It makes me feel a little less excluded to know that I’m not the only one confused by the way that MCDC is handling their interactions with me.
Since the beginning of my project, I’ve been in contact with the former Arizona state director and ex-Minuteman, Stacey O’Connell, who has pointed me in the right direction of who to talk to and hard questions to ask in my interviews numerous times. Although O’Connell is not in the organization anymore, since being terminated from his position by Simcox for bringing up questions about financial mismanagement, he has still been incredibly knowledgeable about the way the group is run.
I recently updated O’Connell on what has been happening between myself and the MCDC leaders, and he was completely shocked by their restricted nature in dealing with a student journalist.
“Up until last year, the operations were all very open. In fact, we encouraged college students to come out, even during the night shifts. We didn’t make them become members, we knew it was for their research, and it was important to us (at that time) for students to know what MCDC actually did, and who Minutemen truly are.
Having students there is about education, why they would put up a block wall to you or anyone else now is beyond me. I really don’t have an answer for you. My opinion is that the operations are changing, and new people are now leading it into a secret type of event. That is not what the Minutemen were about,” he relied to me in an e-mail.
Although I’m fairly certain O’Connell is probably still bitter about what happened between him and the organization, I still think that this previous insider’s opinion of how the organization is transforming is very interesting.
I wonder if the leadership is compromising the group’s mission for personal reasons, or if there else here that I am just missing here?
