of a progressive, civilized society.
I think if we took out all the “marijuana criminals” and the “debtors” out of the prisons, there’d be more room for the real criminals to do their complete time in prison.
Prison is bad. Women giving birth in prison are chained down during childbirth.
Most in prison are treated horribly enough without people hoping they are assaulted, raped or worse.
I think we can find better justice and do more service to create a safer society and find ways to honor little Bresnia which was a horrible loss to us all.
We can turn our understandable anger and outrage into something better for all little girls. The murdering thug doesn’t need our energy or thoughts and I do believe that there is more than enough violence going around already.
Take care.
Yes, I’m one of those bleeding hearts and Yes I do know what it’s like to lose a loved one to a senseless, brutal murdering thug.
I think the Crime & Punshiment attitude in America was fed the same propaganda as Reagan’s Welfare Queens snowjobbed. Life is not easy in prisons. But nor should we be part of a coliseum crowd chanting for the lions. Murders need to be removed from society in order to protect people and other nine year old little girls from said murders. They are not sent to prison so that they can have “the shit beaten out them every day” and in caps.
But regardless of one’s viewing of how our justice system should work like a rape squad mob rule or maybe more like Midnight Train, or that it should be about Justice and work on releasing non-violent offenders and giving them a chance at life – therefore opening up more room for the disgustingly vile and violent offenders to remain in jail forever… I understand your hate. Your anger.
But I do understand that so much more can be done with that anger of yours.
Hate is easy. Hate is a cheap commodity. It doesn’t really do anything. It doesn’t change anything and it usually does more harm to you, those near you and it will drain you. It’s so easy to focus on the hating of the murderer. Hate doesn’t even take any real thought or as we know of the Teabaggers, any real education. And usually it doesn’t require any action. At least we hope people don’t act on their hate.
Which is why this little girl is dead by the way. She’s dead because of hate. HATE. Hate and a hope of violence acted out on those we hate.
Stop the hate. And try to focus on what you can do to end hate. Maybe you can find a way to focus your energy on doing something wonderful for the grieving classmates of Bresnia. The murderer doesn’t need or should get another moment of your precious time or energy. But others could use your passion and time.
Find something to do outside of hating. It’s hard. I know it is. It takes time, it takes action, it requires critical thought. It requires humanity and involvement. But it’s worth it. Peace is hard.
Good luck.
I, for one, hope that it is explained to Forde that the only way she is going to avoid lethal injection is to rat out ALL of the Minutemen co-conspirators, fellow travelers and GOP/conservi-/Tea-tard enablers.
But instead, I suspect that she’ll wind up being the sacrificial scapegoat, taking the incriminating details with her.
I read your post over at dkos. Thanks for posting it here.