Former Neo-Nazi to Run for Pinal County Sheriff as a Democrat

PHOENIX - A well known former Neo-Nazi has his sights set on the Pinal County Sheriff's office now that the current Sheriff, Paul Babeu plans to run for Congress and J.T. Ready wants the job.

In a move that surprised many people, Ready switched political parties and plans to run as a Democrat.

He filed the paperwork to form an exploratory committee and according to the campaign's Facebook page, he's already started talking with voters.

"This is a white European homeland..that is how it should be preserved if we want to keep it clean, safe and secure," said Ready at a Neo-Nazi rally back in 2009.

On Ready's Facebook page, there's a picture of him posing in front of Malcolm X Street, holding up his right fist.

Close to our border, Ready is a leading member of the U.S. Border Guard, a group of usually armed volunteers who patrol the U.S.-Mexico border.

He got his first taste of politics back in 2006 while running for the Mesa City Council.

"The fact that a Neo-Nazi, then a member of the National Socialist Movement, the largest Neo-Nazi group in America, was working its way into mainstream politics was very, very frightening," said Bill Straus of the Anti-Defamation League.

Ready appears to be taking his campaign seriously by running as a Democrat, he'll need less than 300 signatures by April 30 to qualify.

"J.T. Ready is one person that I would be very, very weary of, regardless of the field, endeavor or industry," said Straus.

Following our 5 p.m. news report, Ready talked about his campaign for Sheriff.

Ready has run immigration sweeps of his own down in the Vekol Valley -- an area known for having dangerous drug runners.

One would assume that his platform would be immigration enforcement, and we asked about him about negative name recognition and how that could hurt his campaign.

FOX 10's Dan Spindle asked, "Isn't that guy a racist? Isn't that guy a Neo-Nazi? When they bring up those words with your name, what do you say?"

Ready replied, "Make sure you spell the name right, that's most important thing -- name recognition. We appreciate the that and that I'm not going to be a guy that's just called names and crawls under the table with his tail tucked between his legs. I'm already bulletproof in that. I've presented that with the U.S. Border Guard -- an all volunteer group, that's 100 percent volunteer that takes every race, creed, nationality, you know that you can think of."

When asked about past statements that he made about the concerns from the Anti-Defamation League, Ready claims his current actions with his immigration group, allows people of all different races and creeds to join him in the fight against illegal immigration.

He says his actions may speak louder than what he might have said in the past and says he's not a racist, and hopes that the people of Pinal County will support him.

Ready says his past statements are not important.

"I've actually proven with my actions that I can do this job and do it well, you know and do it color blind and that's the most important thing.

He wants voters to recognize her personal quest to track down drug traffickers and illegal immigrants.

Straus has been keeping an eye on Ready ever since that City Council run and says a Ready campaign is a scary thought.

"J.T. hasn't changed very much. He's just trying to find different formats, different contexts into which he would like to..place himself," said Straus.

"I think most people realize that the ADL is a joke, you know organization and anybody who listens to them really needs to consider some other sources," said Ready.

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