Christopher Allen Simcox, the co-founder of the vigilante border group Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to six felony counts related to child molestation.
Video and still photographers were present at the Maricopa County, Ariz. Superior Court, which evidently bothered Simcox. When Judge Casey Newcomb asked if there were any objections to the presence of two media pool cameras, Simcox immediately answered in the affirmative, according to the Phoenix New Times. The public defender representing Simcox then submitted a formal objection in order to “prevent any public influence” on the case, but the judge ruled that the cameras could stay.
Simcox, who briefly challenged Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) in a 2010 Republican primary, was arrested last month on suspicion of child molestation. Once a notable figure in the border vigilante movement, Simcox’s arrest followed years of being largely out of the public eye.
The arrest clearly troubled his erstwhile allies. Former Arizona Senate President Russell Pearce, who worked closely with Simcox on Arizona’s tough immigration law, said last month that the accusations against the Minuteman leader were “disturbing to say the least.”
