A group of military veterans who support congressional challenger Ammar Campa-Najjar, the 29-year-old Democrat running against indicted incumbent Republican Duncan Hunter, held a news conference Saturday to counter right-wing attacks on the candidate they say unfairly smear him because of his race.

About 30 supporters of Campa-Najjar were met by about 30 demonstrators — with Hunter campaign signs — in front of the Veterans Museum at Balboa Park. The protest of the news conference was organized by Combat Veterans for Congress, the same organization Veterans for Ammar co-chair Shawn VanDiver said was behind the attacks on Campa-Najjar.

“Ammar has passed vetting and background checks,” VanDiver said. “He has a security clearance. He is not a threat to national security, and we all know that. This is just a racist attack on his heritage and the color of his skin.”

Those attacks include references to Campa-Najjar’s paternal grandfather, Muhammad Yusuf al-Najjar, who was connected to the Palestinian group behind 11 killings of Israeli athletes and coaches during the 1972 Munich Olympics. Yusuf al-Najjar died in 1973 — 16 years before Campa-Najjar’s birth.


The midterm race for the 50th District has captured national attention in recent weeks as Hunter faces corruption charges and it becomes less clear if he will be able to hold onto his seat in the Republican-heavy district.

VanDiver said he wanted to push back on the assumption that veterans are behind Hunter because of his service in the Marine Corps.

One by one, veterans took to the podium to talk about their reasons for supporting Campa-Najjar.

Christina Prejean, an Air Force veteran and former Democratic candidate for the 49th District, said more diversity was needed in the House.


“With more representatives like Ammar in congress, the priorities and the policies shift to be more inclusive of all of our population, not just a select few,” Prejean told the crowd, which consisted mostly of Hunter supporters.

Danny Jackson, who served in the Army for two years in Vietnam, asked the crowd to evaluate the candidates based on their values.

“You should think about integrity above a lot of things,” Jackson said.

Chris Dalton, who flew helicopters in Iraq in the Marines, talked about Hunter’s indictment, which accuses him and his wife of dipping into his campaign’s coffers and spending some $250,000 on personal expenses. The Hunters have pleaded not guilty.


“The people of the 50th District gave Duncan Hunter an opportunity to represent them in Congress,” Dalton said. “But the indictment makes clear (he) is in Congress to serve only himself.”

After their remarks, VanDiver took questions from Hunter’s supporters, which ranged from concerns over the candidate’s religion to whether he was a socialist.

Adrian Murphy, a 20-year Navy veteran, responded to some of the critiques from Hunter’s supporters.

“I don’t understand how you guys are willingly ignoring these things that are going on with Duncan Hunter,” he said to the audience. “Right now, with social media, people are exposed to so much they can’t process. Stop believing mess without doing your own research, please.”


Duane Siegmann, a retired Marine and Hunter supporter, agreed — in concept — with Murphy’s comment.

“You’ve got to research everything yourself,” he said. “You’ve got to connect the dots. We’ve had all these folks infiltrated into the United States, not accepted the Constitution, not assimilating or adopting American culture and American values. …They’re sleepers … and they strike out.”

Joe Mejia, an Army veteran and Hunter supporter who lives in the 50th District, said he had voted for Hunter before and was going to vote for him again.

“Duncan Hunter is the one,” he said. “You’re innocent until proven guilty — according to the other side, he’s guilty already.”


Mejia said he was unmoved by what Campa-Najjar’s supporters had said.

“The Democrats, in my view, are not good for the country,” he said. “They’re socialists, that kind of stuff. Welfare state. Take the taxes from you to give it to somebody else.”

Prejean was optimistic they were heard.

“I think they were listening,” she said. “I don’t know whether what I was saying was sinking in.”


She also responded to the critiques of Campa-Najjar’s family history.

“I think it’s ridiculous,” she said.

Contact Andrew Dyer via email or Twitter.