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Court Docs: Anti-Muslim Conspiracy Theorist Guandolo Attacked Sheriff

Do Blue Lives Matter? Maybe not as much to John Guandolo as money-making conspiracy theories.

John Guandolo is the disgraced, adulterous anti-Muslim conspiracy theorist who spoke in Rapid City and Aberdeen in June about the Muslim/Marxist bogeymen. Our Aberdeen fearmongers, some Rapid City pastors and family-values lobbyists, and even the leader of the South Dakota Republican Party think Guandolo is a praiseworthy expert on keeping America safe.

Anti-Muslim speakers (in suit jackets, at center) Chris Gaubatz (center left) and John Guandolo (center right), Aberdeen, SD, 2017.06.16.
Anti-Muslim speakers (in suit jackets, at center) John Guandolo (center right) Chris Gaubatz (center left), with Fall River County GOP chairman Phil Shively (third from left), Family Heritage Alliance boss Ed Randazzo (fourth from left), and ACT for America anti-Muslim organizer Amy Willson (second from right), Aberdeen, SD, 2017.06.16.

Yet just a couple weeks after his swing through South Dakota, Guandolo’s anti-Muslim hysteria apparently drove him to take a swing at Hennepin County Sheriff Richard Stanek:

Confidential court records sent to the Center for New Community (CNC) by an anonymous source indicate Guandolo was involved in an altercation with Hennepin County Sheriff Richard Stanek on June 28, 2017….

The Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office (HCSO) also confirmed the validity of the court documents to CNC staff on August 10 and provided a statement. “On June 28, 2017, Hennepin County Sheriff Rich Stanek was physically assaulted while attending the National Sheriffs’ Association Annual Conference in Reno, Nevada,” the statement reads. “John Guandolo, of Dallas Texas, was cited for battery. Guandolo was presenting at the conference on behalf of the ‘Understanding the Threat’ organization.”

“The Hennepin County District Court has issued a Harassment Restraining Order against Guandolo. The criminal investigation is being conducted by the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office,” the HCSO added [“Anti-Muslim Conspiracy Theorist Guandolo Assaults Minn. Sheriff at NSA Conference, Per Court Documents,” Imagine 2050, 2017.08.11].

Hennepin County Sheriff Rich Stanek
Hennepin County Sheriff Rich Stanek

Guandolo has publicly accused Sheriff Stanek of allowing the Twin Cities to fall into the hands of “a collaborative jihadist/marxist element.” Guandolo is mad that Sheriff Stanek has “refused briefings” (translation: not hired consultant Guandolo as less wise police departments have to put on his dog-and-sharia show for his officers) and has promised to “protect Muslims from ‘hate crimes and backlash’.” In their confrontation after Guandolo’s presentation to the National Sheriffs’ Association, court records indicate Guandolo let his frustration boil up into physical violence:

“The conversation became contentious” following Guandolo’s allegation and he began repeatedly stating he was a combat veteran, court records reveal. Stanek accordingly “stood up and announced that the meeting was over,” to which Guandolo responded by calling Stanek a “f[——] a[——]” before physically confronting the sheriff.

“[Guandolo] put the palms of his hands onto [Stanek’s] chest and forcibly pushed [Stanek] causing his head to snap backwards and fall into the wall behind him,” records also reveal. Guandolo then proceeded to throw “two closed-fist punches at [Stanek] striking him once in the area of [Stanek’s] left face/chin.” The court records indicate Washoe County, Nevada Sheriff’s deputies obtained surveillance video of Guandolo punching the sheriff [Imagine 2050, 2017.08.11].

Guandolo’s group cries no-I-didn’t-he did!, and appeals again to their catch-all conspiracy theories:

“The sheriff physically roughed up Mr. Guandolo after his demands for removal of critical comments from the UTT website were declined,” wrote John Andrews, a former Colorado state senator who describes himself as the chairman of UTT’s National Advisory board.

He added, “The whole thing appears to have been a setup instigated by Muslim Brotherhood sympathizers to impede UTT’s growing national influence as a truth-teller against jihad and sharia in the US homeland” [Antonia Noori Farzan,”Bill Montgomery’s Office Paid $70K for Anti-Muslim Speaker Now Accused of Assaulting a Sheriff,” Phoenix New Times, 2017.08.15].

That’s not the way the court saw it in issuing the restraining order against Guandolo, but hey, those judges are probably Muslim/Marxist sympathizers, too, right?

We’ve seen right here in Aberdeen how quickly people swallowing this racist, fact-free conspiracy-theory hysteria will leap up and threaten violence. Imagine 2050 recognizes that danger posed by Guandolo and the madness he peddles:

The incident is a disturbing example of the threat Guandolo’s conspiracy-laden anti-Muslim zeal poses. If someone like Guandolo, who UTT-produced materials identify as “a Special Deputy Sheriff in Culpeper County, Virginia,” can be so consumed with anti-Muslim fervor that he would attack a law enforcement officer he perceives as collaborating with his enemies, it raises concerns about all those participating in training courses led by him and his UTT colleagues [Imagine 2050, 2017.08.11].

When you’re preaching to fearful people that they are part of an all-out war for civilization and survival, the kind of apocalyptic conflict “that movies are written about,” you can slip into justifying almost any words and actions. Civility, law, and truth matter less than the all-consuming fear of total destruction on which you’ve built your identity (not to mention your income stream).

Americans First, Task Force, flyer, received by DFP 2017.09.08.
Americans First, Task Force, flyer, received by DFP 2017.09.08.

And citizens who would otherwise look askance at the faintest criticism of police will cheer a conspiracy theorist who punches a sheriff for promising to do his duty.

Whether Aberdeen’s and Rapid City anti-Muslim paranoiacs will bring Guandolo back to South Dakota is unknown. According to a flyer floating around town, Aberdeen’s anonymous fearmongers are bringing New Zealand witch hunter Trevor Loudon back on September 19 to recycle the dreary litany of Muslim/communist/socialist threats he offered here in May. Aberdeen High School Democrats are organizing a suitable non-violent protest. (Review the photos and video of their positive April action for appropriate signs and statements by civilized citizens who recognize that solutions to America’s real problems do not rely on fear, hate, or punching sheriffs.)

8 Comments

  1. Donald Pay 2017-09-09 09:49

    Well, there you have it. We know the SD Republican Party is corrupt, but they are also in bed with criminals and terrorists. Hey, Hillary was right. There is a fairly large basket of deplorable in the base of that party. When are the decent Republicans going to show these people the door.

  2. Rorschach 2017-09-09 09:54

    If a protection order is granted against Mr. Guandolo following a court hearing he may lose his right to possess firearms for a period of time. Mr. Guandolo would certainly have to spend time and money going to Minnesota to fight that. Sheriff Stanek appears to have complicated Mr. Guandolo’s life a bit. And that is in addition to the criminal charge Guandolo faces in Reno. He may just lose his gun rights permanently before this episode is through.

  3. Cory Allen Heidelberger Post author | 2017-09-09 11:19

    I have yet to throw a punch at a law enforcement officer or anyone else who disagrees with my characterization of their public positions on this blog. Perhaps the Americans First, Task Force should invite me to speak about civil discourse at their next haha-brew.

  4. Buckobear 2017-09-09 11:37

    I only wish that I had the lack of integrity and moral compass to sell this idiotic s%#$ to these wonderful god-fearing people.
    Maybe, the threat of transvite lesbians from the moon could get some traction ….. and the $$ would start rollin’ in.
    Of course then I’d come to my senses and probably have to prostitute myself and commit unspeakable acts with foreign merchant seamen for ten or twelve weeks just to regain my self-respect.
    Ah, bein’ a bear ain’t easy.

  5. Miranda Gohn 2017-09-09 12:09

    Sheriff Rich Stanek is well known within the MNGOP and earlier this year was expected to announce he would run for Governor but he chose not to.

  6. Kurt Evans 2017-09-09 17:14

    Cory writes:

    That’s not the way the court saw it in issuing the restraining order against Guandolo, but hey, those judges are probably Muslim/Marxist sympathizers, too, right?

    South Dakota judges have issued three restraining orders against me. One was based on a complaint that was dismissed before it went to trial. The other two were based on an alleged crime with which I was never even charged. A South Dakota attorney told me there are judges who approve requests for restraining orders without reading them.

    Having said that, though, I see the Star Tribune says John Guandolo is a former FBI agent. A former FBI agent who gets into a physical confrontation with a cop in a room full of cops would seem to have mental health issues that go beyond mere arrogance.

    “Buckobear” writes:

    I only wish that I had the lack of integrity and moral compass to sell this idiotic s%#$ to these wonderful god-fearing people.

    As a traditional pro-liberty Protestant, I regard most of this idiotic anti-Muslim “s%#$” as ridiculous, and I’m pretty sure other God-fearing people generally feel the same way. Cory is providing a valuable service by covering the story, and I’d encourage others to pay attention.

  7. Cory Allen Heidelberger Post author | 2017-09-10 09:25

    Kurt, we should certainly keep an eye out for whatever charges come from the investigation in Reno. But from the evidence presented, we have the sheriff’s department and the court indicating the altercation warranted a restraining order, and we have Guandolo’s side excusing it as part of a vast conspiracy. I’m leaning toward law enforcement’s explanation of what happened.

  8. Kurt Evans 2017-09-10 16:02

    Cory writes:

    I’m leaning toward law enforcement’s explanation of what happened.

    Oh yeah, I am too, strongly. I’m just not giving much weight to the restraining order as evidence.

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