Dennis Gilman, an independent journalist from Phoenix, was covering around 100 protesters at an anti-immigration rally on the grounds of the Arizona state capitol when
things took an ugly turn:
The crowed was mostly peaceful except for an altercation that broke out between protesters and a man claiming to be an independent videographer. Dennis Gilman said he shadows such anti-illegal immigration events to expose White-supremacist leanings by some of the members.
The scuffle started near the beginning of a speech by Gabriela Saucedo Mercer, a challenger to Rep. Raúl Grijalva’s District 3 seat in 2014.
It wasn’t clear who or what instigated the incident, but protesters could be seen pushing Gilman. Some said he was the aggressor.
One man screamed “Commie” at him, and some protesters blocked his camera with placards as Saucedo Mercer asked for calm.
Dennis Gilman's
video from the event:
The rally was sponsored in part by an anti-immigration group called "Remember 1986" and Dennis Gilman has a history with many of its members:
Basically, Remember 1986 is a rehash of Childress' United for a Sovereign America, which had a fondness for neo-Nazis such as Elton Hall and J.T. Ready. U.S.A. is the same group that for years harassed the Macehualli Work Center, a day-laborer spot in North Phoenix.
Videographer Dennis Gilman is one of those who helped expose U.S.A. for what it was, through his activism and his videos on his YouTube site HumanLeage002.
In fact, Gilman got U.S.A. booted from a local VFW hall in 2008, after he wrote the VFW and informed it of just who was using the property.
Needless to say, the U.S.A. crowd has no love for Gilman. I have been present on countless occasions where the Phoenix nativists have menaced Gilman, blocking his camera, hitting his camera, and pushing and shoving him.
Gilman was eventually escorted to his car by police, but only after asking them to walk him to his car for his own safety:
Gilman says that when the authorities showed up, he agreed to leave if they would escort him all the way to his car. Smart move, considering the nature of the crowd, and the fact many of them were packing.