Police Raid Home Of Former Minutemen Spokeswoman

SAN DIEGO, Calif. -- San Diego police raided the home Thursday of the former spokeswoman for the San Diego Minutemen movement.

Christie Czajkowski, 34, was the spokeswoman for the organization until Super Bowl Sunday. She was also the organization's chief videographer, recording illegal immigration issues and activities across the country.

Police seized her disks, cameras and computers.

The seizure is in connection with an investigation into recent vandalism at a migrant encampment in Rancho Penasquitos, investigators said.

A dramatic, physical confrontation took place Sunday between Czajkowski and Minutemen founder Jeff Schwilk. The confrontation was caught on tape and later posted on the Internet, NBC San Diego reported.

The tussle took place on Super Bowl Sunday at Schwilk's Oceanside home.

As Czajkowski's camera rolled, the two erupted in a verbal exchange. On the tape, Schwilk is seen striking the camera. The two then continue to fight, and the tape ends with profanities being spoken.



NBC San Diego reported that after the camera stopped rolling, Czajkowski ended up on Schwilk's driveway and left after police officers arrived.

The next day, Schwilk filed a domestic violence complaint in support of a temporary restraining order. His court papers filed state the two had been dating.

The documents also claim that Czajkowski threatened to kill herself in Schwilk's driveway. NBC San Diego reported that she had her two children with her, who could be heard crying in the video.

The video has been posted on the Internet.

E-mails obtained by NBC San Diego indicate the fallout was over who owns the rights to videos that Czajkowski shoots at protests and later posts on the organization's Web sites.

Czajkowski told NBC San Diego she hadn't seen the restraining order and had not considered filing a domestic violence complaint because it was just "a lover's quarrel."

Schwilk declined a request for an on-camera interview but said he agrees with an assessment by Czajkowski that the search-warrant raid was a fishing expedition that might lead police to erasing video evidence of authorities violating the Minutemen's civil rig

Source: NBC