And Hell Followed With Her by Neiwert, David. (Nation Books,2013) [Hardcover]

by David Neiwert

It began with a frantic 911 call from a woman in a dusty Arizona border town. A gang claiming to be affiliated with the Border Patrol had shot her husband and daughter. It was initially assumed that the murders were products of border drug wars ravaging the Southwest until the leader of one of the more prominent offshoots of the Minutemen movement was arrested for plotting the home invasion as part of a scheme to finance a violent antigovernment border militia.And Hell Followed With Crossing to the Dark Side of the American Border is award-winning journalist David Neiwert’s riveting account of the life and death of America’s Minutemen—and the terrifying story and psychology of movement leader Shawna Forde. A compulsive and brilliant portrait of cold-blooded killers and true believers, And Hell Followed With Her is at once a horrifying crime story and a frontline report on America’s nativist foot soldiers.

Genres: Nonfiction, True Crime, Politics, History, Race, Social Justice, Historical

Unknown Binding

First published January 1, 2013

Reviews

[Nicole Belle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I couldn't read parts of this book without putting it down and getting physically away from it. Not because it was poorly written, but the opposite: Neiwert did such a good job of bringing poor little Brisenia Flores to life that my gut just ached at the injustice.

I realized that my own life has been so sheltered that I couldn't conceive of communities like the one Shawna Forde created. The hell of living with that level of hate and paranoia! The worst thing is that Shawna Forde and her followers are merely the logical end of a growing para-militia movement that has infiltrated the thinking of the extreme right wing / tea party / ultra-conservative media.

And Hell Followed with Her is an intense and scary read, but a must read for those who wonder how our political discourse has gotten so violent, so extreme.

[David Neiwert · Rating 5 out of 5]

As the person who wrote the book, obviously I like it a great deal.

I will say this about the writing process: I put everything I had into this book. It took me a month to recover afterward.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book interesting. It is sad and depressing considering the subject matter is the brutal murder of a nine-year old girl and her father in their home. The author makes an interesting case that the rhetoric surrounding the Minutemen anti-imigrent movement attracted the kind of unstable sociopaths, like Shawna Forde. An interesting, but sad look at a pointless and brutal murder.

[Caitlin]

A true crime story about Shawna Forde and her efforts to raise money for her own Minutemen militia through murder and mayhem. I love true crime, but this didn't do it for me. Too much detail on the history of the Minutemen movement, but presented in a dry way. If this book were more personalized with insight into the lives of the people affected by the crime, it would have been a lot better.

[David Caldwell · Rating 1 out of 5]

I won a copy on Goodreads Firstreads.

The book starts with the recounting of the 911 call of Gina Gonzalez.A group of individuals had invaded her home, killed her daughter and husband and had shot her.the invaders were led by Shauna Forde.Shauna was a radical element of the Minuteman organization.The author shows how Shawna with the backing of the Minuteman planned and carried out the racist murder.

Bias should be kept away from somethings.A boss giving a worker a performance review, a judge listening to a case,a journalist reporting the news, or a reviewer writing a review.so unlike the author of this book, I am going to try to remain unbiased while writing my review.

So the question is how did the author do?I will further break that down into 1) did he show that Shawna was a racist sociopath? 2)wss the Minuteman organizations responible for Shawna's actions? 3)was the Minuteman nothing more than racist fearmongers targeting Latinos?

Shawna is defintely a sociopath.She committed her first felony at age 11.She lied ,conned, and manipulated her way through life.The author recounts many of her schemes and cons.He even tells of her probable murder of her own daughter and attempt to have one of her many husbands killed to get his money before he divorced her.While neither were ever proved, it is fairly evident that she is guilty of both actions.The starnge thing is most of the people Shawna targetted in her schemes were not minorities.In fact quite a few of her victims were her own family and the members of the Minuteman.It truly seems that Shauna only sees people as those who can help her in her search for more money and excitement or victims.In fact, there is a large overlap in the groups.So yes he proves she was a sociopath capable of horrific actions, but not necessarily as a rascist.She would probably have gladly joined any group that let her abuse others for whatever reasons.

Shawna's group of invaders consisted of herself, another psychopath (who may or may not have been an official member of the Minutemen, the author is vague on this.The man was definitely a neo-nazi),a local Latino gopher for drug dealers trying to wipe out a fellow drug dealer(At first the author tries to make it sound like Junior is toatlly innocent of this,but then later shows it is true.), and a fourth unidenitied Spanish speaking man.By this point, Shawna had alienated many in the Minuteman organization ,unfortunately the two founders were not part of this group.Shawna was obsessed with getting money by ripping off drug dealers.She repeatedly lied about her actions to everyone for the most part.So yes the Minuteman are responsible for giving Shawna a platform but i still think a majority of the blame resides on Shawna alone.

The Minuteman movement was a diaster waiting to happen from the moment it started.The founders were both basically narcissistic conmen out to make a quick buck and grab the spotlight.I do not necessarily get the feeling that the cause mattered so much as the attention.So jumping on the bandwagon of immigration reform seemed to fit the bill quite handily.Since neither Gilchrist or Simcox really cared about the organization beyond its meeting their own needs, neither put in any of the work necessary to make it work.The goal of nonconfrontational watching of the border was never going to be possible if they didn't keep extremists out.Unfortunately this was not done.Both gentlemen misappropiated funds and ran multiple scams.So many people who got into the group were rascists whackos who should be smacked at the very least.The author implies all of the Minutemen were rascists out to bash Latinos.I am sorry but I never believe any group is totally black or white.As shown after the conviction of Shawna and her fellow murders, several groups dropped out of the organization.It is hard to believe none of these groups were actually well-meaning decent people who just joined a bad organization.Maybe this is a strange thought, but since the border being watched is the US/Mexico border, isn't the most common "border crosser" going to be a Latino?

Now let's look at the actual writing.I found the writing to be dry and rambling.It often sounded like he was talking down to the reader.At one point, the author is talking about Shauna going to a meeting when he suddenly stops and talks about several other meetings that Shauna attended(none of which had anything to do with the first meeting) and then almost 6 pages later picks up where he left off with the first meeting.Things are repeated and often modified in the retelling.the best example is the version of the home invasion at the beginning of the book and the version near the end.The author has the annoying habit of using badly written messages to prove how stupid the person he is talking about is.(Usually Shawna who only had an IQ of 86.)Unfortunately as a trained journalist, some of the authors writing are not that great either especially considering his book supposedly had a copy editor.Let's look at some since he seems to think it is okay to do it to others.From page 85-"Symbols that if you know-you know, it's not as obvious as a swastika or even some of the more well-known
neo-Nazi symbols, but if you know, you know."(Why not just go wink, wink, nudge, nudge?)From page 155 comes my favorite.Read it carefully. "Shawna was not a good mother, though she took great umbrage if you hinted otherwise and often loudly pronounced her love for her kids."(She takes great umbrage if you hint she is otherwise than NOT a good mother.so in plain words according to that sentence if you told Shawna she was a good mother, expect her to get mad. Oops.)There was even an instance where the author combined 2 complete sentances and combined them by sticking the word and between them.Now it has been quite awhile since I was in school but isn't that considered a run-on sentance?(Run-on sentances were another thing the author would point out as proving people were not that intellectual.)

As previously noted the author is extremely biased.The problem with being blatantly obvious is the same a sbeing a known frequent liar.Even when you are making a good point, people will always examine it to see if it has been spun to meet your particular bias.This is one of the reasons politicians and journalist are often so polarizing.If you share the bias, it validates you.If you have a different bias, it is vicious propaganda spewed by obvious wrong-thinkers.(Thank you for the reference Mr. Orwell.) So how did the author's bias effect the book? First he extends the faults of some to the entire group.(Isn't that racism?)Since part of the Minutemen were rascists, all of the Minutemen were rascists.Futhermore since Minutemen were extreme right wingers, all conservative right wingers must also be rascists.(From page 233-As with most conservatives,Forde was dismayed at the election of a black Democrat,Barrack Obama,... .True he says most.But I think if you ask most conservatives if they would be any happier with Barrack Obama if he were white, the answer would be a strong negative.They weren't upset because he was a BLACK Democrat so much as he was a black DEMOCRAT.)In another section he is describing an encounter betwen some Minutemen and some protestors.While he supposedly faithfully reports every word said by the Minutemen, the protestors are allowed to get away with 'one of them made a sarcastic remark'.The author takes great umbrage with the phrase "illegal aliens".He says aliens is dehumanizing and the "border crossers" are only illegal because of outdated laws.according to my dictionary alien id defined as a PERSON born in and owing allegiance to a country other than the one in which he lives(distinguished from citizen).Sorry but that would fit and doesn't call that subhuman.To me an outdated law is something like you can't eat peanuts in church.(yes that is a real law that is still on the books.)Do the immigartions laws need to be changed/fixed? Yes.But I do not think throwing the doors(borders for the literal minded) open to all until reasonable procedures are established.The authoris fond of saying that all of the taxes paid by undocumented immigrants more than pays for any benefits they recieve.The problem with that is it is only true for those who actually have taxes taken out of their wages.I don't see many day workers not being payed under the table.It is also an unfortunate fact that if someone is willing to hire an undocumentated immigrant, they don't really have a problem skipping paying their full share of taxes by paying under the table and other nefarious acts.Someone who can make enough to support an entire village by working in America for a few months, will readily agree to be paid in cash(and usually less than minimum wage or at least what American workers would cost in addition to no benefits)especially if they are told are told it is "better" for them.If they complain, all the best they can hope for is losing the job.Are there rascist Republicans? Of course, just as there are rascist Democrats.Don't forget many KKK memebers were Democrats while Martin Luther King Jr was a Republican.Overall if the author had managed to contain even some of his blatant bias, I would have been able to accept more of what he says without wondering how many details were covered over by his broad brushstrokes.

In the last chapter of the book,the authorshows how the Minuteman organization basically fits the profile of a psychotic personality.The entire time he was pointing out the points of his arguement, I could not help of thinking of the American political system(Republicans and Democrats).Let's see.They both have a named enemy they are trying to eliminate.They both exaggerate their own deeds while decrying the deeds of the other.And so the list went on.If the Minutemen was a psychotic organization, then so is the American political system as we know it.

Finally,I had some confusion in how the author reported Gina's account of the events when police first interviewed her.He makes a point to show that she had originally made a mistake when giving her daughter's age because she was close to having a birthday.this seemed perfectly reasonable considering the circumstances.But then he glosses over 2 points that seemed much stranger.By far the strnger of the 2 was that while talked about Albert being a great friend of the family who often ate dinner with them and picked up their daughters, she did not know his last name.In fact she gave the wrong last name for him.I find it very hard to believe that a mother would let a man that she did not know his name spend time alone with her 2 pre-teen daughters.Naturally she denied Junior's involvement with the drug trade.The author as well says it should be discounted because it just makes it Junior's fault for being killed.That is not the point though.Albert's motive for going along was to eliminate a rival of his drug dealing bosses.If there is an alliagtor in the swimming pool, it doesn't mean it is any safer to swim in the shallow end.The Mexican drug cartels are definitely a mean, large alligator and even the shallow end of marijuana smugglers are no longer safe.I have a strong feeling the drug trade was the motive of the fourth man as well.It is also possible that this fourth man threatened Gina and her older daughter which might explain why she did not reveal Albert's full identity at first.I would also have liked to have heard if the drug trade still continues in Arivaca and if its residents are as quick to turn a blind eye.

I can not recommend this book due to the author's obvious bias making it at least suspect in parts.Also he rambles and uses such a dry approach, that what should be a gripping account of a truly horrific act that reading the book becomes almost tedious.I am truly dissappointed considering this comes from a professional journalist.What should have been the telling of a largely overlooked event become just another piece of political propaganda.

[Brett · Rating 4 out of 5]

In my eyes, David Neiwert remains criminally under-read. His work has been enormously educational to me on a variety of topics related to far-right political movements in the U.S. This book is another excellent offering from Neiwert.

It's structure is similar to his earlier Death on the Fourth of July, in that it uses a high profile violent incident in order to explore deeper issues related to racial tensions and deep seated hatreds in our communities. In Death on the Fourth of July, the inciting incident was an attempted hate crime against Asian Americans in Washington state. In And Hell Followed with Her, it is the murder of a Latino family in an Arizona border town.

The opening and closing sections of the book, which deal with the murders directly, are gripping and heartbreaking reading. The middle of the book charts the rise and disintegration of the "Minutemen" border patrol militia, and the motley crew of self-aggrandizing con men and hucksters who always seem to be associated with far-right political movements. This middle section doesn't have the same propulsive energy of the other parts of the book - it can be a little dry at times to learn about the internecine disputes within the anti-immigrant movement. Still, it is fair minded and full of good information.

Immigration has obviously become an issue of intense interest in the years since this book was published in 2013, preceding Donald Trump, caged children, and the anti-immigrant miasma that has become part and parcel of our political discourse. And Hell Followed with Her is a good primer on the road that has ultimately led us to where we are today. It puts a human face on the consequences of hateful rhetoric and reminds us of the long and sordid history of nativist political movements in our country.

[Rita · Rating 4 out of 5]

Niewert delves into the operations of the various Minutemen organizations that were very active around 2005 to 2012 in setting up citizen patrols of the U.S. borders, particularly, the border between Mexico and the U. S. I was somewhat surprised to learn that they were also concerned about patrolling the borders between the U.S. and Canada under the guise of stopping drug smuggling though nothing seemed to actually happen there. This book focuses upon the killing of father and daughter in their home in Arivaca, AZ, masterminded by a deranged Shauna Forde. Although this is the lynchpin of the book, it is more about how the Minutemen groups worked, especially two of the most notable groups led by Chris Simcox and Glenn Spencer. It is also an indictment of how the media was tricked into publicizing and giving importance to these groups and their activities. Many recognizable names are mentioned as supporting the minutemen groups, including that of Rep. Tom Tancredo from Colorado.

[Laurie Parsons Cantillo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this book NOW for a better understanding of the far-right underworld, border militias, and the racism and violence that fuels today’s anti-immigrant movement. The parallels between the infamous 2009 murders of a father and his 9-year-old daughter in a small Arizona town and the terror being inflicted on immigrants today are hauntingly familiar.

While published in 2013, “And Hell Followed With Her” reminds us that, “We can choose to find real, common sense solutions to the challenges of immigration that respect the dignity of immigrants, rather than the punitive, destructive, and ultimately futile twin courses of mass deportation and military characterization of the American border. We can choose retain our humanity. As long as we do that, nativists and their politics of inhumanity will not win.”

[Marc · Rating 4 out of 5]

I remember the Minuteman Militia from the 60s-70s. But the folks in this book are a completely different breed from a later time. In the post-fact universe we now occupy, these folks epitomize the phenomenon of "my beliefs about reality are just as valid as everyone else's" A large swath of our citizenry take no responsibility for assessing real facts vs pulled from the sky facts. This landscape leaves wide open territory for agenda-driven charlatans. The two key characters in this book, the convicted murderers, epitomize this phenomenon.

The book is well-written, and especially thorough. Some might call it too long and detailed but I think that in order to make the case the author struck the correct balance of detail.

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This includes insight into how some people form their biased mindsets. For some, maybe mental health treatment would help. Others who think immigrants are ruining our country...not sure how to counter them.

[Sandy Barnhart · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a very fascinating look at who was really behind the Minutemen down at the border - but there were various spots in the book where I felt it would have been a good ended - and then it just kept going.

[Meigan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. Absolutely heartbreaking.

First, let me say my heart absolutely breaks for poor Brisenia and her family. This was a real eye opening novel about current day "Minutemen", or more aptly, giant bigot A-holes,who are acting out their own form of vigilante justice in the form of hatred, racism, and extreme and unnecessary violence in the areas surrounding the US / Mexico border.

This novel is a real life account that consists of 2 types of stories. The main part is the true life account of the Flores-Gonzalez family in which their home in the border town of Arivaca, Arizona was violently invaded and some family members killed (9 year old Brisenia being one of them.) by a group of people who were followers of the Minutemen. This group was led by Shawna Forde, also known as White, because she hates any other kind of person except whites (which is primarily why she harbored such a strong dislike for Pres Obama, which is also explained in the book). That right there shows you what a "lovely" woman she is. Gina Gonzalez was shot, but not fatally wounded. Junior Flores was fatally shot, as was their daughter, Brisenia. The only bright spot (and that isn't even saying much in the face of this much horror) is that their eldest daughter had the good fortune to be staying with her grandma at the time of the invasion, outside of Arivaca. As the story progresses, we learn that this was a test of sorts planned out by Shawna Forde to see how "tough and ready" her recruits were. Again, "lovely" woman.

The second type of story involved in this book is the history of the Minutemen and some key members and why the group was formed. It was basically created with the roots of hatred and racism and quite a bit of fanaticism, trying to keep "border jumpers" out of the US. I liked the history lesson, and while it delved a bit deep, I wasn't bored with it. There was also quite a bit of journalistic information in the story, including the sources that covered the Arivaca disaster and Shawna Forde's reign of terror, including the bill SB 1070, which was brought to Congress shortly after the events in Arivaca. The book gives a small amount of info on said bill and how it was lobbied back and forth between Congress, Obama, and the state of Arizona and the outcome of the bill. Eventually, the police find and arrest Shawna and the book nicely chronicles her trial and her conviction.

This was such an eye opening story, it really was. I've known there was violence on the border, but I just knew the cusp of it. I had no idea it was as terrible as it is right here in our own country being acted out by American citizens who have the nerve to say their actions are "in the best interest of the US". My ass, they are. This book made me angry, and I am rightfully ashamed of my ignorance.

I would definitely recommend this book. Next time you think you have it bad, think again.

**I received a complimentary copy of this eARC on behalf of Basic Books Group via Netgalley in exchange for my honest feedback and review. I was not compensated.

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

The ‘her’ in this case is Shawna Forde and the hell she wrought was self-evolved from a young age. From a troubled life as an infant that eventually lead to teenage prostitution and more than a dozen arrests Shawna grafted and drifted through life until she found a belief, a desire that she could control and make her own, the protection of the borders of the United States at all costs.
Her very beliefs led to the down-spiral that her life evolved into and finally spiraled out of control. Heiwart introduces her to us as she and her band of ne'er -do-wells commitment a home invasion in the tiny Arizona town of Arivaca, murdering in cold blood the man of the house, his nine year old daughter and severely wounding and wife and mother. With broad stokes of description we are given a story that is as intriguing as any suspense novel, tightly woven around the facts behind this true-crime drama.
We are introduced to the Minuteman Project and given a superbly well researched history of history of the modern-day phenomena that sprung to new life after that fatal day that planes crashed into New York’s twin towers. And we are given a background on one of America’s last stalwart Wild West towns, the dusty burb of Arivaca, just twelve miles from the Mexico where a life of smuggling over the border, whether it was drugs or humans, is given a blind-eye or at least disregarded by the locals as normal for the region.
When the two elements finally combined they caused a combustible nativist explosion that led to a showdown from a private militia with the drug runners of area and blew wide open the true nature of a bigoted, psychopath and her delusionary hold on the border watching movement.

[Celina · Rating 3 out of 5]

The heart of this book is the murder of little Brisenia Flores and her father by white-trash monster Shawna Forde in the border community of Arivaca, Arizona, in 2009. The author intersperses chapters of this true-crime story with extensive research on what appears to be every bit of racist vermin from Bellingham to the Mexican border. No doubt that is valuable, but I didn't have the stomach to do more than skim the Minuteman chapters.

The most interesting insight for me is that many border vigilantes don't necessarily come from a long line of racists or fascists; Neiwert describes Shawna Forde, for one, as having been a "Clinton Democrat" before she found a source of attention and drama in the Minuteman movement, which shows how fluid the allegiances of so-called deplorables can be. The author's conclusion in the last chapter that the border-vigilante movement is defunct or at least dormant is sadly optimistic, written as it was before 2016.

[Sherry · Rating 3 out of 5]

Subtitled 'crossing the dark side of the American border'.

Tells the story of the 'minuteman' movement of recent years in organizing border patrols at the Mexican and Canadian borders. And of the 'wackos' that the movement naturally attracted.

Among them was Shawna Forde, a psychopathic, who became involved and subsequently masterminded a murder of a Latino family. The father of the family did deal In smuggling marijuana, but was an American citizen of a few generations.

Very good read.

[Miller Sherling · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good stuff. Not what I would want to spend my energy researching--too depressing/despair-inducing. There really are people out there, in every state in the union, who put their energy into nurturing the worst parts of their human nature. Scapegoating is such a hideous quality in a person. Author weaves chronicle of a movement almost Monty-Python-esque in the silliness and predictability of its splintering and rebranding of shards around a single narrative thread of one appalling crime that he convincingly argues is a predictable outcome of such well-practiced hatefulness.

[Jay Kanta · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting, but repetitive. How much of the book is written from evidence and how much is inferred from the author's experience and imagination are not absolutely clear. Neiwert is obviously an advocate and is taking that position right from the beginning.

[Heather Jaynes · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book did educate me about the minutemen movement which I had previously known little about. I do really like the title and the cover.

[Bill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very thorough account of the minutemen border militias and the extreme right-wingers attracted to the cause.