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Although it was called a 鈥渘ational security convention,鈥� the three-day event hosted by a Denver-area American Legion post last week was concerned about one thing: illegal immigration.

American Legion Post 1111 in Bloomfield, Colo., joined with two nativist groups to sponsor the Aug. 21-23 convention that featured hard-line anti-immigration rabble-rousers and . Although the convention involved an individual legion post, the national legion this spring launched a campaign against illegal immigration that featured a booklet about undocumented immigrants. After Hispanic groups expressed concerns, a message appeared on the legion鈥檚 website stating that the booklet was being 鈥渦pdated.鈥�

At last week鈥檚 convention, attendees got to watch the premiere of a video called 鈥淏order Truth USA,鈥� which took viewers on 鈥渁 high-definition video tour of the border narrated live by Glenn Spencer,鈥� according to Spencer鈥檚 American Patrol website. He also demonstrated the 鈥淰irtual Vigilance camera system.鈥�

But Spencer, who leads the vitriolic hate groups American Patrol and American Border Patrol, has done more than show off gadgets designed to catch 鈥渋llegal aliens.鈥� He鈥檚 also spouted anti-Latino comments, proclaiming in a 1996 letter to The Los Angeles Times that 鈥淢exican culture is based on deceit鈥� and 鈥淐hicanos and Mexicanos lie as a means of survival.鈥� Local retiree Francis McWilliams, who was introduced as American Border Patrol鈥檚 director in September 2002, quickly resigned after concluding that Spencer was 鈥渂orderline xenophobic.鈥� Spencer also sent every member of Congress a copy of his video, 鈥淏onds of our Nation,鈥� which promotes the myth that the Mexican government and Mexican-Americans are plotting to take over the American Southwest and create the nation of Aztlan. Betina McCann, then the fianc茅e of neo-Nazi Steven Barry, hand-delivered the videos. In 2003, Spencer was charged with four felonies after repeatedly firing a .357 rifle into the night and hitting, among other things, a neighbor鈥檚 garage. He said he had heard 鈥渟uspicious noises鈥� in his backyard. After pleading to a single misdemeanor count of endangerment, he was fined $2,500 and sentenced to a year鈥檚 probation.

Although Spencer toned down the racist rhetoric after moving from California to Cochise County, Ariz., in 2002, he recently posted a Washington Times story about whites losing their hold on the majority amid rising Hispanic immigration, along with a cartoon showing Uncle Sam with the gun of 鈥渓iberalism鈥� in his mouth as 鈥淢exico鈥� pulls the trigger. Above the article and cartoon is Spencer's heading: 鈥淲hite America Commits Suicide: The Coming Disunited States of America.鈥�

Listeners at the Colorado American Legion post also were treated to remarks from Frosty Wooldridge, an Army veteran with an eclectic career that included writing a 2004 book titled Immigration鈥檚 Unarmed Invasion: Deadly Consequences. In it, he alleges that illegal non-European immigrants are bringing female genital mutilation to America. 鈥淲hat if your daughter married a man who insisted your granddaughter undergo this operation?鈥� he asked. He also cautions that people going to Wal-Mart and the movies are 鈥渂reathing air that may be carrying hepatitis.鈥� (Never mind that hepatitis isn鈥檛 transmitted through the air.) Hepatitis, along with head lice and tuberculosis, are showing up in classrooms because of what Wooldridge calls immigrants鈥� 鈥渄isease jihad.鈥� In case that鈥檚 not enough, Wooldridge adds that Mexicans 鈥渄o not wash their hands after using bathroom facilities.鈥�

Also scheduled to speak at the Legion post last week was Peter Wagner, author of The Dark Side of Illegal Immigration. The book, available online, portrays undocumented immigrants as rapists, murderers, drunk drivers and disease-carriers. Citing the far-right WorldNetDaily website, it asserts that during a recent three-year period the United States saw 鈥�9,000 cases [of leprosy] and most were illegal aliens.鈥� In fact, according to the federal government鈥檚 National Hansen鈥檚 [leprosy] Disease Program, there were 398 cases of leprosy combined in 2002, 2003 and 2004. The government has no idea how many of those may have occurred in immigrants, legal or otherwise.

The American Legion teamed up with the Federal Immigration Reform and Enforcement Coalition Inc. (FIRE) and Riders Against Illegal Aliens to host the conference. FIRE, whose projects include 鈥淥peration Body Count: Reporting the Americans Killed by Illegal Aliens in the Largest Invasion in History,鈥� states on its website that undocumented immigrants kill 9,000 American a year, or 63,000 since Sept. 11. According to FBI statistics, if FIRE鈥檚 figures were correct, undocumented immigrants would be responsible for more than half the homicides that take place each year in the United States (there were 15,854 murders in America in 2006, the latest year for which figures are available), even though they comprise roughly 4% of the population.

Legionnaire Greg Williams, who is Colorado director of Riders Against Illegal Aliens and served as a master of ceremonies at last week鈥檚 convention, asserted that Spencer was a fine speaker for the convention. 鈥淗e鈥檚 honest and open,鈥� he told Hatewatch when reached at American Legion Post 1111. 鈥淗e鈥檚 not a racist. He鈥檚 an American that鈥檚 for a sovereign country.鈥� Queried further, Williams asked a reporter to hold on for a moment. When the reporter hung up more than 15 minutes later, Williams still hadn鈥檛 returned to the phone.