Groypers gave illegal hot dogs and burgers to Trump voters
Mesa, AZ – A group of early American nationalists, college Republicans and a Christian nationalist pastor are handing out burgers and hot dogs chains for voters in Phoenix on Tuesday — but only if they vote for former president Donald Trump.
The cookout took place about 100 yards from the polling station — and it may have been illegal.
The effort was organized by the far-right group College Republicans United, affiliated with the Patriot Party of Arizona. It started shortly after the polls opened at the Mesa Convention Center. Groypers, the name white nationalist Nick Fuentes gave himself, helped distribute hot dogs, burgers and cold drinks. The man manning the grill is the Rev. David MacLellan, a Christian nationalist who is the chaplain of the Patriot Party in Arizona and subscribes to the extremist ideology of the Black Robe Regiment.
“We’re giving away hot dogs and hamburgers to people who are doing the right thing, voting for Trump,” MacLellan told WIRED.
Isaiah, a self-identified grocer who did not provide his last name, confirmed that the group only distributed food to Trump voters, but added that the food was “specifically for voters of Trump, but we welcome others if they want to come.” over and change their minds.”
Providing food to a specific group of people at a polling place violates federal law.
“It is illegal to give only one candidate to one candidate, but it cannot be limited to just the voters. It must be made available to everyone in the district, including children and others ineligible to vote, to avoid violating federal vote-buying laws,” said Rick Hasen, law professor at UCLA, told WIRED, cite the same rules that Elon Musk allegedly violated his $1 million ballot.
The Arizona Secretary of State’s Office, which sets rules of conduct at polling places, did not respond to a request for comment.
The group College Republicans United was founded in 2018 by Rick Thomas, who is also a member of the Patriot Party of Arizona. Thomas told WIRED that he founded the group out of frustration with the Republican student group active at Arizona State University.
“We eventually broke away and started our own organization that was very pro-Trump,” Thomas said. “We are Americans first; We are MAGA.”
Although not all members of College Republic United are members of the Fuentes group, there is still significant overlap, Isaiah told WIRED.
Thomas portrays the group as a relatively mainstream student body, but online evidence suggests otherwise: The book recommendation page on the College Republican Association’s website features two deeply anti-Semitic works : Protocols of the Elders of Zion and Henry Ford International Jewry: The world’s most important problem.
Another CRU member, Kevin Decuyper, recently was hired as an assistant to the far-right former sheriff Joe Arpaio,
“There are reasons why College Republicans United has been denounced by so many GOP organizations,” said Nick Martin, an investigative journalist who closely tracks extremist groups in Arizona and runs the online publication. Information provider. “The organization recommends that its members read discredited and debunked books filled with racist pseudoscience and conspiracy theories. Their guest speakers include white nationalists, neo-Nazis, Pizzagate peddlers, fringe political candidates, and rarely some parties True Republican.”
You can keep track of it all WIRED’s coverage of the 2024 presidential election is here.
