For some mysterious reason, the Los Angeles Times has decided that William Gheen of the fringe anti-immigrant group Americans for Immigration Reform is a credible source for immigration policy stories, and last week invited him to participate in a live debate on the issue with two immigration reform advocates.
To her credit, Times report Ann Simmons confronted Gheen with the transcript of a 2011 radio interview — first reported by Right Wing Watch — in which he implied that “illegal and violent” tactics might be needed to stop President Obama’s war on “White America.” (Simmons mistakenly said that Gheen made the comments on the previous day.)
After hearing his comments read back to him, Gheen denied ever calling for violence because he is dedicated to “peaceful, civil-rights-type efforts," and said that because of his dedication to peaceful “civil rights” work, he wouldn’t discuss “those other things that are out there being discussed because of the dictates of Obama.”
He did, however, note that the president has “nullified the Constitution, nullified existing federal law, and nullified the outcomes of our elections.”
