Activist Shawna Forde charged in double slaying

An outspoken anti-immigration activist who was at the center of a series of violent crimes in Everett earlier this year now stands accused of the home-invasion killings of an Arizona man and his 9-year-old daughter.

Shawna Forde, 41, and two associates in her Minuteman American Defense group are charged with two counts of first-degree murder, one count of first-degree burglary and one count of aggravated assault, according to the Pima County Sheriff’s Department in Arizona.

The May 30 killings were believed to be premeditated and part of a plan to steal money and drugs to finance the Minuteman group she leads. Forde’s own family said that the woman weeks ago had discussed using robberies to raise money for her cause.

Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik told the Green Valley News and Sun that Forde was trying right up until her arrest Friday “to get together a large amount of money to further sophisticate the type of operation she’s interested in.”

Forde denied the charges.

“No, I did not do it,” the newspaper quoted her saying as she was led out of the sheriff’s office in front of reporters Friday afternoon.

Raul Flores, 29, and his daughter, Brisenia, 9, were killed when a group of armed people, including a woman, forced their way into the home. The child’s mother traded gunfire with the attackers. She survived but remains hospitalized with gunshot wounds.

Pima County officials said the intruders had been looking for the couple’s other daughter to shoot her, too, but she wasn’t home.

Forde was arrested without incident in Sierra Vista, a few miles from the Mexican border.

Also charged in the case are Jason Eugene Bush, 34, who was being treated for a gunshot wound he is believed to have received during the attack. He has a history of auto theft from Chelan County, in Eastern Washington. The third defendant is Albert Robert Gaxiola, 42.

Pima County Sheriff’s Department spokeswoman deputy Dawn Barkman told The Herald that Forde “was the ringleader of this group and of this attack. She made the order for Bush to go in and shoot these individuals.

“She’s just truly an evil person to do something like this,” Barkman said.

Detectives believe there are additional suspects and are aggressively continuing their investigation, Barkman said.

The shootings occurred in the tiny hamlet of Arivaca, about 60 miles south of Tucson and 10 miles north of the Mexican border, an area of heavy illegal traffic in drugs and people.

It is in an area where Forde and her group, Minuteman American Defense, regularly operate. The group claims to conduct desert surveillance and undercover investigations aimed at curbing illegal immigration and drug smuggling.

Forde has been active in the Minuteman movement for years, although even before Friday’s arrest, many groups and leaders kept their distance.

Before she headed to Arizona earlier this year to start another season of prowling the desert with her group, she made it clear that she was preparing for violence.

“I will stay the course and lead in this fight with every once (sic) of strength and conviction I have,” she wrote in an e-mail message to supporters. “I will not waist (sic) it on matters that do not pertain to this very mission. It is time for Americans to lock and load.”

Forde has a long and troubled history in Snohomish County, including juvenile convictions for felonies, prostitution and other street crime. Some of her past was recounted by The Herald in a profile that appeared Feb. 22.

Forde was at the center of a flurry of violence that began Dec. 22 when her ex-husband was shot in his Everett home. A week later, she reported being beaten and raped by strangers at the same house.

On Jan. 15, Forde was found in a north Everett alley with apparent gunshot wounds.

She claimed the violence was all retaliation for her activities targeting criminal groups operating on both sides of the border between Mexico and the U.S.

The cases here remain under investigation by Everett police.

Forde’s ex-husband was seriously wounded during the Dec. 22 shooting. Reached Friday, he was distraught hearing that a child died. He declined to comment on his former wife.

Forde’s mother, who lives in California, said she was not surprised to hear of her daughter’s arrest.

Rena Caudle said Forde visited her before heading to the border this year. She talked of staging home invasions, Caudle said.

“She sat here and said that she was going to start a group where they went down and start taking things away from the Mexican mafia,” Caudle said. “She was going to kick in their doors and take away the money and the drugs.”

Caudle said she wasn’t sure what to make of that at the time, in part because Forde has a history of exaggeration and lying.

Then, early on May 30 — a few hours after the shootings — Caudle said, Forde called her and reported she was taking refuge in a “safe house” in Arivaca.

Forde “was very frightened,” Caudle said. “She says, ‘I’m in hiding.’ I said, ‘What is going on?’ She said. ‘You won’t believe what is going down here … The mafia, they are kicking down doors and they are shooting people and they are looking for me.’”

Pima County sheriff’s Lt. Michael O’Connor told reporters in Arizona that Raul Flores had connections to Mexican drug cartels and his involvement was known to the Drug Enforcement Agency.

People in the Minuteman movement reacted to news of the arrests with sadness — and some contempt for Forde.

Jim Gilchrist, president of the California-based Minuteman Project and a longtime Forde ally, said his group is separate and “we disassociate any affiliation between her, her organization and ours.” On Friday he posted a message of condolence to the victims’ families.

Jeff Schwilk, founder of the San Diego Minutemen and an outspoken critic of Gilchrist, said he and others long ago recognized that Forde was unstable and dangerous. He said Gilchrist should have done the same.

“The warning had been out in Arizona to stay away from this woman,” he said. “Unfortunately, this conclusion was very tragic.”

Scott North: 425-339-3431, north@heraldnet.com.

Related stories

Suspect in murders headed Minuteman group, from the Green Valley News and Sun

TV news report on the arrests, from KOLD13 in Tucson, Ariz.

Border militia activist one of three charged in Arivaca double murder, from KOLD13 in Tucson, Ariz.

Man, young girl killed in So. Ariz. home invasion, from the Associated Press

Woman who survived Ariz. home invasion shot back, from the Associated Press

Previously in The Herald

Forde has a long and troubled history in Snohomish County. Some of her past was recounted by The Herald in a profile that appeared Feb. 22.

Forde was at the heart of a flurry of violence that began Dec. 22 when her ex-husband was shot in his Everett home. A week later, she reported being beaten and raped by strangers at the same house.

On Jan. 15, Forde was found in a north Everett alley with apparent gunshot wounds.

That violence remains under investigation by Everett police.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

A firefighter stands in silence before a panel bearing the names of L. John Regelbrugge and Kris Regelbrugge during the ten-year remembrance of the Oso landslide on Friday, March 22, 2024, at the Oso Landslide Memorial in Oso, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘Flood of emotions’ as Oso Landslide Memorial opens on 10th anniversary

Friends, family and first responders held a moment of silence at 10:37 a.m. at the new 2-acre memorial off Highway 530.

Julie Petersen poses for a photo with images of her sister Christina Jefferds and Jefferds’ grand daughter Sanoah Violet Huestis next to a memorial for Sanoah at her home on March 20, 2024 in Arlington, Washington. Peterson wears her sister’s favorite color and one of her bangles. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
‘It just all came down’: An oral history of the Oso mudslide

Ten years later, The Daily Herald spoke with dozens of people — first responders, family, survivors — touched by the deadliest slide in U.S. history.

Victims of the Oso mudslide on March 22, 2014. (Courtesy photos)
Remembering the 43 lives lost in the Oso mudslide

The slide wiped out a neighborhood along Highway 530 in 2014. “Even though you feel like you’re alone in your grief, you’re really not.”

Director Lucia Schmit, right, and Deputy Director Dara Salmon inside the Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management on Friday, March 8, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
How Oso slide changed local emergency response ‘on virtually every level’

“In a decade, we have just really, really advanced,” through hard-earned lessons applied to the pandemic, floods and opioids.

Ron and Gail Thompson at their home on Monday, March 4, 2024 in Oso, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
In shadow of scarred Oso hillside, mudslide’s wounds still feel fresh

Locals reflected on living with grief and finding meaning in the wake of a catastrophe “nothing like you can ever imagine” in 2014.

Imagine Children's Museum's incoming CEO, Elizabeth "Elee" Wood. (Photo provided by Imagine Children's Museum)
Imagine Children’s Museum in Everett will welcome new CEO in June

Nancy Johnson, who has led Imagine Children’s Museum in Everett for 25 years, will retire in June.

Kelli Littlejohn, who was 11 when her older sister Melissa Lee was murdered, speaks to a group of investigators and deputies to thank them for bringing closure to her family after over 30 years on Thursday, March 28, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘She can rest in peace’: Jury convicts Bothell man in 1993 killing

Even after police arrested Alan Dean in 2020, it was unclear if he would stand trial. He was convicted Thursday in the murder of Melissa Lee, 15.

Ariel Garcia, 4, was last seen Wednesday morning in an apartment in the 4800 block of Vesper Dr. (Photo provided by Everett Police)
Everett police searching for missing child, 4

Ariel Garcia was last seen Wednesday at an apartment in the 4800 block of Vesper Drive. The child was missing under “suspicious circumstances.”

The rezoned property, seen here from the Hillside Vista luxury development, is surrounded on two sides by modern neighborhoods Monday, March 25, 2024, in Lake Stevens, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Despite petition, Lake Stevens OKs rezone for new 96-home development

The change faced resistance from some residents, who worried about the effects of more density in the neighborhood.

Rep. Suzan DelBene, left, introduces Xichitl Torres Small, center, Undersecretary for Rural Development with the U.S. Department of Agriculture during a talk at Thomas Family Farms on Monday, April 3, 2023, in Snohomish, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Under new federal program, Washingtonians can file taxes for free

At a press conference Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene called the Direct File program safe, easy and secure.

Former Snohomish County sheriff’s deputy Jeremie Zeller appears in court for sentencing on multiple counts of misdemeanor theft Wednesday, March 27, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Ex-sheriff’s deputy sentenced to 1 week of jail time for hardware theft

Jeremie Zeller, 47, stole merchandise from Home Depot in south Everett, where he worked overtime as a security guard.

Everett
11 months later, Lake Stevens man charged in fatal Casino Road shooting

Malik Fulson is accused of shooting Joseph Haderlie to death in the parking lot at the Crystal Springs Apartments last April.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.