FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
News from Progress Michigan
July 28, 2023
Contact: Denzel McCampbell, 313-400-0298, denzel@progressmichigan.org
New Report Links GOP Group Leader to White Supremacy
Progress Michigan calls on Michigan GOP leadership AGAIN to condemn Republican activist and leader Shane Trejo for his white supremacist and alt-right views
MICHIGAN – Shane Trejo, the former chairman of the 11th Congressional District Republican Committee and current Executive Director of the Grand New Party PAC continues to be exposed as a white nationalist and member of the alt-right.
This week, the Daily Dot released an article exposing messages from a group chat that Trejo was involved with. In the messages they are discussing neo-Nazi Richard Spencer leading a “Heil Trump” salute at a conference, where Trejo supported Spencer’s actions and refused to say he wasn’t a neo-Nazi himself. While this may seem shocking to some, this is par for the course for Trejo. He has a long history of supporting and praising white supremacists. He has even gone so far as to call the Charlottesville white supremacists “civil rights heroes.”
This article comes the day after Trejo’s Grand New Party PAC was suspended from Twitter for hateful conduct, including calling a local Mayor Pro-Tem and a state representative pedophiles. They regularly post hateful anti-LGBTQ+ conduct and spread misinformation about a variety of topics to their Facebook page. Multiple Republican state representatives are part of the Grand New Party efforts including Steve Carra, Angela Rigas, Neil Friske, Matt Maddock, and Jim Desana.
The Grand New Party PAC is also hosting an upcoming fundraiser to pay for legal fees for the Michigan Republican officials and activists who were recently charged with a false elector scheme by Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel.
“I can’t believe we have to say this: white supremacy is dangerous and no one who supports white nationalist views or courts their support should hold a position of power in our state,” said Sam Inglot, executive director of Progress Michigan. “Shane Trejo is a well-known figure in the MIGOP and right-wing activist circles in Michigan. While he no longer holds the spot as chairman of a Congressional District Republican Committee, he is still extremely active, including as the executive director of the Grand New Party PAC, which has hosted a number of events with Republican lawmakers in attendance. White supremacy and dangerous, hateful conduct should be denounced by all. The refusal of the MIGOP and its members to condemn Trejo and the Grand New Party tells us a lot about who they are and what they value. We don’t expect much from the MIGOP at this point, but at the very least they should condemn white nationalism and denounce the Grand New Party.”
###