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News Briefs
Ismael
Ileto, Bonnie Jouhari and Morris Casuto To Speak at Cal State-San
Bernadino May 19th Ismael
Ileto, whose brother Joseph Ileto, was senselessly murdered by a
neo-Nazi spree killer, Bonnie Jouhari, a civil rights activist who was
targeted by the KKK and white supremacists on the web, and Morris
Caputo, a leading expert on hate crimes, hate groups and responses to
hate violence from the Anti-Defamation League, will be keynote
speakers at a Center for the Study of Hate & Extremism and
Hatemonitor.org conference on May 19 at Cal State-San Bernadino. An Inland
Empire conference on Hate Crime—Characteristics and Community
Responses is co-sponsored by the Western Inland Empire Coalition
Against Hate, Catholic Charities of San Bernadino/Riverside and the
Diocese of San Bernadino/Riverside.
Ileto,
whose brother was a postal worker targeted because he was non-white,
has dedicated his life to ridding the world of the hate that hurt his
family. This self-proclaimed “regular guy” created an
organization in his brother’s name called “Join Our Struggle,
Educate to Prevent The, Instill Love, Equality, Tolerance for Others
(Joseph Ileto). His
tireless advocacy has lead him to speak before numerous conferences
and universities, as well as leaders from the President on down.
He is a member of the Attorney General’s Commission on Hate
Crime and has appeared in the national media. Jouhari, who was
targeted by white supremacists and the KKK, was targeted by them for
intimidation for her activism. She
fought back in the Courts and won a one million dollar judgment. Casuto, who is
the regional director for the Anti-Defamation League, San Diego, is a
sponsor of the San Diego Hate Crimes Registry.
Casuto is one of the nation's leading experts on hate crime,
hate groups, and responses to hate violence. As longtime director of
San Diego's Anti-Defamation League he led crucial efforts to expose
and monitor some of the nation's most notorious hatemongers. He was
also instrumental in establishing a regional anti-hate network in San
Diego that has become a national model. He is a member of the Attorney
General's Commission on Hate Crime, White House Conference on Hate
Crime and the recipient of numerous awards. Mr. Casuto's expertise has
been featured in national and local media and he is one of the ADL's
most popular speakers. Other speakers at the conference include Prof. Brian Levin, Criminal Justice Department, Calif. State Univ., San Bernardino, Director, Center for the Study of Hate & Extremism; Captain Michael Kinsman, San Bernardino Police Department, Co-Chair, Western Inland Empire Coalition Against Hate; David St. Pierre, Riverside Human Relations Commission, Co-Chair, Western Inland Empire Coaltion Against Hate; Dr. Robert Gill, University of California, Riverside and Board Member of the Western Inland Empire Coaltion Against Hate. Nebraska SC Ups Award to Teena Brandon's Family 4/29The Nebraska Supreme Court raised the award that Sheriff Charles Laux must pay to the family of Teena Brandon. Brandon was the inspiration for the movie, "Boys Don't Cry." Laux, the former sheriff of Richardson county, was told by Brandon that two men had raped her after Brandon, a cross-dressing woman, after they learned of her true sex. Approximately two weeks later, the two men killed her while two witnesses watched at a farmhouse in Humboldt, NE. Brandon's mother sued the sheriff and a lower court said that Laux was partially responsible for Brandon's death. The sheriff did not arrest the men after the rape report, place Brandon in protective custody and called Brandon "it." The lower court awarded Brandon's mother $17,361 and said that Brandon was 1% responsible for her own death. The judgment was appealed to the Nebraska Supreme Court. The Court rejected the finding that Brandon was responsible for her own death and ordered the lower court to award Brandon's mother $80,000 and to determine an amount to compensate her for emotional distress. Hillary Swank won an best actress Oscar for her portrayal of Teena Brandon in "Boys Don't Cry." NCAA Events Denied to Mississippi 4/29The NCAA has cancelled championship events in Mississippi because the Confederate symbol is on the state. Events which teams earn, such as regionals and subregionals will not be cancelled because these are based on competitive records or seeding. Events, like the NCAA basketball final rounds would not be awarded to the state. Three Arrested in Washington Heights Synagogue Fire 4/29Three teens were arrested in an arson fire on Friday, April 27 in Washington Heights NY. The teens had set fire to a Sukkah, a wooden hut built for the Sukkot holiday. No one was hurt. The men, Jose Ortega, 18, Christopher Nunez, 19 and a 15 year old juvenile, set the firs at Congregation K'Hal Adath Jeshurun at 8 p.m., just as the 350 congregants were beginning a silent prayer. One person smelled smoke and raced out of the building with another congregant. They tried to catch the teens, but they ran away. The flames from the fire rose two stories high and burned the building's back wall. The Torah, which was rescued from the Holocaust, was removed from the building congregants inside the building. Firefighters doused the blaze within 15 minutes. The fire broke windows and damaged the cement on an outside wall. Although a police spokesman said this was a simple vandalism, the treasurer of the congregation said that he "suspected an anti-Jewish flavor to that kind of fire when it's set at the back of a synagogue," according to the New York Post. Two Arrested
in 1969 Murder of Black Woman in York PA 4/28
Two members of the
white supremacist Newberry Street Boys were indicted on April 26th
in the shooting of Lillie Belle Allen on July 21, 1969 during York
PA’s race wars. Indicted by a grand
jury were brothers Arthur Messersmith and Robert Messersmith. They were arrested on Thursday.
The grand jury has said that at least 11 people may be charged
in Allen’s murder. Allen, who was
visiting family in York P, was shot as the car she was riding in took
a wrong turn, went through a police barricade and ended up on Newberry
Street. According to an
affidavit that supported the charges against the Messersmiths, Allen
was in a car that went into an area populated with white males, many
armed with guns. When the people in the car saw the armed males, they panicked
and made a right turn onto railroad tracks and the car stalled.
When the driver could not get the car started again, Allan said
she’d take over driving, and when she exited the car, Allen was
shot, struck by a bullet in the right side of her chest.
She died at York Hospital a short time later from the gunshot
wound. The case was reopened
in 1999 when law enforcement received new information and a grand jury
was empanelled to hear evidence in this case and the murder of York
City Police Officer Henry Schaad.
The trigger for the
York riots was the murder of Taki No Sweeney on July, 1969.
Sweeney survived the shooting.
Robert Messersmith was arrested and subsequently convicted of
shooting Sweeney. The
rioting led to the shooting death of Officer Schaad during the
rioting. A white supremacist
rally the day before the killing of Allen occurred in a York park,
which was attended by three York gangs, including the Newberry Street
Boys. An unnamed police
officer attended the rally and screamed, “White Power” at the
rally, and told those present to take any weapons they had to Newberry
street. The unnamed
police officer said, “If I weren’t a cop, I would be leading
commando raids against niggers in the black neighborhoods.”
This same police officer is accused of providing ammunition to
the Newberry Street Boys. York Mayor Charles
Robinson has said that he was at the white supremacist rally, and that
he held up a fist and said, “white power,” but denies he provided
ammunition to the Newberry Street Boys or did anything to influence or
incite any armed person to violence. Witnesses said that they saw Arthur Messersmith shoot at the car Allen was in. In addition to his conviction for shooting Sweeney, Messersmith was also convicted of shooting a pedestrian, Charles Keener, in November, 1972. Keener was shot in the left leg and hand. Messersmith served nine months for that shooting. Chevie
Kehoe Wants New Trial for Murders of Arkansas Gun Dealer, Family
4/28 Chevie
Kehoe, who, with his brother Cheyne, was in a nationally televised
shootout with police in Ohio, has asked for a new trial on his
conviction for murdering a Tilly, Arkansas family.
Kehoe was convicted of the murders in 1999 in the federal court
in Little Rock, Arkansas. Kehoe
and Danny Lee were convicted of the murder and robbery of gun dealer
Bill Mueller, his wife, Nancy, and her daughter, Sarah Powell.
The jury said that Kehoe and Lee murdered the family to fund
their movement to destabilize the government and establish a racially
pure enclave in the Northwest. The
family’s bodies were found approximately six months after their
January 11, 1996 murder in a bayou near Russellville, Arkansas in
June, 1996. The
motion for a new trial is based on an affidavit from Bufford McDonald,
who said he was living along the bayou in a camper during the time the
family was murdered. McDonald
said he witnessed two white men get out of their vehicle and toss
three heavy bundles into the water.
McDonald said in the affidavit, “I was able to exclude Chevie
Kehoe or Daniel Lee Graham as either one of the individuals” who
dumped the bodies into the water.
McDonald said he saw the recovery of the family’s bodies on
June 28, 1996. McDonald
said he was in jail with Lee, and that Lee “made inferences” as to
the identities of the murderers, but Lee did not implicate himself or
Kehoe. McDonald said he
had been in contact with federal authorities, but did not testify
before a grand jury investigating the matter.
Defense attorneys for Kehoe say they “were never made aware
of McDonald’s existence prior to trial.”
Neither Kehoe or Lee confessed to the murders. Kehoe and Lee are serving life sentences for the murders. Killer of Idaho Game Wardens Denied Parole 4/28 Claude
Dallas, serving a 30 year prison sentence for the killings of Idaho
Fish and Game Wardens in 1981, was denied parole after Dallas informed
the parole board that he would rather stay in prison that comply with
rules of parole. “I
don’t need a babysitter or anyone holding my hand.
I can’t see the need to be placed in a county supervision
program,” Dallas said in a story in the Idaho Statesman.
“I can leave prison with you people having some control over
me or I can leave in four years with no strings attached, “ said
Dallas. “My god, I will not submit (to drug testing).
I’ve set my mind on this.
I see more threats on my civil rights from the damn government
than all the drug lords on the face of the earth.” Dallas
was asked if he felt any remorse for the shooting deaths of game
warders Wilson Conley Elms and Bill Pogue.
Dallas said, “My feelings are my own.
They don’t belong to the state of Idaho.”
Pogue’s
brother said that Dallas “was not a hero.
He is a cold blooded killer and he will kill again.
He is a psychopath. He
is a murdering bastard. He
will do it again. He is a
rattlesnake.” Dallas
murdered Pogue and Elms at his high desert camp in a remote area of
Idaho over a poaching dispute. Dallas
was accused of taking game out of season.
Dallas shot both men, returned to his tent, retrieved a rifle,
then shot both men in the head. He
left Elms’ body in a river and buried Pogue at another spot in the
desert. Dallas was
charged with first degree murder, but was convicted of second degree
murder, claiming he shot the officers in self-defense.
At the trial, Pogue drew supporters from Idaho and Nevada that
said he was a throwback to the Wild West.
As
a prisoner, Dallas has refused 18 drug tests because he said they
invaded his privacy. Dallas
also said that he should be able to possess guns after his release
from prison because he was incarcerated prior to a law that bars
convicted felons from possessing guns, and that the law doesn’t
apply to him. Dallas will complete his sentence on February 6, 2005. Prosecutors
Rest Case in Birmingham Bombing 4/27 Prosecutors rested
their case on Saturday after jurors heard testimony from an FBI
informant, Mitchell Burns. Burns said he agreed
to become an FBI informant after agents showed him morgue pictures of
the girls who were killed in the bombing.
Burns allowed FBI agents to place a tape recorder in the trunk
of his car in which he and Tommy Blanton rode around and went bar
hopping in 1964 and 1965. On one of the tapes
played for the jury, Blanton was heard saying, “they ain’t gonna
catch me when I bomb my next church.”
Burns asked Blanton about the Sixteenth Street bombing asking
Blanton, “how did you do that, Tommy?”
Blanton replied, “It wasn’t easy, I tell you.”
The jurors heard 15 of the Blanton-Burns tapesl. In other tapes,
Blanton refers to the Sixteenth Street bombing frequently, along with
bombings in general, racial hatred and hatred of the FBI.
Blanton’s home and phone were also tapped. Burns said in an
interview with ABC’s “20-20,” that Blanton always drove on their
nights out and he frequently went by the Sixteenth Street Baptist
Church. “It was like he
got a charge out of it,” said Burns.
Burns testified he
was active in two Ku Klux Klan groups, but wasn’t a racist or made
racial slurs except when playing a part on the tapes with Blanton. Burns participated in cross-burnings and did not help law
enforcement solve the church bombing. In other testimony,
the sister of Addie Mae Collins, one of the murder victims, testified.
Sarah Collins Rudolph was with her sister in the church
basement with the other victims, Cynthia Wesley, Carole Robertson and
Denise McNair, when the bomb went off.
“Denise asked my sister to tie her sash….when I looked
toward them all of a sudden I heard this loud explosion,” said
Rudolph, who lost an eye in the bombing.
“I called out to my sister, ‘Addie, Addie, Addie.’
I didn’t see her again.” The father of Denise
McNair, Chris McNair, said he saw the body of his daughter, his only
child at the time, in the morgue on the day of the bombing.
There was a piece of mortar mashed in her head, “ McNair
said. McNair identified a
piece of cement as the same piece of cement that was removed from his
daughter’s head. On Monday, Blanton’s defense attorney will ask the judge for a directed verdict of acquittal, although these motions rarely granted. Blanton’s attorney expects the trial to go to the jury after his defense sometime on Tuesday or Wednesday. Once
Potent Militia Movement Fading into the Background, Experts Say 4/27 In an article
which will be published in the Summer 2001 Intelligence Report from
the Southern Poverty Law Center, the militia movement, once at 858
groups in 1996, has faded to 196 groups in 2000, said experts on the
militia movement. “As Timothy
McVeigh goes to his death, the movement he sprang from is a shadow of
its former self,” said Mark Potok, editor of the SPLC’s
Intelligence Report and a respected expert on far right extremism.
McVeigh will be executed on May 16. Militias have
shrunk to one-fifth of their former strength.
“There is an elastic pool of self-perceived politically
disenfranchised conservative white males,” said Prof. Brian Levin,
Professor of Criminal Justice & Director, Center for the Study of
Hate and Extremism, California State University, San Bernardino.
“That pool has shrunk after the Oklahoma City bombing as the
more moderate adherents to the movement were drawn back into
mainstream conservatism, in part due to the revulsion from the
bombing, and some notable conservative political victories,” Levin
said. There has been no
notable trigger event of government force like Ruby Ridge or Waco
to galvanize the far right; Ruby Ridge occurred in 1992. Waco occurred in 1993. “Furor
over gun control, Waco and the Brady Bill has faded,” said Potok.
Levin said, “What is left is a much smaller number of
hard-core idealogues who face increasing competition in the extremist
world from other expanding movements like neo-Nazism.” “Hot social movements don’t have a very long shelf life,” said Potok. McVeigh
Targeted Former AG Janet Reno, Others 4/27/01 Former Attorney
General Janet Reno was under consideration as an assassination target
by convicted Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh prior to bombing of
the Murrah Building, according to a letter from McVeigh received by
Fox News. McVeigh said he
also considered targeting Judge Walter Smith, who was the judge in the
Waco trial, and Lon Horiuchi, an FBI agent who was involved in the
Ruby Ridge, Idaho shootout with Randy Weaver. McVeigh said he
picked Reno as a “eligible” target
because he wanted Reno to “mak[e] her accept responsibility in deed, not just word” for the deaths that occurred at the federal
raid at the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas.
McVeigh said he
bombed the Murrah Building in Oklahoma City because “such an attack
served more purposes than other options.
Foremost, the bombing was a retaliatory strike; a counter
attack, for the cumulative raids (and subsequent violence and damage)
that federal agents had participated in over the preceding years
(including, but not limited to, Waco), Mcveigh wrote in a letter to
Fox News reporter Rita Cosby. “I
decided to send a message to a government that was being increasingly
hostile, by bombing a government building and the government employees
within that building who represent that government.”
McVeigh is not allowed on-camera or on-tape interviews with the media under federal prison rules announced by Attorney General John Ashcroft. McVeigh will be executed by lethal injection on May 16, 2001. Prosecution
Plays 1964 Tape in Birmingham Bombing Trial 4/27/01 Prosecutors
played a tape secretly recorded of Thomas Blanton’s comments that
include planning of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church bombing in
1963. FBI agents had placed a device in the back wall of
Blanton’s kitchen. Prosecutors
described Blanton’s response when his wife asked him if he was going
to a Cahaba Bridge on a night before the September 15, 1963 bombing. Blanton’s wife
asked Blanton if he was going to the river.
Blanton responded with words that included “plan a bomb.” Court spectators couldn’t tell what else was on the tape
with some certainty. Judge James Garrett refused to provide
transcripts to the press. Jurors
were given transcripts and followed along while they heard the tapes
on headphones. Prosecutor
Doug Jones, a federal prosecutor appearing specially, said the tape
also includes Blanton saying that Klansman and Blanton had met under a
bridge to plan the church bombing. Defense attorney
John Robbins said that the tapes were not a smoking gun and that
prosecutors took Blanton’s comments out of context.
Robbins said the comments were concerning FBI agents hounding
Blanton. The Cahaba Bridge
was the location for a spinter group of the Eastview 13 klavern.
Along with klaverns in Bessemer and Tuscaloosa, the Birmingham
klavern was a main klavern of Robert Shelton’s United Klans of
America, according to the Birmingham News.
The splinter group, consisting of Blanton, Robert “Dynamite
Bob” Chambliss, Bobby Cherry, Troy Ingram, John Wesley Hall, Charles
Cagle, Herman Cash and Jack Cash.
The barbecue joint of Jack Cash had been a favorite hangout of
Birmingham police and KKK members.
The Birmingham klavern was accused of participating in the
beatings of Freedom Riders in Birmingham on Mother’s Day in 1961;
planned to stab Rev. Fred Shuttlesworh, a Birmingham civil rights
leader after a federal judge ordered desegregation; were suspects in
the December 1962 bombing of Shuttlesworth’s church, Bethel Bible
Baptist Church. William Jackson testified that the Cahaba Bridge group met to make bombs in the weeks prior to the church bombing. NJ
Supreme Court Justice Will Not Be Impeached Over Racial Profiling
4/27 New Jersey State
Supreme Court Justice Peter G. Berniero won’t be impeached by the
New Jersey legislature over allegations he lied about the extent of
racial profiling in the state. The
matter will be referred from the state assembly to the senate, then to
the state supreme court for disciplinary hearings.
The acting governor, Donald DiFrancesco, said he would ask the
senate to censure Verniero. Verniero, while he was attorney general, is alleged to have acknowledged the extent of racial profiling among state police or take sufficient action during his term as attorney general of the state. Murder
or Suicide?
Texas Legislator Asks for an Investigation 4/27 Texas
state representative, Ron Wilson, has requested an investigation of
the death of Clarence Otis Cole, whose body was found hanging from a
tree in East Texas earlier in April.
The family said that Cole was killed because he was dating a
white woman; the Cass County coroner said that Cole had committed
suicide. Cole had been missing for several days before his body and a suicide note was found on April 2. Cole was found hanging from a pine tree with an electrical cord in a wooded area. Hearing-Impaired Child Allowed to Sign on Bus 4/27A
hearing-impaired child from Branchburg NJ who was barred from using
sign language on her school bus because it was “disruptive” and
told that if she used sign language aboard the bus would result in a
three-day suspension, will be allowed to use sign language aboard the
bus as long as she obeys safety rules.
The Branchburg school district was barraged with calls and
e-mails from people who questioned the ban on sign language. Missouri KKK Member Challenges Hate Crime Law, April 26
KKK member Joseph Michael Callen, St. Joseph MO, is challenging Missouri's law that designates trespassing as a hate crime before the Missouri Supreme Court, who heard arguments on the case on April 26. Callen, a KKK recruiter, was arrested last May for trespassing at a plasma center managed by a black woman and was charged with a felony hate crime because he had white supremacist tattoos and racist signs on his truck. Baumhammers, Alleged Racist Murderer, Goes on Trial in Pittsburgh, April 26 Richard Baumhammers, who is alleged to have killed five people: a Jewish neighbor, two Asian restaurant workers, an Indian grocery store clerk and an African American martial arts student, goes on trial tomorrow for their murders. Baumhammers, who has plead innocent by reason of mental infirmity, won a one day delay in his trial so that his defense attorney can review a prosecution report from a psychiatrist. Because the jury is sequestered, the judge ordered that the trial have a Saturday session, rather than delay the start of the trial until Monday, as Baumhammers' lawyer requested. Bomb Experts Can't Determine Type of Bomb Used In Birmingham, April 26
Two bomb experts testified that they couldn't tell the type of bomb that was used nor what was used to trigger the blast at the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church on Wednesday. They did testify that the bomb was placed outside the window in or near the ground and that the victims, Denise McNair, Carole Robertson, Cynthia Wesley and Addie Mae Collins died from a bomb blast and not a gas explosion or other accident. They also testified the bomb was made of dynamite or other high-order explosives. US Terrorism Report Includes PLO, April 26
USA Today reports that the US State Department will include criticism of the mainstream Palestine Liberation Organization in an annual report on terrorism due out next week. The report includes Israeli accusations that Fatah took part in terrorist activities against Israel. Bomb Threat Interrupts Frankfort Stock Exchange, April 26 A bomb threat at the Frankfort Stock Exchange interrupted trading for several hours at the second largest stock exchange in Europe. The bomb threat was called in at about 11 a.m. by an unidentified caller and did not affect electronic trading. Most traders dismissed the threat, but a stock trader said that the police have to take bomb threats seriously. The caller said the bomb was set to detonate at noon, but after a search, no bomb was found and no bomb detonated. Lawsuit Against Ingalls Shipbuilding Amended to Class Action, April 26
A lawsuit against Ingalls Shipping, Pascagoula, Mississippi, was amended to a class action suit, said Bill McNeill, Legal Aid Society attorney and an attorney representing the plaintiffs in the suit. The lawsuit also names the parent companies of Ingalls -- Litton Industries and Northrup Grumman. The suit, filed on behalf of 11 black workers at Ingalls, alleges that hangman's nooses were hung in work areas at Ingalls, mock lynchings were conducted by white workers and supervisors and hate-oriented graffiti were left on bathroom walls, and that black workers were passed over for promotions repeatedly. Survey Says Chinese Americans Face Stereotyping, April 26
A national survey found that 1/4 Americans have a negative bias towards Chinese Americans and Asian Americans, and that more Americans were uncomfortable voting for an Asian American for president (24%) than a candidate who was African American (15%), a woman (14%) or Jewish (11%). Almost 1/2 (45%) said that they felt Chinese Americans were passing secrets to the Chinese (46%). Almost 1/3 (32%) said they thought Chinese Americans were more loyal to China than the US and 24% would not approve of interracial marriage with an Asian American. On a postive note, the survey showed 91% of Americans thought that Chinese Americans had strong family ties, 77% thought they were honest business people and 67% said that Chinese Americans placed a high value on education. Suspected Mass Grave in Croatia Yields Four Bodies, April 26
Four bodies have been unearthed from a mass grave dug during Croatia's war with rebel Serbs in 1991. The remains of dozens of victims, mostly civilians, are thought to be buried at the site, and are suspected to have been killed during the siege of the city of Vukovar. The location of the suspected mass grave is in Daj, about 188 miles east of the capital of Zagreb and the bodies have been taken to Zagreb for identification. Council of Europe Wants Racism Ban in Cybercrime Treaty, April 25
Coucil of Europe deputies working in Strasbourg, France, urged the drafters of the first international cybercrime treaty to include passages making it illegal to spread racist propaganda and hate messages over the internet, said Rueters. The Council has had criticism from industry and internet groups for its positions on hacking, fraud, computer viruses and internet abuses. Louis Sullivan, Creator of Anti-Apartheid Principles, Dies in Phoenix, April 25
Rev, Louis Sullivan, a crusader for civil rights, died of leukemia in Phoenix AZ. Sullivan, "The Lion of Zion," a former Baptist minister from Philadelphia, was the creator of the Sullivan Principles, which helped lead to the end of Apartheid in South Africa. Malvasi, Accused of Helping Kopp, Held Without Bond, April 25 Dennis J. Malvasi, who is accused of assisting James C. Kopp elude capture in the killing of Dr. Bernard Slepian in Buffalo NY, was denied bail by a federal magistrate. A prosecutor told of Malvasi's past use of fake identification and used Malvasi's speech before the Army of God's White Rose Banquet in January in which Malvasi outlined his assistance in helping others avoid prosecution. Malvasi's wife, Loretta C. Mara, is also being held without bond in the same case. Malvasi and Mara were arrested in Brooklyn NY on the same day as Kopp was arrested in France. Their e-mails and phone calls to Kopp ended a two year manhunt, and Kopp awaits extradition from France to the US to face murder charges in the killing of Dr. Slepian. Judy Shepard Speaks at URC on State of Hate, April 25
Judy Shepard, mother of murdered Matthew Shepard, spoke at UC-Riverside on 4/24 about the culture of hate in the US. She said that a change in the culture allowed her son to be murdered because "two men believe[d] it was okay" to kill him because he was gay, according to the Riverside CA Press Enterprise. Matthew Shepard was murdered by two men in Wyoming who are now serving life sentences. "Matthew's Legacy: Judy Shepard Speaks Out Against Hate Crimes" Tuesday, April 24, 8pm, UCR Theatre This was a FREE event for UCR students,
faculty, staff.
On Tuesday, April 24, 8pm at
the UC-Riverside Theatre, Judy Shepard spoke about her son's death
and what our communities can do to respond to hate crimes. For more info: Nancy Tubbs,
909-787-2267, lgbtrc@ucr.edu. Sponsors: Birmingham Bombing Trial Begins, April 24
A jury began listening to the murder trial of Thomas Blanton in Birmingham, Alabama today. After Judge James Garrett denied defense motions for a change of venue and a mistrial, opening arguments began with US Attorney Doug Jones, appearing specially in state court, said, “He (Blanton) giggled about going to the river to plan a bomb that killed Denise, Addie, Carole and Cynthia.” Jones said that Blanton was among some whites who “were angry about civil rights demonstrations,” and “Blanton was one of those people.” Mississippi Desegration Suit Settled for $500 Million, April 24
A class-action lawsuit filed in 1975 to desegregate Mississippi’s public colleges and universities was settled on April 23 after years of legal battles.
The state of Mississippi, the US Justice Department and a group of black Mississippians, filed an agreement in federal court in Oxford MS that calls for Mississippi spending $246 million to be spent over 17 years on academic programs at Jackson State, Alcorn State and Mississippi Valley State; $75 million for capital improvements at the colleges; $70 million in public endowments and a pledge to raise $35 million in private endowments for the schools; increased funding for a summer program; and $6.5 for student aid. The US Supreme Court ruled in 1992 that he state’s higher education system was separate and unequal. The state tried to close the historically black colleges and merge them with predominately white institutions, a move that was bitterly opposed by some blacks, said the Washington Post.
"Mark from Michigan" Koernke Sentenced to Three Years, April 24
Militia leader Mark Koernke was sentence to at least three years in Michigan prisons following his March conviction on assault with a dangerous weapon, resisting and obstructing an officer and fleeing an officer. Koernke is in the Washtenaw County jail after filing a notice of appeal on the convictions.
FTC Releases Follow-Up Report on Marketing Violent Entertainment to Children, April 24
The Federal Trade Commission released a follow-up report to their September 2000 report on the marketing of violent entertainment to children. The report was requested by members of the Senate Commerce Committee and is available at http://www.ftc.gov/2001/04/youthviol.htmq
Two Arrested in Possible Bomb Plot in Burbank CA, April 24
Following a parent's tip, two 18 year olds were arrest by Burbank police for an alleged plan to bomb Burbank High School. Christopher Mannino, 18, and Patrick Latimore, 18, who is a junior at Burbank High School, both of Van Nuys, admitted to Burbank police that they planned to detonate a bomb at the high school. Latimore said classmates picked on him. Revenge for bullying has been cited as the motive in some recent school shootings.
Earth Liberation Front Responsible for Arson Attack in Portland OR, April 24
Earth Liberation Front (ELF) has taken responsiblity for the Easter arson of three cement trucks at Ross Sand & Gravel in Portland, Oregon. This is the first time ELF has attacked targets in Portland. The fire, which caused $210,000 damage, was reported by a passerby in the early morning hours of April 15. Three truck drivers are out of work until the trucks are repaired, according to the general manager of the cement company.
Phoenix AZ Man in Arson Inquiry, April 24
The Phoenix Fire Department officials declined to call a Phoenix area man a suspect in arson fires that have been set in homes under construction near a mountain preserve. Court documents say that Mark Sands, 49, was arrested as he wrote on a construction sign the initials "C. S. P. " Those initials have been used by an arsonist who has set fires in luxury homes in the Phoenix area. Sands had a red permanent marker in his possession; a similar marker has been used by the arsonist who left messages at construction sites.
Demonstrators Peacefully March In Pensacola Against Police Shootings, April 24
About 150 demonstrators in Penscacola, Florida, protested the shooting of an unarmed black woman and others shot by law enforcement on Monday, April 23.
Cincinnati man charged with racial attack during recent rioting, April 24
Craig Carr, 20, was charged in Hamilton County, Ohio with a racially-motivated attack during the Cincinnati riots. Carr was charged with ethnic intimidation and two misdemeanor counts. Carr is alleged to have made a racial slur at an African-American motorist while a passenger in another vehicle. Carr then threw a brick through the motorist’s window. The same grand jury than indicted Carr also indicted 63 other people last week on felony charges during the rioting.
White Supremacists Use Cincinnati to Spread Hate Messages, April 24
A report from the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) said there was a significant increase in postings, e-mails and discussion lists from racist Websites since the riots in Cincinnati.
Paul Weyrich Makes Anti-Semitic comment on Easter, April 24
Paul Weyrich, a powerful figure in American right-wing circles, said in an essay on Easter that “Christ was crucified by the Jews who wanted a temporal ruler to rescue them from the oppressive Roman authorities….He was not what the Jews expected so they considered him a threat. Thus he was put to death,” according to Joe Conason in a column in Salon.com.
US Orders Smallpox Vaccines from the UK , April 24
The US has ordered 40 million doses of smallpox vaccine, a sign the UK’s Independent paper said was “a sign of growing alarm that terrorists could unleash lethal viruses in future battles against Western states.” The UK warned hospitals last year to prepare for a criminal or terrorist attack involving biological weapons. In the US, fear of biological terrorism has been given a high priority by the government, and in 2000, the US set aside $1.4 billion for protection against chemical and biological attacks. Former SS Officer Goes on Trial for Murder in Munich, April 23 A former Nazi SS officer went on trial for murder in
Munich after his case was reopened when new evidence surfaced. Anton Malloth, 89, is charged with three counts of
murder and one count of attempted murder for deaths of inmates in
Theresienstadt concentration camp in what is now the Czech
Republic. Eminem Pleads No Contest on Weapons Charge, April 23 Rapper Eminim, known for his bigoted and violent
lyrics, pleaded no contest to weapons charges stemming from an argument
with a rival group, the Insane Clown Posse. The judge said she was
not now considering jail time, but would review the charges first before
Judge Denise Langford Morris, Oakland County (Michigan) Circuit Judge,
made a decision. Supreme Court Rules Isolated Sexual Remark Not Sexual Harassment, April 23
In an unsigned, unanimous decision, the US Supreme
Court said that an isolated sexual remark doesn't constitute sexual
harassment. In the case of Clark County (NV) School District v.
Breededn, 00-866, the court said that "No reasonable person could
have believed that the single incident recounted...violated Title VII's
standard", referring to the Civil Rights act. "Marching Lillie" Brown, Civil Rights Veteran, dies in Birmingham AL, April 23
Miss Lillie Brown, a civil rights veteran, died
Friday, April, 20, in Birmingham AL. Brown was 70. Midwest Remains Stronghold for Militias, April 23
Although the number of militias has gone down in
membership since 1985,. militias in the Indiana-Kentucky-Ohio-Michigan
area still remain strong, according to an article in the Indianapolis
Star. Militia membership jumped after the Murrah Building
bombing in Oklahoma City, but has since declined, according to Devin
Burghart of the Center for New Community in Chicago. Burghart said
the highest levels of activity are from Michigan down to Kentucky, then over
to Ohio. James "Whitey" Bulger Firebombed JFK Birthplace, School; Against Desegregation, April 23 James "Whitey" Bulger, on the FBI's Top
10 Most Wanted, is accused of firebombing President John F. Kennedy's
birthplace, committing arson on a school in the neighborhood of the judge
who ordered school busing to end segregation, and shot into the Boston
Globe's front door, according to the Boston Globe. Protests Greet Hammerskin Concertgoers in Springfield MO, April 22 Protests greeted skinhead concertgoers in
Springfield MO. The concert, which featured six white power bands,
was held at an undisclosed site. Ticketholders were directed to a
private residence on East Linwood Street in Springfield. On the
street leading to the house were signs that said, "Hate is not a
neighborhood value." Two May Be Charged with Hate Crimes After Beating of Off-Duty Officer, April 22 Two Michigan men, one in the US Army stationed in
Georgia, have been charged with using racial slurs and attacking a police
officer. Jason Barker, 22, Howell MI, and Travis Sales, who
is in the US Army, had their bond set at $300,000 apiece. They are
accused of beating Trooper Arthur Williams, who was not in uniform, with a
beer bottle and using racial slurs. Williams was treated and
released at a local hospital. He has damage to an eye socket and it
is not known whether surgery is required. WCOTC Hale Speaks in Wallingford CT, April 22
Matthew Hale of the Peoria IL-based
World Church of the Creator spoke at Comunity Lake Park in Wallingford,
Connecticut for approximately 90 minutes. Pro-Hale and anti-Hale
groups were separated by law enforcement. Rabbi Denied Right to Baccalaureate Speech at Methodist Church in Georgia, April 21 Rabbi Steven Lebow was to give a baccalaureate
speech to the east Cobb County, Georgia graduating seniors, but the pastor
of Mount Bethel United Methodist Church denied Rabbi Lebow the right to
speak, because, "to have a person who is a nonbeliever of Christ is,
in a sense, dishonoring Christ," according to the Atlanta Journal
Constitution. Comments by Knicks Players Ward and Houston Called Anti-Semitic, April 21
Knicks players Charlie Ward and Allan Houston, have
been chastised by the Anti-Defamation League for anti-semitic comments
made to a New York Times writer in an article about the basketball team in
the April 22 New York Times Magazine. Horowitz Ad, and Racist/Anti-Semitic Graffiti at UConn,, April
20
Relatives of students at the University of
Connecticut pleaded with the children to come home after students found
graffiti that said, "Blacks and Jews will be killed in remembrance of
Columbine" scrawled on a men's room wall on April 19th. The
graffiti also included the date, April 20th, Hitler's birthday and the
anniversary of the shooting at Columbine High School, according to the New
Haven Register.
Sandpoint ID White Separatist Vincent Bertollini Bound Over on DUI Charges,, April
20 White separatist Vincent Bertollini represented himself in a preliminary hearing on January 12th drunk driving
charges. Bertollini, co-founder of the 11th House Remnant and
supporter of Richard Butler of the former Aryan Nations, was bound over
for trial. Bertollini was convicted of two previous drunk
driving charges in 1998.
League of the South protests Alabama Capitol Changes, April
19 Led by League of the South president Michael Hill,
approximately 150 "Confederate patriots" protested a proposed
$5.8 million landscaping plan at the state capitol in Montgomery, Alabama
that they claim would desecrate Southern history. Blanton's
Attorney Seeks Mistrial in Birmingham Bombing Trial, April
19 John Robbins, attorney for
former KKK member Thomas Blanton, is seeking a mistrial in the upcoming
Birmingham bombing trial, claiming news reports about secret FBI tapes
have tainted the jury pool. Six Canadians
Arrested in Quebec City with Explosives, April 19 Six Canadians were arrested
by Canadian law enforcement in Quebec City. The Canadians, who were not
named, were carrying several crude explosives, four smoke bombs, shields,
bags of steel balls, baseball bats, helmets, hammers and spray paint. One
of those arrested was a Canadian Forces reservist, Serge Vallee. Another
named suspext is Alex Boissonnealt, who is a former Canadian Forces
member. Alameda CA
Finds National Alliance Flyers Distributed, April 19 Alameda, California residents
found flyers from the National Alliance distributed on their doorsteps on
Easter Sunday, April 15. The flyers had images of young white children and
crime statistics. One caption of a blue-eyed girl said, "What did you do
during the Revolution, Daddy." The flyer also included a membership
application for the National Alliance. WCOTC Matt
Hale to Speak in Wallingford CT on April 21, April 19 World Church of the Creator
Pontifex Maximus Matthew Hale will speak on "The Theft of America" in
Walllingford CT on Saturday, April 21 at the Community Lake Park in
Wallingford. Hale will speak on "The Theft of America's Promise, But Hope
for the Future." Hammerskin
Nation Concert in Springfield MO on April 21, April 19 Hammerskin Nation will be
having a concert on Saturday, April 21 at an undisclosed location
southeast of Springfield, Missouri. The concert, sponsored by the Midland
Hammer Skinheads and Panzerfest Records, will cost $20. Bands expected to
play are H8Machine and Aggressive Force, and approximately four others.
President
Bush to Give Holocaust Memorial Day Speech, April 19 President George Bush will
give a speech on Holocaust Memorial Day Thursday. Bush toured the
Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington DC Wednesday night in preparation
for his speech. Accompanied by his wife, Laura, and Museum director and
Holocaust survivor Sara Bloomfield, Bush spoke to nearly 300 guests at the
Museum. Russian
Lawmaker Refuses to Stand to Honor Nazi Victims, April
19 A Deputy Speaker of the
Russian Duma, Vladimir Zhirnovsky of the the Liberal Democratic Party,
refused to stand to honor Nazi victims during a session of the Russian
Parliament. Zhirinovky said, "There are so many holidays. Should the
Russian parliament stand every day?, using the word for ethnic Russian,
rather than a term that includes all Russians, including Jews, according
to the Associated Press. Texas Hate
Crimes Legislation Stalled, April 19 Following a call from Gov.
Rick Perry to a key legislator, the James Byrd hate crimes bill was
stalled. Although Perry said he would remain neutral about the bill, Perry
called Sen. Robert Duncan (R-Lubbock). Duncan then suspended his support
for the hate crimes bill. Two Republican state legislators were not
present for the legislative session. Alaska
Governor calls for Hate Crimes Bill, April 19 In the wake of paintball
attacks against at least a dozen Alaska Natives by three white young men,
Alaska Gov. Tony Knowles will propose a hate crimes bill this week and
create a commission to combat racism. A cabinet-level task forces was
created by Gov. Knowles to make recommendations fighting racism.
Suggestions include prohibiting the suspension of sentences in hate crimes
cases, allowing victims to file civil suits and mandatory minimum
sentences. Mississippi votes to keep flag, April 18
Mississippi voters voted 65% to 35% to keep a Confederate battle symbol on
their state flag. The state NAACP said their fight was not over and were
reviewing their options, which may include a tourism boycott. According to
the Jackson MS Clarion Ledger, state NAACP President Eugene Bryant said
Tuesday night, "It doesn't mean we've lost the war. We will continue to
fight."
Holocaust Claims Proceed, April 18
The claims process in the $1.25 billion settlement between Holocaust
survivors and Swiss banks is now underway. According to the New York Daily News, the settlement will hopefully start
being paid to claimants by the end of the year.
NCAAP Claims Harassment of Black Prison Guards in Florida, April 18
Florida African American prison officers have made claims of rampant racism
in the Florida prison, including systemic blocking of promotions, work
environments which include everything from racial slurs, lousy shift
assignments, KKK graffiti, and harassment, intimidation and relatiation after
complaints made by the guards. The NCAAP and 46 prison guards are suing the
the prison system in federal court, an offshoot of similar discrimination
lawsuits filed by more than 100 correctiopns officers.
Harris, Sauls May Cancel Appearance Before Freerepublic.com Meeting, April 18
Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris and Leon County Circuit Court
Judge N. Sanders Sauls are unlikely to attend the South Carolina Chapter of
Freerepublic.com's annual meeting in South Carolina.
New York's Lower East Side Added to Historical Register, April 18
The Lower East Side, known for its tightly packed tenements that became homes
for successive waves of Irish, German, Eastern European, Hispanic and Chinese
immigrants, is being added to the National Register of Historic Places.
Hammerskins Sentenced in Riverside, California, April 18
Three members of the skinhead group, Western Hammerskins, were sentenced to
four years in prison in Riverside County Superior Court on March 30, 2001.
Joe Pesci Might Play Sammy the Bull in Devil Dog movie, April 18
"GoodFellas" actor Joe Pesci soon could be starring as mobster Salvatore (Sammy the
Bull) Gravano, according to the New York Daily News, in a movie based on the
story of a key player in a racist Gilbert, Arizona "Devil Dogs" gang. The Devil
Dogs, allegedly teamed up with Gravano to sell the designer drug Ecstasy, and he was among 47 people indicted last year after Arizona cops broke up
the drug ring. FBI Issues April 19th Advisory on Violence
, April 17
Although there is no specific, credible threat, the FBI's counterterrorism
office has issued an advisory for law enforcement to be aware that April 19
marks the anniversary of the Branch Davidian fire at Waco and the bombing of
the Murrah Building in Oklahoma City.
Nichols Appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court Denied
, April 17
Terry Nichols' appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court was denied without comment by
the Court. Nichols' appeal was based on his contention that his federal
trial was unfair because the FBI kept secret thousands of tips made to
agents. He told the U.S. Supreme Court his federal judge should have done a
better job of looking into his complaint about the FBI tips, according to the
Oklahoma City Oklahoman.
Mississippi Votes on Flag
, April 17
Mississippi voters are voting today to either keep the current flag, with a
Confederate flag in the upper quadrant, or a newly designed flag with 20
stars replacing the Confederate flag. The 20 stars symbolize Mississippi
being the 20th state in the Union.
Vermont Readies For Cross-Border Protests, April 17
Derby Line, Vermont is bracing for a storm of protestors if
anti-globalization activists are denied entry to Canada at Derby Line's
border stations. The activists will be attempting to travel to Quebec City,
site of the North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) meeting next week.
Thirty-four heads of state from throughout the Western Hemisphere are
expecting to ratify the Free Trade Agreement of the Americas.
Alabama Bombing Trial Jury Selection Begins, April 17
The Alabama Supreme Court has rejected an appeal by accused Birmingham
bomber, Thomas Blanton, to surpress secretly recorded tapes made by an FBI
listening device hidden under Blanton's kitchen sink in 1964. Other tapes of
Blanton, which may be played at his trial, will be reviewed as they come up
during the trial, said Trial Judge James Garrett. New York State Corrections Officer Charged With Assault on Inmate, April 17
Edward Kuhnel, at New York State corrections officer, was arraigned on April
16, 2001, on charges of assaulting an inmate, the Associated Press reports.
Kuhnel, a New York corrections officer was previously suspended from his job
when he was accused of distributing literature from the National Association
for the Advancement of White People to staff and inmates, and for hanging a
Nazi flag outside his home. The New York Court of Appeals reinstated Kuhnel
and he received back pay.
Federal Access to Clinic Entrances Act Filing in Arkansas , April 16
Little Rock attorney Fred Hart Jr., previously convicted of violating the
Federal Access to Clinic Entrances Act (FACE), has been sued by Dr. James
Tvedten under the FACE Act in Pulaski County, Arkansas court.
U.S. Commission on Civil Rights Urges End to Indian Mascots at Schools , April 16
The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights called for an end to the use of Indian names and mascots by non-Indian schools, colleges and universities, as this may violate anti-discrimination laws. In New York, State Education Commissioner Richard Mills sent a letter to school districts urging them to drop Indian names, symbols and mascots. Neither is an enforceable legal action, but instead are recommendations. The civil rights commission said Indian names and mascots could be viewed as "disrespectful and offensive" by Indian groups and can create "a racially hostile educational environment that may be intimidating to Indian students."
NATO Forces Arrest Serb War Criminal, April 16
NATO-led peacekeeping forces arrested Dragan Obrenovic, who was indicted for allegedly participating in the July 1995 attack against Muslims in Srebrenica during the war in Bosnia. Srebrenica had been protected by the United Nations as part of a safe zone, but was overrun by Serb forces, who killed up to 7,500 Muslims and Croats before expelling the rest of the Muslim population. Obrenovic was sent to The Hague to stand trial and is expected to make an initial appearance before U.N. judges to enter a plea. Major Figure in Taliban Militia Dies, April 16
Mullah Mohammed Rabbani, considered the second most powerful man in Afghanistan's ruling Taliban militia (second only to Mullah Mohammed Omar), died of cancer. Rabbani headed the Taliban's governing ministers' council, and he reportedly died in neighboring Pakistan, where he had been receiving treatment. Rabbani is believed to have ordered the execution of Afghanistan's communist President Najibullah, who had been living in a U.N. compound in Kabul since 1992. Najibullah was dragged from the compound, tortured and hanged. His body was left hanging in the city for two days before it was taken down. Gun Deaths Dropped Dramatically in 1990's, April 13
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released information that show that gun deaths in the United States dropped more than 25 percent during the mid-1990s to the lowest level since 1966. The CDC credited stricter sentencing, new laws that hinder acquisition of guns by criminals to get guns, and economic reasons (such as lower unemployment). The CDC reported 30,708 gun-related deaths - 11.4 per 100,000 people - in 1998, the latest year for which statistics are available. This compares to 1993 when there were 15.4 deaths per 100,000 people - a drop of 26 percent. Gun-related injuries fell by nearly half during the same five-year period, dropping to 64,484 in 1998, or 23.9 per 100,000 people. US Sec. of State Powell Denounced New Ethnic Violence in Balkans, April 13
SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina - Secretary of State Colin Powell spoke out against any new outbreaks of ethnic violence in parts of the former Yugoslavia. Powell also noted that, "all indicted war criminals must be brought to justice." Recent unrest in Bosnia has resulted from the Croatian Democratic Union declaring that it would leave the Muslim-Croat Federation to set up a separate Croat government. Under the Dayton agreement that ended the Bosnian war, the country was divided into a Serb-run section and an area under a Muslim-Croat Federation. Powell also spoke out against recent unrest by Albanians in neighboring Macedonia and warned that violence in Macedonia "is eroding international support for Kosovo," where Albanians are in the majority.
Kaiser Settles Lawsuit on Discrimination Against Disabled, April 13
Kaiser Permanente, the largest not-for-profit health maintenance organization in the U.S., settled a lawsuit accusing it of failing to provide disabled patients with accessible facilities and equipment - including examination tables, toilets, scales and other medical devices in its California hospitals and clinics. The suit was filed by a group called the "Disability Rights Advocates" in Alameda County Superior Court in July 2000. The settlement included provisions to make hospitals and clinics wheelchair-accessible and to acquire equipment that can be used on the disabled. Kaiser workers would also receive additional health care training.
U.N. Police Arrest Rwandan Genocide Suspect Who Works for the U.N. in Kosovo, April 13
U.N. police in Kosovo arrested a U.N. worker from Rwanda for his alleged involvement in the 1994 genocide, after Rwanda's chief prosecutor issued a warrant last month and asked for his arrest. Callixte Mbarushimana is accused of collaborating with the Hutu groups by giving them the addresses of his Tutsi colleagues at the U.N. Development Program where he worked. At least half a million minority Tutsis and politically moderate Hutus were killed by extremist Hutu militiamen and soldiers from April to July 1994.
Man Convicted of Stalking ATF Agent, April 13
A jury in Tacoma's U.S. District Court convicted James Bell on two counts of stalking an agent in the federal Treasury Department's tax administration office, and faces five years in prison. The jury deadlocked on three other counts involving stalking an ATF agent and stalking a real estate agent that he believed worked for the CIA. The federal prosecutors believe Bell tracked his victims through Internet searches and databases, then harassed them at their homes and businesses in Oregon. Mr. Bell is known for his involvement in Internet groups that advocate free speech rights on the Internet and oppose government regulation.
German Police Raid Online Hate Song Swapers, April 12
The Federal Criminal Police Office stated that 103 homes in 15 of
Germany's 16 states were raided, and users of illegal Nazi and neo-Nazi
Web sites that had been exchanging Nazi-related music on the Internet, as well as downloading MP3 files from illegal Web sites, had their PCs, modems and other equipment confiscated. The act of listening to Nazi-related music is not illegal under German law, but the exchange and sharing of this material online is illegal.
Three States Advance Civil Rights Bills, April 12
Legislative chambers in Delaware, Illinois and Maryland approved civil rights legislation banning sexual orientation discrimination during the final week of March, and New York's Sexual Orientation Non-Discrimination Act passed a Senate committee and awaits a key vote, according to the latest Legislative Update issued by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. http://www.ngltf.org/statelocal/leg2001.htm
L.A. Mayor's Race Headed for Runoff, April 12
Former state Assembly Speaker Antonio Villaraigosa and City Attorney James Hahn, both Democrats, were the top two vote-getters in Tuesday's nonpartisan election. This has led to the possibility that the nation's second-largest city could have its first Hispanic mayor since 1872. Villaraigosa polled 30 percent and Hahn received 25 percent. The two will participate in a runoff on June 5th because neither received a majority. It is reported that Hispanic turnout was high in part because of the presence in the race of Villaraigosa and another prominent Hispanic candidate, Rep. Xavier Becerra, who ended up with 6 percent of the vote. The William C. Velasquez Institute estimated that more than 20 percent of voters Tuesday were Hispanics, versus 15 percent in the 1997 mayoral election.
Tape Allowed in Church Bombing Trial, April 12
A tape secretly recorded in 1964 can be used as evidence at a murder trial in the Sept. 15, 1963 Sixteenth Street Baptist Church bombing that took place in downtown Birmingham which killed four black girls, according to a judicial ruling by Circuit Judge James Garrett. The tape was recorded in 1964 by the FBI, with a device that was hidden under the kitchen sink of Thomas Blanton Jr., a former Ku Klux Klansmen. Prosecutors seek to prove that Blanton was one of a group of KKK members who planted the bomb. The defense asked the court to block at least 30 other secretly recorded conversations involving Blanton. NJ Senators Ask to Impeach N.J. Justice, April 12
In a letter to Assembly Speaker Jack Collins, the New Jersey state Senate Judiciary Committee asked the lower house to present the Senate with articles of impeachment against Justice Peter G. Verniero. The letter says Verniero "engaged in a pattern and practice of withholding and concealing information," regarding racial profiling in the state. The senators said he should be impeached for lying to a Senate committee, routinely misleading lawmakers and withholding information about racial profiling by state police. Impeachment would begin in the Assembly before moving to the Senate for a trial. One lawmaker has already drafted an impeachment resolution.
Armenians and NY Life Insurance Co. Reach Deal, April 12
New York Life Insurance Co. has reached a settlement with a group of Armenians who have tried to obtain payment on policies purchased prior to 1915 in Turkey. The agreement, which requires a judge's approval, may benefit up to 10,000 people who are living in both the United States and abroad whose family members bought policies from New York Life Insurance Co. before the 1915 genocide against the Armenian people. Under the settlement, New York Life will pay beneficiaries 10 times the face value of the policies and contribute $3 million to Armenian civic organizations.
Cincinnati Mayor Declares Emergency, April 12
The mayor declared a state of emergency and announced a citywide curfew due to riots that resulted from the police shooting of an unarmed black man. Only people going to and from work will be allowed on the streets between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m. The mayor has said he may call in the National Guard to help protect the police and citizens of Cincinnati.
At least 66 people have been arrested on such charges as disorderly conduct, criminal rioting, obstruction, felony assault, theft and breaking and entering since the violence began Monday. The U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. attorney's office in Cincinnati joined the FBI in a federal investigation of Thomas' shooting.
Osama Bin Laden Makes Statement to Prepare for Holy War, April 11
Saudi dissident Osama bin Laden released a statement explaining that Muslins must prepare the next generation for a jihad (holy war) against a corrupted West that he portrayed as laying siege to Muslims worldwide. The statement urged wealthy Muslims to support the Taliban militia that control Afghanistan and to use their money to help rebuild Afghanistan.
Cincinnati Clergy and Politicians Dealing With Rioting Over Police Shooting, April 11 CINCINNATI - Rioting in Cincinnati was sparked by the shooting of an unarmed black man (who was wanted on 14 misdemeanor warrants), while fleeing a white police officer. He was the fourth black man shot dead by police since November. The officer, Steve Roach, reportedly thought Thomas had a gun. Roach is on paid administrative leave, which is standard procedure after police shootings. The FBI is investigating whether police violated federal civil rights law in the shooting. The area where Timothy Thomas, 19, was killed was a mix of gangs of youths who looted stores and burned buildings, and police officers who tried to keep control by using a variety of non-lethal means including bean bags and rubber bullets. On Wednesday night, a police officer was shot in the chest, but his bullet-proof vest apparently saved his life. Clergy members and politicians appealed to the people of the city for calm. Police on horseback and shotgun-armed foot patrols arrested at least 20 people for rioting and disorderly conduct. Fire department paramedics reported that they took 25 people to hospitals and treated about 40 others on the streets. Indonesian Prosecutors Dealing With 1999 East Timor Killings, April 11 JAKARTA, Indonesia -- The Indonesian attorney general's office has missed a legal deadline to file charges against 22 people suspected of crimes against humanity in the violence that engulfed East Timor in 1999 after voting for independence, according to several Indonesian legal specialists and Western diplomats. Because the prosecutions were not begun within a legally mandated 310-day period, this may mean that no Indonesians will be held accountable for the attacks by the military and government-supported militias that left hundreds of people dead and resulted in the destruction of more than 85 percent of the buildings in Timor, according to the Washington Post. Under a human rights law enacted last fall, the attorney general's office has 240 days to investigate cases of genocide or crimes against humanity. The office then has 70 days to begin prosecutions. The 70-day period, legal experts said, expired on Feb. 23 - this is disputed by the Indonesian government, who point out that before any charges are filed in connection with the Timor violence, a special ad hoc human rights court must be formed. The creation of such a court was not approved by the parliament until last month, and the legislation still has not been signed by President Abdurrahman Wahid. The prosecutor notes that the 70-day clock does not begin until the special court is formed and charges are filed.
Also, prosecutors recently dropped manslaughter charges against three militiamen who admitted to stabbing three international aid workers from the United States, Croatia and Ethiopia who worked for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees. The accused (as well as three other suspects) may instead be charged with the lesser crime of "mob violence" and be given prison sentences of no more than three years. After the killings, a mob burned the bodies so badly that it took U.N. officials a week to identify the remains. Two Plead Innocent When Accused of Assisting Suspect in Abortion Doctor Slaying Case, April 11 BUFFALO, N.Y. - Loretta Claire Marra, 37, and Dennis John Malvasi, 51, of New York City pleaded innocent to federal charges that they obstructed justice by helping James Kopp avoid capture after the 1998 shooting of an abortion provider. Kopp was traced to Ireland, and then subsequently captured in Dinan, France, March 29 after a 2 1/2 year international manhunt (he is awaiting extradition). The accused are accused of sending money to Kopp and working to find a way to bring him back to the United States. A two-count indictment returned April 3 charged the two with interfering in the government's case against Kopp by helping him evade capture, and accused the pair of obstructing a Buffalo grand jury investigation. Penalties are up to 10 years in prison and $250,000 in fines on each charge if convicted. They were ordered held until a detention hearing April 24. Among the spectators were the widow of the slain doctor, Barnett Slepian, and his former co-workers at the Buffalo health clinic where he worked. Dr. Slepian was assassinated at his home in front of his wife and daughter on Oct. 23, 1998. 2001
Legislators At State and Federal Level Face Renewed Hate Crime Initiatives,
April 10 State legislators in Pennsylvania,
Kansas, and Texas have proposed "hate crime" legislation this term
that would cover sexual orientation as a protected class. Pennsylvania's
ethnic intimidation statute only covers race, religion and ethnicity,
while Texas' current law does not list any specific groups, making
it the target of criticism. Kansas is one of nine states with no hate
crime law. About 20 states protect on the basis of sexual orientation.
Each state has been the target of hate crime law reform in the past.
Illinois, which has a comprehensive hate crime law, is seeking to
add another statute that would punish hate group leaders who cause
followers to commit violent acts. Ben Smith, a former Church of the
Creator member, killed one Illinois resident and injured several more
during a shooting spree in July 1999. The last state to enact a new
hate crime law was New York, which passed a comprehensive statute
in July 2000 after an 11 year struggle by activists. It was signed
into law by Republican Governor George Pataki. Increasingly, activists
are targeting state legislatures for hate crime initiatives because
of frustration with the lack of progress at getting a federal law
passed. On March 27, however, a bipartisan group of federal legislators
reintroduced a hate crime proposal that would expand the coverage
of existing criminal civil rights laws to protect on the basis of
sexual orientation, gender and disability under limited circumstances.
The bill also expands the situations where federal prosecutions can
take place for racial, ethnic and religiously based crimes. Under
current law the federal government has extremely limited authority
to prosecute or even assist local authorities to prosecute hate crimes.
The bill's chief sponsors include Senators. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass.;
Gordon Smith, R-Ore.; and Arlen Specter, R-Pa. In the House Representatives.
John Conyers Jr., D-Mich., and Constance Morella, R-Md are lead sponsors.
The bill, now called The Local Law Enforcement Enhancement Act has
51 co-sponsors in the Senate and 180 in the House of Representatives.
Last June the Senate voted
in favor of the bill by a margin of 57-42. In September 2000 the House
voted 232-192 in support of a non-binding motion in support of consideration
of the hate crime proposal by the full House. The new bill is almost
identical to ones introduced in Congress unsuccessfully over the last
several years. Polls indicate significant support among the American
electorate for such legislation. President Bush has stated that he
opposes expanding the current hate crime laws in the manner that this
bill does. Hate crimes are those criminal
incidents where an offender intentionally selects a target because
of the racial, ethnic, sexual orientation, religious or other status
of another person. Racist
Reverend to Speak Again In Connecticut This Month, April 10 Peoria, Illinois White
Supremacist Matt Hale, 29, will return to Wallingford, Connecticut
on Saturday April 21 to speak about his efforts "to unite for our
own interests and quit aiding and abetting the nonwhite races at the
expense of our children's future." Mr. Hale's recent trip to the same
Connecticut town resulted in vocal protests against his bigotry. Mr. Hale heads the racist
and anti-Semitic World Church of the Creator out of his parent's Peoria,
Illinois home. The World Church of the Creator urges its followers
to engage in a racial holy war (RAHOWA!) against its enemies. The
Church is particularly critical of African-Americans, Jews, and Christianity.
One former WCOTC follower, Ben Smith, went on a two state shooting
spree that left two dead and several injured in 1999 after Hale, his
law graduate mentor, lost an appeal to practice law before an Illinois
tribunal. In
Unexpected Move One '63 Klan Deft's Trial is Postponed As Other's
Goes Forward, April 10 Ku Klux Klan church bombing
defendant Bobby Frank Cherry's murder trial has been indefinitely
postponed by presiding judge James Garrett today (April 10) because
of "medical reasons". The 71 year old's codefendant Thomas Blanton
Jr., 62 is scheduled to go on trial without a postponement next week.
The two are accused of bombing Birmingham's 16th Street Baptist Church
on September 15, 1963 resulting in the deaths of four young girls.
"God...is
going to destroy you," FLA. Legislator Tells Visiting Gay H.S. Students,
April 10 Gay high school students
from Florida got a new perspective on lobbying after they visited
the office of conservative state Rep. Allen Trovillion, 74, R- Winter
Park to discuss expanding the state's civil rights laws to protect
on the basis of sexual orientation, Ann Marie Manchise, reported in
the Tampa Tribune today. After greeting gay high school students and
listening to their views on the proposed legislation the suburban
Orlando state legislator was quoted as allegedly saying the following
statements: "I don't understand
why the gay population is becoming so vocal" "You're throwing your
life away." "You are going to cause
the downfall of this country that was built on Christian principles." "The Scripture says that
no homosexual will see the Kingdom of God, and I can't put it much
straighter than that." "God destroyed Sodom and
Gomorrah, and he is going to destroy you." and a lot of others. One of the gay students
recounted a violent beating that resulted in light punishment for
his assailant and the same punishment for him for "being too openly
gay" Unmoved, Rep. Trovillion said, "You have to suffer the consequences
of your actions." California, New Jersey
and other states have civil rights laws that protect on the basis
of sexual orientation. About 20 states have hate crime laws that protect
on the basis of sexual orientation. Human Rights Campaign
www.hrc.org http://tampatrib.com/MGASCE82DLC.html LA
Mayoral Race Reflects City's Diversity, April 10 If one of the six major
candidates wins today's Los Angeles mayoral primary the city could
get its first female, Jewish, or openly gay leader, or its first Latino
mayor in over 125 years. Do not hold your breath, however, at it is
likely, that no one will win the required majority vote outright-forcing
a June runoff between the two top contenders. Additionally, it is
expected that there will be over 50,000 absentee ballots among the
expected 1.5 million votes. According to polls, the top three rivals
are City Attorney James Hahn, 50; entrepreneur and political appointee
Steve Soboroff, 52; and former California state Assembly Speaker Antonio
Villaraigosa, 48. James Hahn, current City
Attorney and former City Controller, comes from a political dynasty
that includes his father, who was on the LA city council. As City
attorney Hahn aggressively prosecuted hate crimes and domestic violence
cases. Hahn, who is white, has significant support in the city's African-American
community. No African-American is among the main mayoral contenders
this year. Antonio Villaraigosa is
the son of a Mexican immigrant. He is a former teacher who later served
a six year term as speaker of the state Assembly where he was lauded
for his ability to bring diverse groups together. He was also a supporter
of hate crime legislation during his tenure. If elected he would be
the city's first Latino mayor since 1872. He has support in the Latino
community, but faces significant competition there from another Latino
Democratic candidate, Congressman Xavier Becerra. He has substantial
support from the city's Jewish community. Steve Soboroff, 52, is
an entrepreneur and the only major Republican in the field. He is
a protŽgŽ of the popular current Republican mayor Richard Riordan
who is being forced out of office after two four year terms by term
limits. Mr. Soboroff has been an appointee to the city's airport and
parks commissions, but has never held elected office. Mr. Soboroff,
who is Jewish, was the target of thousands of anonymous recorded telephone
messages directing voters not to vote for him because he was controlled
by "Jewish money" Both mayor Riordan and City Human Relations director
Joe Hicks denounced the phone attacks yesterday. Other major candidates
include long time city council member Joel Wachs who is now openly
gay, and State Controller Kathleen Connell. Among the other candidates
is a street comedian and a television helicopter pilot. Presidential
Appointment of Gay American Is A First For A Republican Administration,
April 10 Wisconsin native Scott
Evertz, a political supporter of Health and Human Services Secretary
and ex-Wisconsin Governor Thommy Thompson has been selected to direct
President Bush's Office of National AIDS Policy, the White House reported
Tuesday (April 9) . The selection is the first time an openly gay
or lesbian American has been selected for a major Presidential appointment
by a Republican President. It comes at a time when the administration
is scaling back government financial support for anti-AIDS projects. Mr. Evertz previously
was the state leader of Wisconsin's Log Cabin Republicans. The Log
Cabin Republicans is a political group consisting of gay Republican
party members. During the last presidential campaign President Bush
initially refused to meet with members of the group, although he did
so later in the campaign after his conservative base was solidified.
The party has struggled in the recent past to accommodate those libertarians
who were more supportive of gays and lesbians and social conservatives
who staunchly oppose gay-friendly initiatives on religious grounds.
At the Republican national convention in Philadelphia last Summer,
a group of delegates staged a silent protest of a gay Congressman's
address. In another publicized incident, some Conservative republican
legislators blocked the appointment of an openly gay businessman to
be ambassador to Luxembourg. Interestingly, in Washington DC gay legislative
staffers and consultants are frequently employed by members of both
sides of the aisle. 37
Years after Fatal Church Bombing Two KKK Defts. Face Fed Trial in
AL, April 10 Two accused Church bombers
are set to go on trial April 16 in federal district court in Alabama
in connection with a blast that killed four young African-American
girls in Birmingham 37 years ago. If convicted, the now elderly defendants,
Bobby Frank Cherry and Thomas Blanton Jr. could get a maximum sentence
of life imprisonment. The bombing of the Sixteenth Street Church in
Birmingham on September 15, 1963 was one of the most pivotal and tragic
events of the Civil Rights movement. Still, finding justice in the
case has been a long and often painful journey for those affected
by the blast. Bobby Frank Cherry and
Thomas Blanton Jr., were itinerant Ku Klux Klan members who had difficulties
with the organization over strategy. They were two of four suspects
identified in the period following the explosion. One suspect Robert
"Dynamite Bob" Chambliss was convicted in 1977 after the case was
reopened by a new Alabama state Attorney General. Chambliss spent
the remainder of his life in prison, where he died at 81. White supremacist
Herman Cash, now deceased, was suspected to be involved in the crime,
but never faced justice. Birmingham's black community was the target
of so many bombings that the city was nicknamed "Bombingham" by some
commentators. The years 1963-65 were the most violent of the Civil
Rights era. U.S. Attorney Doug Jones
will be prosecuting the case and, while he will not discuss evidence,
it is believed that Mr. Cherry's ex-wife and granddaughter will provide
crucial testimony relating to Cherry's alleged confession. In 1999
both testified before a grand jury who returned an indictment against
the defendants. The Explosion at the
Sixteenth St. Baptist Church September 15, 1963, was
to be Youth Sunday at the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham,
Alabama. The church was the spiritual center for Birmingham - and
the children were the spiritual focus of the church. The parishioners,
many of them young children, had bravely faced down police dogs, fire
hoses, and violent intimidation to fight the ravages of segregation.
Some of these young people had been viciously attacked by Birmingham
Police Chief Bull Connor's officers. The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King,
Jr., had also made youth a central fixture of his majestic oratory
- and he had marched with Birmingham's youth in some of the most stirring
moments of the civil rights movement. But Youth Sunday celebrations
were over in one tragic moment. At 10:22 a.m. a powerful blast rocked
the church, killing four young girls as they prepared to worship.
Denise McNair, eleven years old, and fourteen year olds Addie Mae
Collins, Cynthia Wellesley, and Carole Robertson were instantly killed
by the explosion which left twenty others hospitalized. The blast
was so powerful that doors and windows were blown apart on cars parked
outside. Dr. King's eulogy to these
four young girls remains one of his most moving: "These children -
unoffending, innocent, and beautiful - were the victims of one of
the most heinous crimes ever perpetrated against humanity .... Yet
they died nobly. They are the martyred heroines of a holy crusade
for freedom and human dignity. So they have something to say to us
in their death .... They say to each of us, black and white alike,
that we must substitute courage for caution. They say to us that we
must be concerned not merely about who murdered them, but about the
system, the way of life and the philosophy which produced the murderers.
Their death says to us that we must work passionately and unrelentingly
to make the American dream a reality." New
Jersey in Increasing Political Turmoil Over Racial Profiling Allegations,
April 9 As evidence increases that
former Attorney General Peter Verniero knew of racial profiling practices
by state police since 1996, calls have come in that he resign from
his new position of State Supreme Court Justice. On Thursday (April
5) Acting Gov. Donald T. DiFrancesco called Veniero personally seeking
his resignation. An African American legislator has indicated that
he will seek impeachment against Veniero if he does not resign. Justice
Veniero has previously indicated that he would not resign. No Supreme
Court Justice in New Jersey history has resigned. Veniero faced tough questioning
on March 28 from a state Senate Judiciary Panel chaired by Senator
William Gormley about his actions relating to racial profiling by
state troopers. Some statistics have indicated that African-American
and Latinos were subject to 85% of the vehicle stops and searches
on the state's interstate highways by New Jersey State troopers while
Veniero was attorney general. In February 1999, the state's police
superintendent was forced to resign after he made racially insensitive
comments about ethnic and racial groups during an interview with the
Newark Star Ledger on racial profiling by police. In the interview
he suggested that a certain African-American ethnic group had a propensity
for drug dealing. Today (April 9) the State
Senate Committee will hear from African-American and Latino witnesses,
including state police Sgt. Vincent Bellaran. Bellaran's successfully
sued the department over racist practices in 1998. Veniero who released
a report on racial profiling in 1999 after state troopers shot at
a van with black motorists has been alleged by other hearing witnesses
to have been aware of discriminatory practices for at least three
years prior. Millennium
Bomb Plotter Found Guilty in Los Angeles and France, April 9 Ahmed Ressam, 33, an Algerian
ex-patriate was convicted by a federal district court jury in Los
Angeles late Friday (April 6) for his role in connection with a Millennium
celebration bombing conspiracy that allegedly included targets in
Seattle and California. Mr. Ressam who could face up to 130 years
imprisonment was found guilty on a total of nine charges and enhancements
including unlawful transportation of explosives, possessing a bomb
in a ferry terminal, trans-national terrorism, among other lesser
charges. He was also convicted Friday in a French court for his role
in terrorism. Mr. Ressam's American attorney said he would appeal
the American conviction. Mr. Ressam will be sentenced in Seattle on
June 28 in Seattle, the trial's original venue. Mr. Ressam was alarmed
when customs inspectors handled mislabeled explosives he was transporting.
His fingerprints were found on a variety of timing devices and a turn
coat government witness said he was supposed to meet someone with
explosives who was coming to the United States from Canada. While
the witness stated he did not know who that person would be, records
indicated that Mr. Ressam had the witness' phone numbers on him at
the time of his arrest. Mr. Ressam's failed defense maintained that
he was duped into an unwitting role in an overall conspiracy. Mr. Ressam was arrested
by U.S. Customs Service agents as he attempted to transport illegal
explosive materials into Port Angeles, Washington from Canada on December
14, 1999. Ressam, and another alleged conspirator, Abdelmajid Dahoumane,
are believed to be linked to Afghanistan-based fugitive terrorist
ringleader Usama Bin Laden. Mr. Dahoumane was arrested last month
in Algeria on his return from Afghanistan. Ressam's arrest prompted
widespread concern about Millennium terrorism in the United States,
which caused the cancellation of Seattle's planned celebrations. Significant
Historical Find Reveals West Africa's Rich Written Tradition, Chicago
Tribune Reports, April 9 With the help of an African
collector a Northwestern University Professor has uncovered the richest
find of written literature yet in West Africa the Chicago Tribune
reported today. The discovery has monumental significance for historians
because it counters centuries of bigoted misinformation about the
development and literacy of society in Western Africa. The notion
that Africans were not intellectually, religiously and culturally
sophisticated was used as a moral pretext for the practice of slavery
by white Europeans in the middle and late portion of the last millennium.
Even contemporary scholars have concentrated on West Africa's rich
oral traditions, something this discovery is destined to change. Among Northwestern University
Professor John Hunwick's important historical finds are a sixteenth
century book by an African historian, Mahmud al-Kati Century who resided
in Timbuktu, one of the most important cities in Africa at the time.
The book preserves important information from al-Kati's forebears
who wrote about historical and cultural conditions previously unknown
to Western scholars. Prof. Hunwick was given the material by a Mali
national, Ismail Haidara, a descendant of al-Kati, whose family has
kept the documents since 1592. The record's Arabic characters indicate
the influence of Islam in African society during that period and chronicle
well developed religious, legal, and cultural traditions. See: http://chicagotribune.com/news/metro/chicago/article/0,2669,ART-51051,FF.html McVeigh
is "Lying" Former Defense Attorney States, April 3
Stephen Jones, Timothy
McVeigh's ex lead defense lawyer, said today (April 3) on NBC's Today
Show in an interview with Matt Lauer that Timothy McVeigh should "stop
lying...stop covering up" the role of others in the bombing of the
Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in 1995. The April 19, 1995 killed
168 innocent people, in the worst act of domestic terrorism on American
soil. Saying that McVeigh had waived attorney client privilege Jones
told Lauer that statements attributed to McViegh in a new book were
"contradictory to what he told me".
In a new book McVeigh
allegedly admitted to bombing the federal building and said that while
he received limited assistance from Terry Nichols, the bombing was
primarily his work. The book, released today, ãAmerican Terrorist:
Timothy McVeigh and the Oklahoma City Bombingä by Lou Michel and Dan
Herbeck published by HarperCollins, has been criticized by some victims'
families for giving McVeigh a forum for his views. McVeigh stated
in the book that the children killed were "collateral damage" and
that he lacked remorse for the attack which he stated was in revenge
for government mishaps at Waco in 1993 and Ruby Ridge in 1992.
http://www.msnbc.com/news/551852.asp
Longtime
Civil Rights Leader Vernon Jordan Gets NAACP Award, April 3
The NAACP announced that
Vernon Jordan, former presidential advisor, and former head of both
the Urban League and the United Negro College Fund will receive the
NAACP's highest honor, the Joel E. Spingarn Medal at the organization's
annual conference this Summer. Jordan, who was the subject of an assassination
attempt in 1980, joins other past recipients such as Martin Luther
King, comedian Bill Cosby, diplomat Ralph Bunche, and jurists Thurgood
Marshall and A. Leon Higginbotham.
83
year Old SS Lieutenant Sentenced to 12 Years for WWII Murder, April
3
Julius Viel, 83, who served
as a second lieutenant in the Nazi SS during World War II was convicted
Tuesday (April 3) of the murder of seven Jewish innocents at Theresienstadt
concentration camp in German controlled Czechoslovakia during the
spring of 1945, the Associated Press reported. The judge stated that
Viel acted on his own "out of lust for murder and base motives" in
sentencing the former Nazi to a 12 year sentence. Viel, who proclaims
his innocence stated through his lawyer that he will appeal.
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