Tim Donnelly's Revolution

Dan Russell of San Diego "served 1½ Weeks. 1st tour: Naco Border Sector 5. 2nd Tour: Huachuca Line (Hwy 92) Sector 1. (11 illegals caught on one watch.)"

Don Silva of Los Angeles "served 1 Week. Sector 1 in the Canyons. Night Shift. Ham Radio Operator. Active with SaveOurState.org. Protests against Home Depot and day laborer sites."

PHOTO BY KEVIN SCANLON

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More About

• Tim Donnelly
• Lake Arrowhead
• Gregg Imus
• Immigration
• Illegal Immigration and Deportation

Tim Donnelly "Served 1 Week. Stump Canyon/Naco Border Night shift. Minutemanparty.com."

The closest Donnelly gets to a statement of purpose is an editorial titled "Tell Me No Lies," dated Aug. 6, 2005:

"We are told the illegal alien is now a resident of our communities, entitled to all the protections of the law, but none of its penalties. We are told that 'diversity' is a goal, and although it is unclear when we will reach this utopian dream, it involves more Hispanics and fewer of everyone else.

"We are told that anyone who does not go along with the above program (or pogromme) is a 'racist,' 'xenophobe' or a 'vigilante.'...

"We are told that raping young girls, marrying extremely young girls, ogling women in an aggressive manner and using a child as a human shield are all cultural differences that we must learn to accept.

"Really. As an American, I am not accustomed to being 'told' anything. In fact, it is 'we' who generally do the telling. 'We the people' are finished listening. ...

"We are a kind and generous people. Do not abuse our generosity or mistake kindness for softness. We are also the best armed nation on earth, and do not suffer abuse lightly."

Sexual aggression is a recurring theme in Donnelly's writing. It comes up again in a post from March 16, 2006, in which Donnelly described his friend Gregg Imus' trip to Jensen's Mini-Mart in Cedar Glen, where Imus was "confronted by 27 suspected illegal aliens crowding the parking lot."

"After taking some photographs of them, Gregg went in the store & complained to the manager," Donnelly wrote. "Gregg told him he would not be doing business at Jensen's Mini-Mart anymore, nor would he be sending his wife and daughter through the mob outside to be ogled or harassed."

Donnelly complained about the incident to the Sheriff's Department and his congressman, but was told nothing could be done. Imus called the Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, again to no avail.

At times, Donnelly is driven to nearly apocalyptic despair. He posted this on a conservative website:

"The facts are incontrovertible that allowing an illegal invasion of the United States will destroy the American Southwest, and very probably wipe out the freedoms we American Christians enjoy, as Muslim Extremists blend in with the so-called 'innocent' illegal aliens, and eventually proselytize them. It is not a stretch to picture a revolt in Los Angeles, whose population is comprised of over 50 percent illegal aliens. At the rate of influx and births, it will be 80 percent illegal alien within a decade. ... None of this bodes well for the citizens who live in Southern California now, nor will it improve the life of the poor alien, but it is well on its way to wiping out everything that was once good in Southern California."

Throughout his writing, there is a sense that the government has betrayed "the little guy" — "the small business owner or employee who works hard and plays by the rules."

During a three-hour interview with L.A. Weekly on his front porch, Donnelly brought up the Obama health-care plan, which he described as "taxation without representation." It turned out Donnelly had canceled his family's health-insurance plan because his business was struggling. It was either drop health coverage or pull his kids out of a private Christian school, and his wife wouldn't stand for the latter.

Asked what he would do if he or his children needed to see a doctor, he said he would pay cash. And what if it was a critical situation and he couldn't afford the bill?

"It is scary," he said. "The last two years we've had to subsidize the business with savings. What didn't get wiped out, we used to survive. We're at a point where we don't have anything to lose."

But, he said, isn't that who we want representing us in Sacramento?

"Maybe we should send a guy there who's struggling financially," he said. "I don't want some rich kid to represent me."

Donnelly is running for a seat held by Anthony Adams, a Hesperia Republican who was forced into early retirement after voting for $12 billion in tax increases. Donnelly jumped into the race shortly before the February filing deadline, with no experience in politics and practically no money. On his website, he listed his only endorsements — friends and family. He scraped together enough money for one campaign postcard mailing and a handful of radio ads.

What set him apart from the field was his support for the Arizona law, which gives local police the power to detain suspected illegal immigrants. Opponents saw it as racial profiling, but Donnelly saw it as common sense. That message resonated from Arcadia to Apple Valley.

"We tried to think like the Founders," says Imus, who serves as Donnelly's campaign manager. "This is the beginning of the second American Revolution. It's a political revolution. It's a peaceful revolution."