Wife of Ozarks Minutemen Founder Admits She Lied
By: Gerri L. Elder
Last December, Angela D. Wilburn called 911 and reported that she had been raped and shot by three Hispanic men. When police arrived, she told investigators that the immigrants had broken into her mobile home and that one of them sexually assaulted her before shooting her in the knee with a handgun, according to a report by Ozarks First.
Wilburn, 44, is the wife of a founder of the Ozarks Minutemen, an active anti-illegal immigration organization, and later admitted that she lied about the attack. Now she says that she heard a noise and grabbed her husband's gun in a panic. She accidentally shot herself in the knee as she reached for a flashlight. Deputies in Greene County, Missouri had spent more than 100 man-hours on the case, presumably looking for Hispanic immigrants who may have attacked Wilburn, when she confessed that the attack had been a figment of her own imagination.
Wilburn appeared in Greene County Associate Court on May 27, 2008 and pleaded guilty to making a false report. She will be sentenced for the class B misdemeanor charge on November 3, 2008 and could be sentenced to up to six months in prison and a $500 fine and she will be sentenced on November 3, 2008. The sheriff's department also plans to seek restitution from Wilburn for the time that was wasted looking for the fictional immigrants.
The fictional story that Wilburn told investigators in December was not the first time she had reported to police that she had been attacked by Hispanic men. On June 6, 2007 Wilburn told police that a trio of men in a white van, who happened to speak Spanish, attempted to abduct her as she was walking down a road. She reported that she fought off one of the men and was able to run away. Following her report, a statewide alert and a Crime Stoppers bulletin was issued. That case is still open, but investigators are not actively pursuing any leads.
In 2006, Angela's husband Brian Wilburn helped form the Ozarks Minutemen chapter in Missouri. The Minutemen chapters in the United States are volunteer groups that take it upon themselves to help immigration authorities by watching the southern border. The Minutemen groups also lobby for tough immigration laws and tighter border security and hold anti-illegal immigration rallies. The group strongly denies any allegations that they are racist.