It must be nigh-impossible for the nicotine-stained brain of California Coalition for Immigration Reform president Barbara Coe to keep up with all the conspiracies (Reconquista, evil Muslims, the Cult of the Two Blue Shoes) she subscribes to. Nevertheless, we always dismissed her efforts and rambles as those of a bitter, hate-filled woman–until this weekend, when we received proof of Coe's beyond-the-pale mind from Babs herself.
On April 5, Coe forwarded a story to her group that interviewed one Ted Gunderson. He claims to have found proof that former Palm Springs congressman Sonny Bono didn't die in a skiing accident in 1998 but was murdered for knowing too much.
Coe praised Bono to CCIR members in her forwarded message as “an outspoken American patriot who worked tirelessly to halt the illegal alien invasion of our nation AND focused his efforts on halting illegal aliens bringing drugs and weapons into the U.S.” and said a CCIR member “shared his belief that Sonny was murdered and begged for an investigation” but was “ignored by both the mainstream media and members of Congress.”
“Ted Gunderson is a highly respected former FBI agent who is known for not opening his mouth until he has the FACTS! YOU DECIDE!” Coe wrote. “And do I care whether or not this has been 'confirmed by SNOPES' – No, I do not as I am sharing breaking news AND background data!”
Who is Gunderson? Thought you'd never ask!
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Ted Gunderson is one of the most notorious figures in American conspiracy theories circles. He first made a name for himself in the 1980s as a self-proclaimed expert on Satanic cults he said were sacrificing more than 4,000 people a year across the United States. In 1989, according to an Orange County Register story published that year, he told a group of residents, “There's no doubt in my mind that you all in Orange County have a very active satanic cult,” and claimed “at least one satanic group with 13 to 19 members meets in the Newport Beach and Laguna areas.”
A couple of years later, Gunderson announced to the world he had found the much-mythologized tunnels that played a key role in the McMartin preschool trial scandal. Unsurprisingly, no one believed him. Over the years, he has also stated that the United States government intentionally bombed the World Trade Center in 1993 and the Oklahoma City federal building in April 1995, in order to remove our rights through anti-terrorism bills, that tens of thousands of children are kidnapped yearly for purposes ranging from organ harvesting to prostitution to literal sacrificial lambs for Satanists, and that the Illuminati rules the United States government (click here for some of his many videos, and a brief profile from the Southern Poverty Law Center). Gunderson spoke just last month in Newport Beach, at the annual convention of conspiracy-lovin' Freedom Law School alongside 9/11 Truthers, folks who say you don't have to pay taxes, and reporters for Holocaust-denying newspapers.
Look, I'm as much a Coast to Coast guy as anyone–and that's why I'm highly skeptical of anything Gunderson might advocate, since he was once sued by Art Bell for insinuating Art was a pedophile. So for Coe to believe Bono was killed because Gunderson says so means CCIR is in more trouble of becoming irrelevant than ever. Not that we mind, though…
