It was reported yesterday that a Michigan resident with ties to hate groups had given $3000 to Colorado Representative Tom Tancredo. But now there is another donor with alleged links to white power. And he’s living in Colorado.
According to FEC records, Fred Elbel, a software engineer and co-chair of the group Defend Colorado Now, gave $1319 dollars to Tancredo in 2004. Currently, Elbel is facing criticism for a racist e-mail message he authored, and his connections with white supremacists.Besides being involved with Defend Colorado Now-a group that was trying to get immigration litigation on the state ballot-Elbel is also the spokesman for the Colorado Alliance for Immigration Reform (CAIR), a group responsible for posting anti-immigration billboards around Denver.
A new report put out by the Center For New Community is claiming that Elbel, while working with an advocacy group to overthrow the Sierra Club’s Board of Directors, sent out an e-mail saying the following:
The study also points to Elbel’s relationship with Brenda Walker, who worked with him to defeat (unsuccessfully) the Sierra Club board and replace it with immigration-focused directors. Walker posts on numerous websites, and was quoted saying that the “belief that all cultures are equal-the central tenet of multicultural society-does not bear even the most cursory examination.”
Another cited connection is with Virginia Abernethy, who used to be an advisor to CAIR and was found to be connected with two white supremacist publications, including one published by the Council of Conservative Citizens, The Citizens Informer.
According to the Defend Colorado Now website, Tom Tancredo filed one of the group’s attempted initiatives in December 2003. The donation by Elbel came less than a year after, in September.
