MARIETTA - The New York City-based Anti-Defamation League released a report Tuesday that blasts an east Cobb anti-illegal immigration activist for allegedly using hate speech to trumpet his cause.

D.A. King, who heads the Marietta-based Dustin Inman Society, a coalition of citizens dedicated to secure American borders, dismissed the criticism.

"It's just more of the same for anybody who speaks out against illegal immigration," King said.

Titled "Immigrants Targeted: Extremist Rhetoric Moves into the Mainstream," the report claims to document rhetoric used by groups that position themselves as legitimate, mainstream advocates against illegal immigration.

"King has become accepted by many media outlets as a legitimate spokesman, but when the cameras aren't rolling, he uses hate-speech to characterize undocumented workers as a threat to the safety and well-being of American citizens," ADL Southeast Regional Director Bill Nigut said.

Nigut said there is a legitimate debate to be had about immigrants who enter the U.S. illegally. The ADL's problem is with those who use hate speech against such people, for it not only targets them, it smears an entire ethnic group.

"The Ku Klux Klan and neo-Nazis were not the only ones who saw an opportunity in the national debate over immigration to sow the seeds of racism as a means to derail immigration reform, ADL National Director Abraham Foxman said.

"While reasonable people can disagree about border control and appropriate parameters for immigration reform, the debate has been tainted by the virulent anti-immigrant message employed by a handful of groups. The real victims in this are Hispanic-Americans and other immigrants who are being unfairly targeted, demeaned and stereotyped."

One example the report cites of King's alleged hate speech, is when he supposedly told attendees at a Newton County Republican Party meeting in April 2007, that undocumented immigrants are "not here to mow your lawn - they're here to blow up your buildings and kill your children, and you, and me."

But King denies the saying the remark, which the report cites third-hand.

King cited a quote by the late Barbara Jordan of Texas, who served as the first black woman from a Southern state in the U.S. House.

King quoted Ms. Jordan as saying, "Those who should get in, get in; those who should be kept out, are kept out; and those who should not be here will be required to leave - deportation is crucial."

Said King: "One can only wonder what the well-funded, far-left people who are in a minority would said about the late Barbara Jordan's recommendation on illegal immigration."

Jerry Gonzalez, executive director of The Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials, weighed in on King's acceptance by mainstream critics.

"What also is disturbing is that you have Georgia Legislators defending Mr. King's rhetoric. In addition, you hear many state and local elected officials also using the same language described in this report," Gonzalez said, noting how King has served as a proxy speaker for state Sen. Chip Rogers (R-Woodstock) when Rogers is unavailable for speeches.

King denied the claim, saying that he has "never been a 'proxy speaker' for Rogers," though he "would be proud to do so."

Rogers fired back at Gonzalez Tuesday evening, saying he "considers (him) to do nothing but spew hate speech."

Asked about the attacks on King, Rogers said, "I've never seen anything he's done that's proven to be false."

Other groups highlighted in the ADL report include Mothers Against Illegal Aliens of Phoenix; the Federation for American Immigration Reform of Washington, D.C.; Choose Black America; You Don't Speak for Me; Americans for Legal Immigration Political Action Committee of Raleigh, N.C.; and Grass Fire of Maxwell, Iowa.

jgillooly@mdjonline.com

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