OCEANSIDE —— An Oceanside man and anti-illegal-immigration advocate who helped organize the controversial Minuteman Project's border watch announced Monday that he was breaking ties with the group.

James Chase said he was severing ties with the Minuteman Project because of "personal problems" with founder Jim Gilchrist and co-leader Chris Simcox.

Gilchrist blamed the schism over "e-mail catfights," while Andy Ramirez, leader of a Chino-based anti-illegal-immigration group who quarreled with Chase, said Chase "lacked credibility" as a movement leader.

Officials from the San Diego chapter of the American Friends Service Committee, a Quaker-based immigrants-rights group that has criticized the Minuteman Project as vigilantes who have complicated —— and not helped —— border problems, could not be reached for comment.

Early Monday, an unidentified female answering Chase's telephone answering machine said Chase's only statement would be, "Character counts. And character, or the lack of it, is the reason that Mr. Chase is cutting ties to both Gilchrist and Simcox."

Later in the morning, in a terse telephone conversation, Chase himself said the break was because of "personal problems" among the men.

Asked if he still intended to lead an anti-illegal-immigration watch with his own organization —— the USA Minutemen —— in Campo in July, Chase said, "No. I quit."

Chase formed the organization following his return from the Minuteman's border watch to the Arizona desert.

Before he was told of Chase's "character" comments, Gilchrist said the breakup was because Chase "wanted to do his own thing." He said Chase, a Vietnam veteran who helped organize and carry out the group's April border watch that caused a national media frenzy in Tombstone, Ariz., had a ”strong entrepreneurial spirit."

But after hearing the character comment, Gilchrist said the breakup was linked to a "catfight" among Chase and other, unnamed Minuteman leaders.

Gilchrist said an unnamed leader had printed critical —— and personal —— comments about Chase on the Minuteman Web site last month, and that Chase called to yell at Gilchrist about the personal attack.

Gilchrist said he pulled the attack off the Web site and reprimanded the culprit. But it was apparently too late.

Gilchrist said the Minuteman Project, and the anti-illegal-immigration movement, has been hampered by "pissing fits" among a minority of its members.

"They create trouble within our ranks by infantile hissy fits," Gilchrist said while dismissing Chase's comments. "Sounds like a personal problem. But it's on Jim's (Chase) part, not mine. I still speak highly of him and I still feel that as far as out in the field, he was very reliable.

"As for what he's done since then to cause all this angst brought against him," Gilchrist said, "Well, I guess he brought it on himself."

In recent months, Chase had sparred with Ramirez, the Chino leader of another anti-illegal-immigration group called the Friends of the Border Patrol.

The two —— whose groups planned to jointly lead a Minuteman-styled border watch in East San Diego County in July —— initially had a falling out over the name of Chase's group.

Before he renamed his group last week, Chase had named his group the U.S. Border Patrol Auxiliary.

Ramirez also told reporters that he began avoiding Chase's telephone calls in April after Chase allegedly said he wanted to use "snipers" in his border surveillance —— an allegation that Chase said was "misunderstood."

Ramirez said Monday that he was not surprised by Chase's announcement to sever ties with the Minuteman Project.

Ramirez repeated his charge that Chase said he wanted to use snipers. He also said that Chase advocated using homeless people to bolster the volunteer border-surveillance teams.

Ramirez said many homeless people have "psychological problems," and that Chase's suggestion "scared the hell out of" other leaders and law enforcement officials.

"I expected it (Chase's quitting), because at a number of meetings I've had with him and just watching his statements … he has no credibility in my book," Ramirez said.

Gilchrist, meanwhile, said he would be surprised if Chase has indeed decided to divorce himself from the anti-illegal-immigration movement.

"I think he just burned out," Gilchrist said.

Contact staff writer Gig Conaughton at (760) 739-6696 or gconaughton@nctimes.com.