[migrawatch-public] Minuteman leader, colleague targeted

Minuteman leader, colleague targeted

By Kristina Davis
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

March 22, 2007

San Diego police investigating vandalism attacks at
several migrant camps served a search warrant yesterday at
the Oceanside home of local Minuteman founder Jeff
Schwilk.

A second warrant was carried out at the home of Julie
Adams, a Rancho Pe�asquitos woman who has been a vocal
critic of the canyon camps.

Detectives searched for evidence that would link the
activists to an incident Jan. 27 in which migrants'
belongings were slashed at three encampments in Rancho
Pe�asquitos, police said.

San Diego police spokeswoman M�nica Mu�oz did not
specify what led detectives to the activists' homes,
saying only that the searches were �based on information
gathered as part of the investigation.�

Schwilk and Adams were public figures in the campaign
to raze a camp in McGonigle Canyon last year, organizing
protests and frequently documenting the activities of the
men who live there.

Most of the canyon residents, who are believed to be
illegal immigrants, moved out of that camp late last year
only to relocate to other camps nearby, some of which were
targeted in the January vandalism attacks.

Schwilk and Adams were part of a group that recently
posted several videos on the Web site YouTube, claiming to
have documented prostitution and sex trafficking taking
place in one camp. San Diego police responded with
undercover surveillance but said they did not see any
prostitution or sex trafficking. But by then, most of the
camp had moved to other canyons.

Attempts to contact Schwilk and Adams by phone or
e-mail were unsuccessful yesterday.

The raids came more than a month after police
searched the home of Christie Czajkowski, who until
recently acted as a spokeswoman for the San Diego
Minutemen before splitting from the group.

On Feb. 8, detectives seized a computer, video camera
and several videotapes from her Chula Vista home.

Police say the investigation is ongoing and no
arrests have been made.

According to a search warrant affidavit dated Feb. 6,
a canyon resident saw two women and four men get out their
cars on Rancho Pe�asquitos Boulevard and walk into the
canyon where two of the vandalism attacks occurred. They
were then seen walking to another hill near a third camp
that was targeted.

Another migrant worker said he saw a white van at the
scene, but didn't see who was inside.

A third witness told police he hid behind a bush and
saw the group slice apart sleeping bags, clothing and
shoes in one encampment. He accused them of stealing
jewelry, a cell phone and digital camera.

When he tried to run, he said the men chased him with
knives, according to the court records.

Two witnesses pointed out Czajkowski in a photo
lineup, one saying he saw her videotape the slashings.

Schwilk, who owns a white van, was included in
another photo lineup, although neither witness was able to
identify him as a suspect, according to the affidavit.

Czajkowski said she was driving back from a protest
in Orange County that afternoon and was not involved in
the property damage.

She said there are witnesses and a front-page photo
in The Orange County Register to prove it.

�All of this is B.S.,� she said yesterday. �They
(police) are obviously against the Minutemen. I'd like to
take a lie detector test, and have these illegal aliens
take a lie detector test. I'm sick of my name being
tarnished.�

When asked about the possible involvement of Schwilk
and Adams, she said: �I don't think they are capable of
doing those things.�