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News Briefs
Accused Birmingham Bomber Bobby Cherry Found Mentally Competent For Trial 5/31 Bobby Frank Cherry, a former Ku Klux Klan member charged in the 1963 bombing of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church bombing that killed four girls, has been found to be mentally fit for trial by a court-appointed doctor. Previous reports from a defense expert and a court-appointed doctor, found Cherry, 71, incompetent for trial. Judge James Garrett has set a hearing for July 9 to hear medical testimony and decide if Cherry can stand trial for the murders of Addie Mae Collins, 14; Denise McNair, 11; Carole Robertson, 14; Cynthia Wesley, 14. Cherry's trial was postponed to allow time for the evaluations.
Addie Mae Collins, 14; Denise McNair, 11; Carole Robertson, 14; Cynthia Wesley, 14 Previous reports found that Cherry suffers from vascular dementia. His lawyer, Mickey Johnson, said Cherry has had a stroke and has trouble remembering things correctly and cannot assist in his defense. U.S. Attorney Doug Jones, who is prosecuting Cherry in state court, said the hearing provides the prosecution with the opportunity to present evidence that Cherry can be tried. Jones said details of Cherry's condition will be revealed at the hearing. Cherry's co-defendant, Thomas Blanton, was convicted of the murders and bombing on May , and was sentenced to life in prison. Blanton is appealing the jury's verdict. McVeigh To Decide
Whether to Appeal on Friday 5/30 Convicted Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh
will decide on Friday whether he will file an appeal and delay his
scheduled Jun 11 execution. Rob Nigh, one of McVeigh’s attorneys, will meet
with McVeigh Thursday at the federal prison in Terre Haute, Indiana,
to seek his approval on motions the defense team has prepared.
“If he gives his permission to file something, we’ll
probably file something tomorrow.
We’re in the process of drafting the paperwork,” Nigh said.
“You can certainly anticipate it will request a stay.” In December, 2000, McVeigh requested that all
appeals be stopped, and an execution date of May 16 was set. McVeigh’s execution date was postponed until June 11 by
Attorney General John Ashcroft after the Justice Department informed
McVeigh’s attorneys that the FBI had withheld over 3000 pages of
evidence from McVeigh’s trial attorneys. On the CBS program “60 Minutes II” last
night, former FBI agent Ricardo Ojeda said that the FBI ignored
evidence that could have helped the defense, and had gone so far as to
write Sen. Charles Grassley of his concerns about corruption and
discrimination in FBI field offices.
“I am also aware of instances in other cases, including the
Oklahoma City bombing, where exculpatory evidence was ignored and not
documented. Including
exculpatory evidence I personally gathered from leads assigned to
me,” Ojeda wrote. “That
information should, at the minimum, change the course of this case in
the near future,” Nigh said on CBS. Ojeda said he was fired by the FBI after he
testified against them in a discrimination case against FBI
management. FBI Deputy
Director Tom Pickard responded to Ojeda’s allegations.
“Because he is no longer on the rolls, former Agent Ojeda
would not know his concerns are unfounded.” Attorney General Ashcroft said the Justice
Department would oppose any request by McVeigh to delay his execution. “After an exhaustive review, it remains clear that none of
the belatedly produced material raises any doubt about McVeigh’s
guilt,” said Ashcroft in a statement released Wednesday. Both of McVeigh’s co-conspirators, Terry Nichols and Michael Fortier, have filed motions and other legal actions since the discovery of the missing material. Fortier’s attorneys have now filed with the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals a motion for reconsideration of their March decision on Fortier’s 12 year sentence. The Court, at that time, rejected arguments that the trial court judge was vindictive and the sentence improperly exceeded sentencing guidelines. In the new filing, Fortier attorney Michael McGuire said that prosecutors misrepresented the facts to serve the politically expedient goal of ensuring the harshest sentence possible. During sentencing, prosecutors argued that Fortier’s sentence should exceed the guidelines because of the magnitude of the crimes. Germany to Compensate Nazi-Era Slave Laborers 5/30 Germany’s Parliament voted Wednesday to
free payments from a $4.6 billion fund to pay surviving Nazi-era slave
laborers. More than one
million survivors of Nazi slave labor, most of them Eastern Europeans,
are expected to benefit from the legislation. Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said payment of the
fund to the survivors of the Nazi slave labor camps was “the last
great open chapter of our historical responsibility.”
Over 300,000 applications for the funds have been received.
The average payment to the survivors should be approximately
$6700. Germany has paid $60 billion in restitution for persons who have suffered at the hands of the Nazis, but German companies have long denied responsibility for the use slave labor, claiming they were pressured by the Nazi government. Under pressure from US lawsuits, German businesses and industry agreed with the German government on fund financing in December, 1999, and an accord was signed last July that protected German businesses from lawsuits. Millennium Ahmed Ressam, who was arrested shortly before New
Years, 2000 trying to cross in to the United States from Canada with a
car loaded with explosives, is now talking to prosecutors and
investigators about his role in the plot to bomb buildings in Seattle,
Los Angeles and San Francisco on New Year’s Eve. Ressam is giving investigators information about
the continuing investigation into the Montreal-based terrorist cell of
Islamic militants and its ties to Osama bin Ladin.
Yesterday, four members of bin Ladin’s group were convicted
in New York of bombing two U.S. Embassies in Africa in 1998, bombings
that killed 224 people and wounded at least 5000. Ressam was tried and convicted of nine counts of
conspiring to commit an act of international terrorism and related
charges. He faces 140
years in prison for his crimes. He
is due to be sentenced on June 28, but that sentencing date may be
postponed because Ressam is now cooperating with authorities.
Ressam may be a witness at the upcoming trial of a co-consiprator,
Mokhar Haouari, who is scheduled to go on trial in New York on June
26. Haouari’s lawyer, Daniel Ollen, said he had not been
informed that Ressam will testify against his client, adding,
“It’s one thing to be a terrorist. It’s another to be a
terrorist and a rat.” An attorney for another co-conspirator, Abdelghani Meskini,
said that he was “surprised Ressam hadn’t started down that road a
long time ago.” Roland
Thau’s client cooperated with authorities and Meskini testified
against Ressam as part of his plea bargain. At Ressam’s trial, Meskini testified Haouari
told him to travel to New York to Seattle to meet Ressam and provide
him with financial and logistical support.
Meskini was arrested before they could meet, so Meskini’s
knowledge of the bomb plot was limited.
Thau said because Haouari and Ressam were associates,
Ressam’s testimony against Haouari should be devastating.
Ressam may also be able to tell investigators about the role of
another co-conspirator, Abdelmajid Dahoumane.
Dahoumane has never been caught. Ressam was arrested on December 14, 1999, while trying to cross into the United States at Port Angeles, Washington. An alert customs agent noticed that Ressam was nervous and stopped him as his car drove off a ferry from British Columbia. The customs agents found 130 pounds of explosives in Ressam’s rental car, along with four homemade timing devices. They also learned that Ressam had reserved a motel room near Seattle’s Space Needle. Because of the threat, the millennium celebration in Seattle was cancelled. In Ressam’s car, authorities also found a tour book of California, with Ressam’s fingerprints on a map of downtown Los Angeles and San Francisco’s Transamerica Tower. During a search of Ressam’s Montreal apartment, Canadian authorities found a map of southern California, with circles around Los Angeles International Airport, and airports at Long Beach and Ontario, California airports. The prosecution was not able to establish Ressam’s target or targets. Taliban Refuses
to Turn Over Osama bin Ladin 5/30 Lauding Osama bin Ladin as “a great holy
warrior of Islam and a great benefactor of the Afghan people,” the
Taliban, Afghanistan’s ruling party, said Wednesday.
The conviction of the four men in the U.S. Embassy bombings was
“unfair” and the Taliban vowed never to turn over bin Ladin, said
Abdul Anan Himat, a senior official at the Taliban Information
ministry in Kabul, Afghanistan. “America is using the issues of terrorism, drugs and human
rights as an excuse against Afghanistan,” he said. The Taliban has refused to turn bin Ladin over to
the United States because the U.S. has no evidence proving bin
Ladin’s links to terrorism and that giving bin Ladin to a non-Muslim
country would violate the tenets of Islam. In a statement issued last month to a convention of 200,000 students from Muslim nations, bin Ladin said, “Issue a call to the young generation to get ready for the holy war and to prepare for that in Afghanistan because jihad in this time of crisis for Muslims is an obligation of all Muslims.” State
Department Warns Americans of Terrorist Attacks 5/30 Following the convictions of four men in the U.S.
Embassy bombings, the U.S. State Department has urged Americans
traveling overseas to maintain a high level of vigilance and take
steps to increase their security awareness.
The statement was a reaffirmation of a May 11 warning that
Americans abroad might be the target of a terrorist threat from groups
with links to Osama bin Ladin’s Al Qaida organization. “Americans should maintain a low profile, vary routes and times for all required travel, and treat mail and packages from unfamiliar sources with suspicion. In addition, American citizens are also urged to avoid contact with any suspicious, unfamiliar objects, and to report the presence of the objects to local authorities.” The travel warning also said that vehicles should not be left unattended, if possible, and should be kept locked at all times. The warning also added that U.S. government facilities may have to close or suspend public services as necessary to review their security. Four Guilty in
U.S. Embassy Bombings 5/29 Four followers of terrorist leader Osama
bin-Laden were found guilty of a broad terrorist conspiracy to commit
murder in the bombings of U.S. Embassies in Nairobi, Kenya and Dar es
Salaam, Tanzania after a four and one half month trial and twelve days
of jury deliberations. The
bombings occurred on August 7, 1998 and left 224 people dead and more
than 5000 people wounded. The four men, Mohamed Rashed Daouid al-‘Owhahi
from Saudi Arabi, Khalfan Khamis Mohamed from Tanzania, Mohammed
Saddiq Odeh from Jordan, and Wadih El-Hage who is a naturalized U.S.
citizen, originally from Lebanon, were convicted in a 302-count
indictment in the Southern District of Manhattan Court around noon,
Tuesday. Two of the men,
al-‘Owhali and K. K. Mohamed, face the death penalty.
The death penalty phase of the trial is to start on Wednesday
and is expected to last about a month. The prosecution called more than 90 witnesses and
showed the jury hundreds of exhibits, including bombing debris,
pictures of the houses where the bombs were made, the clothing of the
defendants with explosives residue, phone and travel records,
passports, letters and pictures of the victims.
Testimony came from witnesses who had survived the bombings.
Most damning were the statements of the defendants made after
their arrests. Although
the defense tried to get these statements suppressed, the judge
allowed their statements into evidence.
The prosecution also offered a history of Osama bin Laden’s
Afghanistan-based organization, al Qaeda, and bin Laden’s intent to
kill Americans. Two
defectors from bin Laden’s group testified about the ideology,
structure, businesses and headquarters of the group, including bases
in Afghanistan and Sudan. The
prosecution also established the defendant’s ties to bin Laden,
including training in weapons and explosives of three defendants,
al-‘Owhali, Mohamed, and Odeh. El Hage worked for businesses owned by bin Laden and was
accused of being bin Laden’s personal assistant. Osama bin Laden and seventeen others are indicted in this case (see the FBI’s page on embassy bombings). Thirteen of the men under indictment remain at large; five other defendants are either in U.S. or British custody. Because of the United States’ use of the death penalty, the Supreme Court of South Africa ruled that the extradition of Khalfan Khamis Mohamed was unconstitutional because he could be sentenced to death. Casey
Martin, Disabled Golfer, Wins Right to Use Golf Cart on Pro Tour
5/29 In a 7-2 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled today that Casey Martin has a legal right to use a golf cart on PGA Tour events. The Justices ruled that a federal disability-bias
law requires the Professional Golfers Association to waive its
requirement that players walk during their tournaments.
In the decision written by Justice John Paul Stevens, Stevens
said that Congress intended an organization like the PGA to give
consideration to disabled golfers.
The Court ruled that the rule is not fundamental to the game of
golf. Dissenting were Justice Antonin Scalia and Justice Clarence
Thomas. Scalia wrote in
dissent, “In my view today’s opinion exercises a benevolent
compassion that the law does not place it within our power to
impose.” The 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act bans
discrimination against the disabled in public accommodations,
including golf courses and entertainment sites, and requires
“reasonable modifications” for disabled persons unless such
changes would fundamentally alter the place or event.
Stevens wrote that such organizations like the PGA should
“carefully weigh the purpose, as well as the letter” of its rules
before rejecting the requests of golfers who want to use carts or
other accommodations. Martin suffers from a circulatory disorder in his
right leg, Klippel-Trenaunay-Weber Syndrome and the disorder makes it
painful for him to walk long distances.
He sued the PGA in 1997, citing the ADA.
The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled for Martin in
March, 2000. The
following day, the 7th Circuit ruled against an Indiana
golfer, Ford Olinger, who sued the U.S. Golf Association for the right
to use a cart in the U.S. Open qualifying.
That court said the cart would change the nature of
competition. Golfers Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus were
critical of any golfer using a cart.
Martin’s fellow collegiate golfer at Stanford, Tiger Woods,
said that when he and Martin roomed together on road trips, Martin
would be in so much pain that he couldn’t get up to use the
bathroom. The case is PGA Tour v. Martin, 00-24. Rep.
John Lewis Wins Profiles in Courage Lifetime Achievement Award
5/22 Rep. John Lewis,
who represents the 5th District of Georgia, won the
Profiles in Courage Lifetime Achievement Award on Saturday at the John
Fitzgerald. Kennedy Library in Boston. Lewis, who was
honored for a lifetime of dedication to the Civil Rights Movement, was
a son of Alabama sharecroppers who rose to become a congressman. Inbetween, Lewis became the chairman of the Student
Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), and was recently honored for
his role as one of the 1961 Freedom Riders, desegregating bus stations
in the Deep South. While
a Freedom Rider, Lewis risked his life and was beaten severely by
racist mobs. John Seigenthaler, a former administrative assistant to
Attorney General Robert Kennedy, said he called the SNCC organizer to
stop Lewis’ bus to stop because the Attorney General thought that in
the wake of the firebombing of a Freedom Rider bus in Birmingham,
Alabama, someone might get killed.
Seigenthaler was told by the organizer, “They all signed
their wills last night.” At a forum after
the ceremony, Lewis said, “I was maladjusted to the issue of
segregation…I used to ask my mother, my father, my grandmother,
‘Why?’ And they would say that’s just the way it is.” But
it did not stay that way very long. In 1964, Lewis
coordinated the SNCC to organize voter registration drives and
community action programs during the Mississippi Freedom Summer.
In 1965, Lewis, along with Hosea Williams, led over 600
marchers over the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, on a day
that became known as Bloody Sunday.
Alabama state troopers attacked the civil rights marchers whose
only offense was to protest barriers to black voter registration.
Lewis also spoke at the March on Washington in 1963 along with
Martin Luther King Jr. That
march and a march between Selma and Montgomery, Alabama, led to the
Voting Rights Act of 1965. Lewis has been arrested over 40 times,
sustained physical attacks and beatings, but he has never wavered in
his devotion to non-violence, and protecting human rights, his belief
in an integrated society and describes himself as a coalition builder. Since being first elected to the Atlanta City Council in 1981, Lewis ran and won a seat in Congress in 1986. Lewis is also an author. His book, Walking with the Wind: A Memoir of the Movement, with Michael D'Orso, is published by Harcourt (ISBN: 0156007088). Acceptance
Speech by Congressman John Lewis Profiles in
Courage Lifetime Achievement Award May 21, 2001 Boston,
Massachusetts Caroline Kennedy, Senator Kennedy, President Ford and Mrs.
Ford, members of the Selection Committee, Trustees of the John F.
Kennedy Library Foundation, family and friends. I am humbled by
this honor and very pleased to be here with you on this special
occasion marking the work and life of a courageous and humane man of
politics and letters -- President John F. Kennedy. I feel
lucky. I feel more than lucky, I feel truly blessed to receive this
award and I feel very blessed to still be here. While you honor me
today for a lifetime of achievement, I cannot forget those whose lives
were cut short: the three young civil rights workers in
Mississippi----Mickey Schwerner, James Chaney and Andy Goodman.
President Kennedy and Bobby Kennedy. Dr. Martin Luther King, Medgar
Evers. So many lives cut short. We must remember them. We are indebted
to them. Just a week
ago, I participated in the 40th Anniversary of the Freedom Rides. With
20 men and women who dared to tear down the walls of segregation in
1961, we rode again on a greyhound bus through the Deep South. We
retraced our journey from Atlanta to Anniston, Alabama to Birmingham
and then to Montgomery. Forty years
ago, I did what I thought was right when I went on the Freedom Rides
in 1961. We wanted to test a Supreme Court ruling that banned
segregation in an interstate travel facility. When the bus arrived in
Rock Hill, South Carolina, I deboarded the bus and approached the
white waiting room. We were being watched and someone pointed to the
"colored sign." I said: "I have a right to be here on
the grounds of the Supreme Court decision in the Boynton case."
Seconds later, I was attacked and the blood of another battle in the
struggle for civil rights was drawn. I will never, ever forget that
moment. I was 21. I was a sharecropper’s son from a farm near Troy,
Alabama. Yet somehow I learned that where there is injustice, you
cannot ignore the call of conscience. On this very day
----May 21, 1961----exactly forty years ago-- the freedom riders were
trapped in the sanctuary of the First Baptist Church in Montgomery.
The day before, we had been surrounded by a sea of people at the
Montgomery Greyhound bus station -- a mob shouting and screaming, men
swinging fists, baseball bats, lead pipes -- and others throwing
stones -- women swinging heavy purses -- little children clawing with
their fingernails at the faces of anyone they could reach. It was madness.
It was unbelievable. We thought we were going to die. Somewhere in my
youth I remember hearing: "Sorrow may endure for a night, but joy
cometh in the morning." That night at
First Baptist, exactly forty years ago today, was a long, long night.
If we continued the Freedom Ride, we would face arrest or worst. And
if we stopped the Rides, freedom would be denied. An angry mob
surrounded the church – throwing stones and firebombs, overturning
cars, even pounding on the walls of the sanctuary. While we prayed and
sang freedom songs, President Kennedy and the Attorney General
desperately negotiated with the Governor of Alabama – fighting for
our safety. It was our sorrow
and the nation’s sorrow for that night. And for many more nights to
come, the American people -- indeed the world -- would witness many
more beatings, jailing and even the killing of non-violent protesters
daring a better America. So on May 21,
1961, I remembered: "Sorrow may
endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning." By that morning,
joy had come to us: President Kennedy made a bold and courageous
decision to federalize the Alabama National Guard. He also sent in
federal marshals to protect us. We would make it to Jackson
Mississippi. But we could not have done so without the help of
President Kennedy and his brother, the Attorney General. Until joy came in
the morning after the long dark sorrow of her soul, America could not
be America. The joy of morning comes not by our will but by what I
call the Spirit of History -- It sweeps us up and commands us to
answer hate and fear with love and courage. Courage is a
reflection of the heart -- It is a reflection of something deep within
the man or woman or even a child who must resist and must defy an
authority that is morally wrong. Courage makes us march on despite
fear and doubt on the road toward justice. Courage is not heroic but
as necessary as birds need wings to fly. Courage is not rooted in
reason but rather Courage comes from a divine purpose to make things
right. Marching across
the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, we weren’t supposed to make to
Montgomery in 1963. But we did. Arriving in
Montgomery on a Greyhound Bus, we met angry mobs. We were left for
dead on the cold pavement. But we continued
our journey. Seeking to
register blacks during Freedom Summer in Mississippi, three young
civil rights workers were taken from their jail cell left on a dark
country road and murdered in the darkness of night. But we could not
be stopped. Hundreds more students joined us that summer. In building a new
America, we saw a vision then as we do now of the Beloved Community.
Consider those two words. "Beloved" means not hateful, not
violent, not uncaring, not unkind. And "Community" means not
separated, not polarized, not locked in struggle. Beaten and tired but
not defeated, our hopes could not be dimmed. People often ask,
how did others and I continue our non-violent protests through the
sixties with the likelihood that we would be beaten, imprisoned or
even killed. President Kennedy is my best answer to this question. In
1963 he said "The question of race is a moral issue. It is as old
as the scripture itself." When you stand up
to injustice. When you refuse to let brute force crush you. When you
love the man who spits on you or calls you names or puts a lighted
cigarette in your hair. You come to believe that righteousness will
always prevail. Just hold on. We -- and I mean
countless thousands and even millions of Americans -- changed old wine
into new. We tore down the walls of racial division. We inspired a
generation of creative non-violent protest. And we are still building
a new America -- a Beloved America, a community at peace with itself
in Beloved Boston, Beloved Cincinnati, Beloved Washington, Beloved
Atlanta and in every Beloved city, town, village and hamlet in our
nation and in the world. Yes, our world can become a Beloved World. A
world not divided but united. I am deeply
touched by the honor you have given me today but we cannot forget the
unsung heroes who cared deeply, sacrificed much and fought hard for a
better America. For the brave men and women who stood in unmovable
lines because they were determined to vote. For those who expressed
themselves by sitting down in Montgomery, in Nashville, in Birmingham
and throughout the south, they were fighting for a just and open
society. For the black and white freedom riders who rode a bus, faced
angry mobs, survived a burning bus and slept for days on the cold
floor of a jail cell, they too must be looked upon as the founding
mothers and fathers of a new America. As we begin a new century, we must move our feet, our hands, our hearts, our resources to build and not to tear down, to reconcile and not to divide, to love and not to hate, to heal and not to kill. I hope and pray that we continue our daring drive to work toward the Beloved Community. It is still within our reach. Keep your eyes on the Prize. National
Alliance Stickers Removed from York, Pennsylvania Streets 5/21 One day
after the street signs, parking meters and payphones of downtown York,
Pennsylvania were covered with bright orange stickers from the racist
and anti-semitic group National Alliance, the residents and police had
removed most of them. The
stickers, which say, “Earth’s Most Endangered Species:
The White Race. Help
preserve it,” carried a Hagerstown, Maryland phone number. “I’m
really proud of the citizens of York,” said York Police Sgt. Gene
Fells. “They showed they were not going to put up with this type
of behavior.” Whoever
posted the stickers could face arrest on charges of criminal mischief. The
stickers appeared a few days after the arrest of York Mayor Charlie
Robertson and seven other white men for the 1969 murder of
African American Lillie Belle Allen during the city’s race riots.
The neo-Nazi National
Alliance is led by William Pierce, Hillsboro, West Virginia, and is
labeled a dangerous hate group by the Center for the Study of Hate and
Extremism and the Southern Poverty Law Center, and is described as the
most active hate group on the Internet.
Pierce is the author of “The Turner Dairies,” a book about
a race war ending with the bombing of a federal building, which was
found in possession of Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh after his
arrest. Pierce said that the Hagerstown MD chapter probably posted the stickers in response to the arrests in York. The Hagerstown National Alliance chapter leader, Craig Jackson, did not respond for comment. Pierce said the Hagerstown chapter had about 30 members. Williams
Brothers The arson trial
of Matthew Williams and his brother Tyler Williams will not be moved
from Sacramento, U.S. District Judge Garland E. Burrell Jr., ruled on
Friday. The brothers are
charged with setting fire to three synagogues in the Sacramento area,
and a fire at a medical building that houses an abortion clinic. They are also charged in the double murder of a gay couple
and face the death penalty for those murders. Burrell ruled
that the pre-trial publicity cited by the defense did not show the
“deeply rooted pattern of prejudice” necessary to prove the jury
pool has been tainted. Although
the defense had surveyed people in the 23 county area that could be
called for the jury, the defense did not ask a survey question that
inquired whether persons who were polled could ignore what they had
heard about the defendants and if they could decide the case on what
happens in court is a fatal flaw.
The judge also ruled that most newspaper readers did not see a
high percentage of the articles from the Sacramento Be and the Redding
Record-Searchlight, and that most of the articles appeared in 1999,
which cuts against a presumption of prejudice.
The judge also refused to regard articles of community support
and sympathy for the victims, and that Matthew Williams’ publicized
jailhouse confessions to the arsons and the murders were not
prejudicial to his brother, Tyler. Defense attorneys
had wanted the trial moved to Portland or Fresno.
The arson trial is scheduled to begin on July 17th.
The state trial for the murders of Gary Matson and Winfield
Mowder is scheduled to begin on September 19th. Matthew Williams
is a self-professed racist, anti-semite and homophobe. In jailhouse interviews, he admitted the murders of Matson
and Mowder and to the arsons of the B’Nai Israel, Congregation Beth
Shalom and Kenesset Torah Center.
Matthew Williams met with members of the National Alliance at
Cal Preparedness Expo in Sacramento, has corresponded with the
National Alliance and has distributed hate literature at area
businesses and dropped leaflets around four Redding-area high schools
on April 20, 1999, Adolph Hitler’s birthday.
Matthew Williams threatened to wear a Nazi uniform to his
trial. His brother,
Tyler, has not spoken to the press. During a
three-month period in 1999, during which the Williams brothers are
alleged to have committed their arsons and murders, World Church of
the Creator member Benjamin Smith went on a shooting spree in Illinois
and Indiana, shooting 11 Jews, Asian Americans and African Americans,
killing two, and Buford Furrow, former Ayran Nations guard, shot and
wounded five people, including three children, and killed Joseph Ileto,
because he was not white and was working for the federal government.
Ileto was a mail carrier.
“There’s a
term in the hate movement called ‘propaganda of the deed,’ where
one hate crime inspires another, “said Prof. Brian Levin, director
of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism.
“It’s the whole leaderless resistance thing where one
terrorist inspires another they don’t even know.
And we have a small number of susceptible ticking time bombs
out there.” Teen
Skinheads Held in Racial Intimidation, Burglaries 5/20 Six
skinhead teenagers were arrested by the Los Angeles County Sheriff
Department for a six month crime wave.
The teens were arrested in Canyon Country on Wednesday and were
arraigned on a number of charges on Thursday. Arrested were
David Eugene Lampman, 18, three 17-year-olds and two 16-year olds. The names of the juveniles were not released.
Lampman and his
co-defendants are accused of a racist hate crime spree that includes
racial intimidation, burglarizing or vandalizing hundreds of cars, and
setting off hundreds of explosions.
The explosions were described as “practice runs,” and some
of the explosions were used to intimidate minorities. The Sheriff’s department continues to investigate the gang. Sacramento
Property Owner Convicted of Hate Crime Against Tenants 5/19 Debbie
Susan Arbuckle, 49, was convicted of committing a hate crime against
African American tenants in that had lived in Arbuckle’s mobile home
park un Thursday. Arbuckle
was convicted of starting a fire that set the mobile home of Grace
Finch, her son, Robert and her father.
A Sacramento Metro Fire Department arson investigator testified
that the burn patterns showed the fire was deliberately set.
Finch, her son and three tenants of the mobile home park
testified that Arkbuckle had made racist threats and threatened to
burn the Finch trailer if they didn’t move out.
Arbuckle denied making the remarks and threats. Arbuckle faces two years in jail and will be sentenced on June 8. Hate
Crimes Conference: Ismael
Ileto, Morris Casuto To Speak on Hate Crimes at Cal State-San
Bernardino 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
Casuto, 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 Bernardino. The Conference
will be held in Jack Brown 102 from 9 a.m. to 3:15 p.m. 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 Bernardino/Riverside and the
Diocese of San Bernardino/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 Coalition Against Hate; Dr. Robert Gill, University of California, Riverside and Board Member of the Western Inland Empire Coalition Against Hate. Clayton Waagner Spotted Robbing Bank Near Harrisburg PA 5/19
Jail mug shot of Clayton Waagner Clayton Waagner, a jail escapee who said he was on a mission from God to kill abortion providers, was recognized on surveillance tape robbing a bank in Lower Paxton Township PA, near Harrisburg. Waagner is alleged to have used a handgun in the
robbery, “so we consider him a threat to the public, “said U.S.
Marshal Robert Moore of the Springfield IL office.
A Harrisburg PA police officer saw the tape and recognized
Waagner from TV broadcasts of Waagner on "America's Most Wanted. Waagner is on the U.
S. Marshal's 15 Most Wanted. Waagner has been the subject of a massive manhunt
since he escaped from the DeWitt County IL jail in February. Waagner, 44, who was convicted of federal weapons and vehicle
threat charges, has a criminal record dating back to his teens.
He has been frequently profiled on “America’s Most
Wanted” since his February escape through a jail roof opening. According to Detective Sgt. Dick Toth of Lower
Paxton Township, Waagner allegedly walked into the bank without using
a disguise and demanded money from the teller.
Waagner left with several thousand dollars. Waiting in the parking lot of the bank was a
mid-1970’s Volvo with Texas license plates.
The driver was under the car’s hood until Waagner left the
bank, then the hood was closed and the car sped away.
The car appeared to be crammed wiith Waagner’s
belongings. “A lot of
people took notice of this car that it was loaded to the gills,”
said Toth. Waagner was arrested September 12, 1999 in Illinois with his wife and eight children in a stolen Winnebago with four stolen handguns under the driver’s seat. During Waagner’s trial, he used an insanity defense, saying he was getting messages from God to kill abortion providers. Waagner said he decided to kill abortion providers after a daughter had miscarried in her sixth month of pregnancy. Waagner is a hero among extremist anti-abortion groups like the Army of God. May 17 Marks 47th Anniversary of Landmark Integration Case, Brown v. Board of Education 5/17
The lead case was brought on behalf of an 11 year old African-American school student, Linda Brown, who was required by the Topeka, Kansas school board to attend a segregated school. The Brown decision was the Court's first ruling to overturn the "separate but equal" doctrine first upheld by the Supreme Court in the 1896 case of
Plessy v.
Ferguson. While technically the Brown case applied only to public schools, it laid the Constitutional philosophical foundation used to overturn racial segregation in an array of cases since. The Brown case and its philosophical opposite,
Dred Scott v. Sanford (which upheld slavery), are considered by legal scholars and historians as the two most important Supreme Court decisions in American history. For more reading:Crusaders in the Courts: How a Dedicated Band of Lawyers Fought for the Civil Rights Revolution
Branch Davidian Stopped Near Oklahoma City National Memorial 5/16 A member of the Branch Davidians was stopped and her truck searched near Oklahoma City National Memorial, which honors the victims of the Oklahoma City bombing, after police received a call about a suspicious truck. Amo Paul Bishop Roden from Waco, Texas, said she was on her way back to Waco from a church camp meeting in Missouri when she was spotted driving erratically. Buildings near the Memorial were temporarily evacuated and two streets were blocked off while police examined Roden's truck. Roden was the common-law wife of George Roden, the son of Branch Davidian founders Ben and Lois Roden. George Roden was leader of the group until losing out to David Koresh, who led the sect at the time of the 1993 standoff with government agents. Roden's truck was plastered with anti-government bumper stickers including "Revenge for Waco," and "Waco, Texas, and Oklahoma City are where the one world government shot itself in the foot," pictures of the Branch Davidian compound on fire. Roden said she blames the government for the destruction at Waco and Oklahoma City and did not condone the bombing saying, "It's never an excuse to harm a Christian child." Timothy McVeigh said he bombed the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City after the fire at the Branch Davidian compound in Waco. McVeigh was scheduled to die by lethal injection today. Police spotted Roden's vehicle parked a half a block from the Memorial, then saw Roden walk to the Memorial fence. As Roden cried, a police officer approached her. She was detained for two hours while police searched the truck. The FBI also questioned Roden. Police cited the P-38 military can opener on her key chain as the reason for the search. Roden was not charged in the incident. After Roden and her truck were released, she started her return trip to Waco. York, Pennsylvania Mayor to Turn Himself In on 1969 Murder Charges 5/16 York PA Mayor Charlie Robertson will surrender to police tomorrow after being charged with murder in the 1969 murder of a black woman, Lillie Belle Allen. "Murder is the charge," Robertson said as he fought off tears. Five white men have already been charged in Allen's murder. Allen, who is black, was shot to death when she left a car during the 1969 York race riots. Court papers refer to an ``unnamed police officer'' who screamed ``white power!'' at a racist rally. Robertson has admitted he attended the rally and shouted "white power." The papers also say the same officer provided ammunition to at least one of the men who fired on Allen's car and urged ``commando raids'' in black neighborhoods. Robertson has denied those allegations. The 10 day long riots started when a white gang member shot and injured a young black man in York. More than 60 people were injured, 100 were arrested and entire city blocks were burned. The five men arrested for the murder are Robert Messersmith, Arthur Messersmith, Rick Knouse, Gregory Neff, and William Ritter. Ritter was charged with criminal homicide shortly before the mayor's press conference. Robertson narrowly won the Democratic mayoral primary on Tuesday. Robertson's attorney said the charges were politically motivated because the prosecutor is a Republican. Black Firefighters to Boycott Mississippi in the Wake of Flag Vote 5/16 The Black Chief Officers Committee of the International Association of Black Professional Firefighters have notified Jackson, Mississippi Fire Chief Raymond McNulty that they have decided to cancel their conference, which would have been held in Jackson MS in 2002. Although new flag backers had predicted that they would lose business and tourism over the decision of Mississippi voters to keep the Confederate flag on their state flag, this is the first major group to cancel an activity in Mississippi. The state adopted the Confederate flag logo in 1894. "Chief McNulty had said it took about 18 months to get it confirmed, " said Jackson MS city spokeswoman Dorothy Triplett in the Jackson MS Clarion Ledger. "We are very disappointed. Supporters of the 1894 flag said that keeping the Confederate flag on the state flag was a way to preserve their heritage. FBI Director Louis Freeh Gets Praise, Criticism on Capitol Hill; McVeigh Weighs His Legal Options 5/16 As convicted Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh huddled with his lawyers in his death row cell in Terre Haute, Indiana, FBI Director Louis Freeh was alternately praised and lambasted before the House Appropriations Subcommittee. Freeh told the committee that the FBI was guilty of a "serious error" with the belated discovery of 3,135 pages of new documents in the case, with seven more documents found by the Baltimore field office just yesterday, and possibly even more documents from unnamed field offices. Freeh said that he had sent out a priority teletype to all FBI field offices in November 1996 ordering them to turn over all documents. Before that, Freeh said the field offices were told 11 times to compile the documents to turn over to the defense teams of McVeigh and Terry Nichols. It was only after documents were being archived, starting in December, 2000 did the new documents turn up. Freeh said he did not know about the documents until May 10, shortly after he announced his resignation from the FBI on May 1. David Obey (D-Wisconsin) tore into Freeh. "I just think this is a pitiful performance, which is feeding the paranoia of large sections of the country, and that's the last thing we can afford these days," said Obey. Obey's district, which encompasses a large portion of northern Wisconsin, is or has been home to militias and a Ku Klux Klan chapter lead by Michael McQueeney, Mercer WI. McQueeney's group demonstrated in Skokie, Illinois last winter, and has demonstrated in Madison, Wisconsin and Rockford, Illinois. Christian Identity Minister Pete Peters of La Porte, Colorado, has held campouts and baptisms at a Bible camp in Obey's district over the Labor Day weekend the past two years. Since the early 1970's, Tigerton, Wisconsin, in Obey's district, has been the home of the Christian Identity-based Posse Comitatus, which has gotten into armed standoffs and confrontations with law enforcement, filed false liens on local officials, passed fake money orders, and tried to form their own county, "Tigerton Dells." A number of members of this Posse group has been jailed and imprisoned for their actions, including James Wickstrom and Thomas Stockheimer, and Posse members have had their land seized and sold for failure to pay taxes. The FBI, Obey said, was "something close to a failed agency...the litany of troubles with the agency are truly astounding and regrettable." Other committee members were less harsh. Rep. David Rogers (R-Kentucky) said, "You had 28,000 interviews, and you had tons of materials that were turned over and what we're taking about here is really insignificant, irrelevant documents that have no bearing on the case. Is that a fair assessment?" Freeh replied, "that is my understanding." The FBI contends that the newly found materials are not relevant to the case and will not affect the outcome of the case. The discovery led the Attorney General to postpone the execution of McVeigh for a month and triggered an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court by convicted co-conspirator Terry Nichols. Freeh told the committee that he will be adding "a world-class records expert" and will create a separate office of records management and policy before he leaves the FBI next month. Freeh also apologized to the victims of the Oklahoma City bombing for the postponement of McVeigh's execution. "I also regret the pain that this has caused the victims and family members who lost loved ones." At the same time Freeh was testifying, the man who was to be executed was meeting with his lawyers, Nathan Chambers and Rob Nigh at the federal prison in Terre Haute, Indiana. After they consulted with their client, Chambers and Nigh talked to the press. "Everything is available to us now in terms of potential legal options and we're going to pursue them all," said Nigh. "His spirits are good. He remains willing to consider all options that may be available to him," said Chambers. McVeigh's lawyers said he was talking an active role in his case and his decision to appeal his case. McVeigh had given up his appeals in December, 2000 and was scheduled to be executed at 8 a.m. EDT today. The lawyers said they had not received the new documents discovered in the FBI Baltimore field office. The lawyers expected the government to turn the documents over to them for their examination. Aryan Nations Property in Idaho May Be Burned and Sold 5/16 The Aryan Nations compound in northern Idaho will be burned and the property sold, according to a story by Bill Morlin in the Spokane Spokesman-Review. The new owner of the property, Greg Carr, has applied for a burning permit for the property. Carr is a multimillionaire and human rights activist who bought the property for $250,000 after the former leader of the Aryan Nations, Richard Butler, filed bankruptcy after he lost a lawsuit filed by Victoria and Jason Keenan. The Keenans were threatened and beaten by Aryan Nations guards and won a $6.3 million judgment against Butler. Butler was found to be responsible for the actions of his guards. Butler owned the property for 25 years, through last summer. The North Idaho landmark attracted a stream of white supremacists, many of whom left behind legacies of crime and violence, including Buford Furrow, a former Ayran Nations guard who is serving life in prison without parole for his murder of Joseph Ileto and wounding children and adults at a Jewish day care center in the Los Angeles area. A citizens ad hoc committed formed by Carr had planned on turning the compound into a human rights center, but there were concerns about security at the site and the insurance liability issues, Morlin reported. After the property is burned by firefighters in a training exercise, it may be sold for use as a cow pasture. A spokesman for Butler said, "I'd rather see it burned down and left in a pie of ashes than turned into a human rights museum. That would cause big problems for some of us if they turned it into a human rights museum," said Shaun Winkler. Plans now may include having a human rights center at another site, probably a public library in the Coeur d'Alene area or at the North Idaho College. More OKC Documents Discovered; McVeigh Says No John Doe II; Freeh Bashed on Capitol Hill 5/15 As the FBI combs its offices for more Oklahoma City documents, the Houston Chronicle received a letter from convicted Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh. Seven more documents were found Monday in the Baltimore field office of the FBI. The field offices are conducting their sixth search of their files for Oklahoma City bombing files. Last week, the FBI turned over 3,135 pages of documents to McVeigh's defense team, and prompted Attorney General John Ashcroft to reschedule McVeigh's execution until June 11. Some of the information in the newly discovered documents relates to a man named "Robert Jacques," alternately spelled "Jacquez" and "Jacks." According to a southwest Missouri real estate broker, in November, 1994 McVeigh, along with Terry Nichols and Jacques came to his office to look at secluded acreage "in the middle of nowhere." The real estate broker said they wanted land with caves. The broker remembered that Jacques did most of the talking. Other information includes documents, FBI 302 forms, videotapes letters and other correspondence concerning John Doe II. In a letter to the Houston Chronicle received on Monday but dated May 2, before the documents were discovered, McVeigh said that John Doe II does not exist and attacked his former lawyer, Stephen Jones. "Jones has been thoroughly discredited, so I'm not going to break a sweat refuting his outlandish claims point-by-point....the truth is on my side," McVeigh wrote. "[D]oes anyone honestly believe that if there was a John Doe #2 (there is not), that Stephen Jones would be alive?....Think about it." According to one legal expert, McVeigh has ambushed his attorneys. Robert Pugsley of Southwest University School of Law in Los Angeles, said that if he were McVeigh's attorney, he's be upset by McVeigh's letter because it may undermine the appeal his attorneys may mount in McVeigh's behalf. McVeigh's attorneys have said that he is considering his options in light of the document discovery. A McVeigh timeline has been published by the PBS show, Frontline. On Capitol Hill, while retiring FBI Director Louis Freeh was supposed to testify in a closed door session of the Senate Intelligence Committee about the Robert Hanssen spy case and the FBI budget, Freeh was grilled by senators about the failure to turn over all documents to the defense in the McVeigh and Terry Nichols' cases. According to Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Alabama), chairman of the committee, Freeh told the senators that the newly discovered documents will not have any bearing on the cayse, but Shelby said, "we'll have to wait and see." "It's something that should not have happened, and it shows, probably, a lack of diligence somewhere in the FBI," Shelby said. Shelby said that Freeh was the FBI's director and was responsible for the lapse, but said that others who failed to meet deadlines or follow orders "ought to be brought to task." Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), not a member of the committee and who did not attend the Intelligence Committee hearing, weighed in. "There's no question these mistakes should not have been made in a high-profile case or in any case." Hatch is chairman of the Senate Judiciary committee that has oversight over the FBI. "Every criminal defendant has the right to these types of materials and we've got to live up to our responsibilities. We must see that those rights are protected." Shelby is calling for a "broad review of the FBI, its mission, its problems and some solutions." Hatch plans on calling hearings on the McVeigh matter and Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Illinois) will propose a separate inspector general for the FBI, which would supplant the Inspector General of the Justice Department. Shelby was also concerned about the failure of the FBI to turn over files and tapes of the 1963 bombing of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church bombing that killed four young girls. "From what I've learned recently, the FBI had the information which they never furnished to our former (state) attorney general, Bill Baxley, when he reopened the bombing case" in the 1970's "and only recently furnished it to the U.S. Attorney's office in Birmingham." Baxley wrote a scathing editorial in the New York Times criticizing the failure of the FBI to turn the tapes over to the prosecution for almost 35 years. The document discovery is causing more problems for prosecutors in other cases. Because of the release of the documents, a state court has postponed a preliminary hearing for Terry Nichols, McVeigh's convicted co-conspirator. Testimony was to start on Monday. No new date has been set for Nichols. On Wednesday, FBI Director Louis Freeh will testify before the House Appropriations Subcommittee, which may be broadcast on C-span. One of McVeigh's attorneys will travel to Terre Haute IN for a consultation with McVeigh. Freedom Riders Make Emotional Return to Birmingham 5/15 Forty years after the Freedom Riders started their dangerous journey, eight of the Freedom Riders rode back to Birmingham, Alabama. Ed Blankenheim, now 67, broke down into tears at a Birmingham museum where a replica of the bus he was riding on four decades ago was firebombed. "I just broke down. Everything came back to me--the ugliness, the hate," Blankenheim told the Associated Press. "There were women there with babies in their arms screaming 'roast those niggers.' People were coming from church on Mother's Day to participate in an honest to God lynching." This time, Blankenheim's return to the Freedom Riders' bus was noticeably different. Along with Rep. John Lewis (D-Georgia), Hank Thomas, Charles Person, James Zwerg, John Moody, Charles Perkins, and two others were greeted by Anniston, Alabama Mayor Chip Howell presented the Riders with a key to the city. In Montgomery, Alabama Mayor Bobby Bright greeted the Riders at David Abernathy's First Baptist Church and said, "I'm here in this church to welcome you and not out at the city limits with an angry mob. " In Birmingham, the buses, which carried the Freedom Riders and about 150 others, Birmingham Mayor Bernard Kincaid greeted the Riders at the bus station and he owed his political career to the Freedom Riders. "We know the hate you faced years ago. I realize full well I stand squarely on your shoulders." "Forty years ago, we were not this relaxed after leaving Anniston. There was a terrible amount of fear in this region. It was like taking your life into your own hands, but we were willing to die for it," Rep. Lewis said. Zwerg, who watched a tape of himself in a hospital bed after being beaten at the bus station in Birmingham, heard himself say, "We'll take the hitting. We'll take the beatings. We'll accept death." Zwerg, like Blankenheim, broke down into tears and said, "This is a very moving thing for me to come through. I feel honored to be among you. I just happen to have white skin, but there is nothing special about me. I owe you so much." In Montgomery, at the church where the Riders were trapped for 15 hours by a rabid mob, Zwerg met someone whom he had never met: the man who had taken him, unconscious, to the hospital 40 years ago. Cops and Protestors Outnumber WCOTC Matt Hale at Speech 5/14 A speech by World Church of the Creator Pontifex Maximus Matthew Hale drew more police and protestors than supporters. The speech, held at the Clinton, Illinois library on Saturday, saw 52 state, county and local police officers setting up barricades around the library hours prior to Hale's appearance, and people attending the speech were required to go through a metal detector. Six protestors outside yelled at the few Hale supporters who showed up for the speech, and inside, protestors outnumbered Hale and his allies. Twelve officers lined the walls of the room while Hale spoke and yellow police tape was tied on tables separating Hale from the audience. During the speech, hecklers annoyed Hale, prompting Hale to ask police to remove the protestors. "I want him shut up to be moved out of here," Hale told the police, according to the Bloomington IL Pantagraph. Police did not remove anyone, but frequently told the audience to keep quiet. Most of the audience were Hale protestors. A few Hale supporters clapped during Hale's hour-long speech. When Hale finally finished his white supremacy speech, he took questions from the audience. A black high school senior, Tyrone Byrd, told Hale he felt sorry for him. This drew loud applause. By the end of Hale's speech, only six people were still in the audience. Hale is barred from using the library in his hometown of Peoria, Illinois, after his last speech caused over $4000 in damage. The library has required Hale to pay for the damages before he can use the Peoria library again. In a related matter, a gun dealer who made unlicensed sales to another gun dealer, who then sold guns to a WCOTC member who went on a shooting spree was sentenced to two years probation. Robert Hayes, Peoria, sold guns to Donald Feissinger, Pekin IL, without notifying the state police, a violation of Illinois state law. Feissinger sold two guns to Benjamin Smith, a member of the WCOTC, and one of Hale's top assistants. Smith went on a three day shooting rampage in July, 1999, killing two people and wounding nine before killing himself. Because Hayes cooperated with authorities, he was given probation. Feissinger was sentenced to 10 months in prison for selling firearms without a license. Embassy Bombing Jury Deliberates Amidst High Security, Controversy 5/14 The jury in the embassy bombing cases are in their second day of deliberation, with concern among the defense, prosecution and judge that the Timothy McVeigh case may taint their decision. The case is being tried in the Southern District of New York. Four men are on trial for the 1998 bombings of U.S. Embassies in Nairobi, Kenya and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania: Mohamed Rashed Daoud al-'Owhali, Khallfan Khamis Mohamed, Wadih El-Hage and Mohamed Sadeek Odeh. al-'Owadi and Khamis Mohamed face the death penalty for their roles in the bombing of the embassies. El-Hage and Odeh face life in prison for their roles in the overall plot in the bombings. The bombings killed 224 people and injured hundreds more. The jury is not sequestered. They deliberated on Friday, but did not deliberate over the weekend. Jurors have been ordered to avoid any stories about Timothy McVeigh. TV news coverage over the weekend brought numerous stories about McVeigh and heavy criticism of the FBI. The testimony of FBI agents was central to the prosecution's case, describing confessions made by Khamis Mohamed and al-'Owhali about their roles in the attack. Osama bin Laden has been charged as a co-conspirator in the bombings and is on the FBI's Most Wanted. Bin Laden is presumed to be living in Afghanistan and there is a $5 million reward for information leading to his arrest. The government has portrayed the defendants as willing followers of bin Laden. Security in and around the courtroom and courthouse is tight. A 100 page plan outlines the security for the building and its surroundings. Concrete barriers surround the courthouse and trial spectators must go through two metal detectors. Security dogs inspect packages and purses and the building's wiring is inspected for sabotage. Prior to trial, one of the defendants charged Judge Leonard B. Sand and another defendant stabbed a jail guard in the eye. Ashcroft Says No to More McVeigh Extensions; Brady Law Key to Appeal 5/14 Attorney General John Ashcroft has said that he will not extend the time past June 11 for Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh's execution. McVeigh and his lawyers are analyzing newly discovered materials in his case, materials that came to light last Thursday. McVeigh was due to be executed on May 16. Legal analysts say that if McVeigh wants to restart his appeals, Brady v. Maryland (see Brady v. Maryland) is key to his appeal. The newly discovered evidence will also have an impact on Terry Nichols' appeals. In a decision written by Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas, Brady says: "We now hold that the suppression by the prosecution of evidence favorable to an accused upon request violates due process where the evidence is material either to guilt or to punishment, irrespective of the good faith or bad faith of the prosecution." The FBI is now conducting a sixth search of their files to ascertain whether all Oklahoma City bombing materials have been, in fact, turned over to the defense. McVeigh Still Considering Appeals; Congress Calls for Investigation 5/13 As convicted Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh ponders resuming his appeals in the wake of revelations that the FBI discovered over 3000 pages of documents in his case, members of Congress said they wanted hearings on the case, and Sen. Charles Schumer has called on President George W. Bush for a special commission for a thorough examination of the FBI. Sen. Charles Grassley criticized retiring FBI Director Louis Freeh, saying, "It think there is a management culture here that is at fault. I call it a 'cowboy culture,'" Grassley said on "This Week" on ABC. "It is a culture that puts image--public relations and headlines--ahead of the fundamentals. I don't think he [Freeh] has been willing to challenge the management culture." Sen. Arlen Specter wants more oversight of the FBI in general. McVeigh's legal team first found out that the FBI had discovered that 3,135 pages of documents, plus videotapes and pictures, starting in January. McVeigh gave up his appeals and would have been executed on May 16. Because of the discovery, Attorney General John Ashcroft postponed McVeigh's execution date until June 11. Robert Nigh, attorney for McVeigh, said, "In the light [of the discovery], it's completely reasonable for him to evaluate his position. The facts of the case are now certainly at issue." Another McVeigh attorney, Nathan Chambers, said, "Are we going to learn next week that there are yet more documents?" "The fact of the production itself could possibly change the legal outcome of the case," said Nigh. One of McVeigh's prosecutors, Beth Wilkinson, said, "He has confessed to the crime. The evidence during the trial was overwhelming." Wilkinson said that the belated production of the materials was an |
