Mesa, Ariz. — A group of Americans First, Republican students and a Christian nationalist pastor were handing out hamburgers and hot dogs to voters in Phoenix on Tuesday, but only if they voted for former President Donald Trump.

The barbecue took place about 100 meters from a polling station – and it was probably illegal.

The effort was organized by the far-right group College Republicans United, in association with the Patriot Party of Arizona. It started right after voting opened at the Mesa Convention Center. Groypers, as supporters of white nationalist Nick Fuentes call themselves, helped hand out hot dogs, hamburgers and cold drinks. Manning the grill was Pastor David MacLellan, a Christian nationalist pastor who is the chaplain of the Arizona Patriot Party and subscriber to extremist ideology of the Black Robe Regiment.

“We’re handing out hot dogs and hamburgers to those who are doing the right thing, voting for Trump,” MacLellan told WIRED.

Isaiah, a self-identified gryper who did not want to give his last name, confirmed that the group was only handing out food to Trump voters, but added: “(The food is) specifically for Trump voters , but we welcome others if they do. I want to come and change your mind.

Providing food to a specific group of people at a polling location is a violation of federal law.

“Not only is it illegal to only give to voters for a candidate, but we cannot limit it to only voters. it must be made available to all people in the area, including children and others ineligible to vote, to avoid violating federal law against vote buying,” said Rick Hasen , professor of law at UCLA, told WIRED: citing the same rules that Elon Musk was accused of violating his million dollar ballot.

The Arizona secretary of state’s office, which sets rules for behavior at polling places, did not respond to a request for comment.

The group College Republican United was started in 2018 by Rick Thomas, who is also a member of the Patriot Party of Arizona. Thomas told WIRED that he started the group out of frustration with the Republican student group that was in place at Arizona State University.

“We eventually broke off and formed our own organization that was very pro-Trump,” Thomas said. “We are Americans first, we are MAGA.”

While not everyone in College Republican United is a member of Fuentes’ group, there is significant overlap, Isaiah told WIRED.

Thomas described the group as a relatively traditional student group, but online evidence indicates otherwise: The book recommendations page of the College Republican United website features two deeply anti-Semitic works: The Protocols of the Elders of Zion and The International Jew : The World’s Foremost Problem by Henry Ford.

Another CRU member, Kevin Decuyper, was recently hired as an assistant to former far-right sheriff Joe Arpaio,

“There are reasons why College Republicans United has been denounced by so many Republican organizations,” says Nick Martin, an investigative journalist who closely tracks extremist groups in Arizona and runs the online publication. The informant. “The organization recommends that its members read discredited and debunked books filled with racist pseudoscience and conspiracy theories. Their guest speakers have included white nationalists, neo-Nazis, Pizzagate hucksters, fringe political candidates, and, rarely, actual Republicans.

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