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Arizona Pinal County vigilante Jason Todd “J.T.” Ready
(AZ central) – J.T. Ready, the avowed White supremacist and militant critic of illegal immigration who authorities believe was the gunman in Wednesday’s multiple murder-suicide in Gilbert, cut a swath through Arizona politics before — and after — it became apparent he represented the far-right fringe of the political spectrum.
Along the way the barrel-chested former Marine became entwined for a time with one of the state’s most powerful political leaders and appeared on the radar of at least two national groups that track potentially violent extremist movements for his views and armed patrols of the Mexico border.
Authorities believe Ready, 39, shot and killed four people in a Gilbert home before turning a gun on himself.
Ready was allied briefly with former state Senate President Russell Pearce, and the two posed together for photographers during an anti-illegal-immigration rally at the state Capitol in June 2007. By the next year, as Ready’s ties to neo-Nazi and White supremacist groups became more apparent, Pearce disavowed him.
Marc Pitcavage, national director of investigative research for the Anti-Defamation League, said the group has long been aware of Ready’s activities. The group’s website describes Ready as a “neo-Nazi and anti-immigrant extremist,” tracing his activities in Arizona from 2004 onward.
Southern Poverty Law Center – J.T. Ready In His Own Words
“This is a white, European homeland. That’s how it should be preserved if we want to keep it clean, safe, and pure.”
— Ready speaking at a National Socialist Movement rally in Oct. 24, 2009
- Salon: The neo-Nazi who allegedly killed five people was once praised as a “true patriot” by Russell Pearce
- Pinal Democratic Party Statement on Candidacy of Jason (JT) Ready for Pinal County Sheriff
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."
