Stop Hate Inspire Neighborly Engagement (SHINE)

While white power hate violence has long been a problem in the Greater Washington DC Metro region, hate incidents rose dramatically beginning in 2001. Six neo-nazi rallies were held in Washington DC between August 2001 and August 2002. The following listing represents some of the hate incidents that occurred in 01 - 02 in the DC-MD-NoVA area, followed by a "worst of" listing of hate incidents from around the nation. Many of the convictions and arrests for these hate crimes have been attributed to members and supporters of the groups sponsored the rallies in Washington DC.

This list is significant in three primary ways. First, it represents an attempt by YLSN volunteers to document hate activity in our region.As such, it is a partial listing. Second, the amount of hate activity in our area is clearly represented by this list. Third, local incidents are put in national and international context. This is critical to understanding local incidents, as the movements behind local acts are active participants in the international white power movement.

Please email any incidents you know about to info@worldyouth.org. Thank you, Youth Leadership Support Network .

Regional

Hate Rallies/ Public Event   October 26, 2002 Beckly, WVA

The Ku Klux Klan will hold a public event with speaker Matt Hale of the World Church of the Creator.

Hate Rally August 24, 2002 Washington, DC

Several hundred neo-nazi and other hate groups held the largest white power rally at the Nation's Capitol since the 1930s.

Hate Incident August 10-11, 2002 Potomac and Rockville, MD

Swastikas were spray-painted on a school, a synagogue and several businesses including Stone Mill Elementary School and Congregation B\'nai Tzedek synagogue in Potomac, and the Cabin John Shopping Center on Tuckerman Lane in Rockville.

Hate Incident August 1, 2002 Newington, Fairfax County, VA

A man went to his car on Thursday and found an improperly drawn swastika drawn on the hood.

Hate Incident July 31, 2002 McLean, VA

Anti-Semitic remarks were written in black marker on the sidewalk in front of his house.

Hate Incident July 28, 2002 Springfield, VA

The acronyms for two white supremacy groups were written on his vehicles and threats on the asphalt in front of his home. The victim also reported that a neighbor had similar graffiti on his vehicle.

Hate Rallies/ Public Event July 27-28, 2002 Beckly, WVA

Washington Heritage Rally sponsored by the National Association for the Advancement of White People (NAAWP) attended by 20 or so racists. Equal number of counter demonstrators held a vigil at the park entrance where the event was held.

Hate Incident July 24, 2002 Hillsboro WVA

Irene and Boyd Thompson have been next-door neighbors with the white supremacist group National Alliance for 18 years, but they never had an unpleasant interaction with any of its members until last week. That's when an unidentified woman tried to recruit the Thompsons' 12-year-old grandson to join the Resistance Youth Corps. She also signed the boy's plaster arm cast and drew the Alliance symbol - which resembles an upside-down peace sign - on it. The Youth Corps is a 3-month-old Alliance offshoot that aims, according to literature given to the boy "to fight strongly for a Whiter, brighter world instead of the mud pit that is society today."

Hate Incident July 21, 2002 Springfield VA

Vandalism occurred in the 6800 block of Sydenstricker Road in the Springfield area about 8:00 a.m., Sunday. A 48-year-old Springfield area man reported that the acronyms for two white supremacy groups were written on his vehicles and threats on the asphalt in front of his home. The victim also reported that a neighbor had similar graffiti on his vehicle.

Hate Incident July 20, 2002 Martinsville VA

White Unity Rally and Crossburning by Rebel Brigade - Knights Of The Ku Klux Klan Realm Of Virginia; 2nd of the year.

Hate Incident July 18, 2002 Damascus MD

The National Alliance distributed several hundred fliers between the evening of June 30 and the morning of July 1. Damascus has been examining its racial attitudes since January when a group of white teenagers beat up a black freshman in the Ridgeview Center parking lot, near the high school, while a crowd of white teens watched and egged them on. Three teenagers recently pleaded guilty to assault in juvenile court and a fourth was acquitted.

Hate Arrests/ Convictions July 3, 2002 Manassas VA

Fairfax County Police arrested Michael Leigh, 36, made threatening and racist comments toward a 33-year-old Manassas area woman, and her three-year-old daughter, as they entered a relative's home. An officer attempted to question Leigh about the incident, but he refused to cooperate with police and continued making racially offensive comments about his neighbors and the officers.

Hate Incident June 24, 2002 Reston VA

Fairfax County Police are investigating a destruction of property case, which has been classified as a bias crime. The incident occurred at St. Thomas Catholic Church. Obscene phrases and Nazi symbols were drawn on the windows and doors of the church sometime Sunday evening.

Hate Incident June 14, 2002 Fairfax County VA

Fairfax County Police are investigating a bias incident that occurred on the sidewalk in front of 3400 Payne Street. At some time on Friday, a black swastika was painted on the sidewalk next to a fire hydrant. The reason for the incident is unknown and it does not appear that the symbol was directed to any one person in particular.

Hate Incident May 30, 2002 Herndon VA

An employee at the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community Center reported that over the past 30 days, an unknown person had broken the glass panes in a door on three separate occasions. On this particular occasion, someone broke the glass panes, entered the building and urinated on the floor.

Hate Incident May 22, 2002 West Springfield VA

A bias incident occurred at the Robinson Secondary School in the West Springfield area around 12:30 p.m. on May 22. A fifteen-year-old student received a letter containing racial-based threats.

Hate Incident May 4, 2002 Yorktown VA

Head of the white supremacist group World Church of the Creator, Matt Hale held a speech titled: "Winning Back the Country of Our Forefathers".

Hate Incident Alexandria VA

A 28-year-old Alexandria man has been charged with a hate crime after he allegedly tossed a brick through the window of an Afghan man's car early Saturday, police said. Michael Woolls approached a 24-year-old Richmond man who was walking on King Street about 1:50 a.m. and demanded to know his national origin, police said. After the man said he was from Afghanistan, Woolls hit his car with a stick and threw a brick through the window, striking a passenger.

Hate Incident April 22, 2002 Baily's Crossroads VA

Two men in a truck drove by a group of men and women in their late teens to early twenties at Leesburg Pike Plaza. One of the boys in the group shouted a racial slur to the men in the truck. The driver of the truck confronted the group about the slur. The boy who made the slur brandished a handgun at the man. The passenger got out of the truck, approached the group with an ice pick and they ran.

Hate Incident March 20, 2002 Herndon VA

After leaving community meetings at the town hall, Herndon residents have been returning to their cars recently to find anti-Semitic literature stuck under their windshield wipers. A spokesman for the National Alliance, a neo-Nazi organization based in Hillsboro, W.Va., said the group is recruiting members in the Herndon area with the goal of forming a cell.

Hate Rallies/ Events February 22-24, 2002 Herndon VA

The publication American Renaissance, which promotes pseudo-intellectual racist theories holds a conference titled "In Defense of Western Man".

Hate Incident February 7, 2002 Herndon VA

After an event at Beth Emeth Synagogue members of the community returned to their cars to find anti-Semitic literature pinned between the windshield and windshield wiper from the National Alliance. On February 19, fliers were placed on car windshields outside a Town Council work session, "There have been over a dozen incidents of pamphleting in the Reston-Herndon area, all by the National Alliance in the last year," said Brittanie Werbel, associate director for the ADL regional office in Washington, D.C.

Hate Rallies/ Events January 12, 2002 Danville VA

Meeting of local chapter of the Southern Party of Virginia, a nationalist party, to discuss possible candidates for offices in Virginia, particularly the governor's office.

Hate Incident December 18, 2001 Baltimore MD

Baltimore County police said yesterday that the pipe bomb that blew up in the face of a Dundalk man Saturday night.Robert Joseph Lockman, 28, remained at Maryland Shock Trauma Center under police guard last night. Part of the police investigation is centering on neighbors' claims that Lockman is a skinhead who holds white-supremacist beliefs. Neighbors said Lockman bore several swastika tattoos. and is a gun enthusiast who routinely was seen leaving his house with weapons. Lockman has been charged with at least eight crimes in the past decade -- including possessing a chemical device with intent to injure in 1992 - but there is no indication he was ever convicted.

Hate Rallies/ Events December 15, 2001 Washington DC

National Alliance stages second rally at Israeli Embassy. 80 or so racists present.

Hate Rallies/ Events November 10, 2001 Washington DC

The National Alliance holds demonstration at Israeli Embassy. 75 white power demonstrators present.

Hate Arrests/ Convictions November 10, 2001 Prince William VA

Stanley Elburn Smith III, 27, and James M. Terrell, 25, were charged with assault and battery, malicious wounding and fraud for allegedly assaulting a Pakistani man.

Hate Arrests/ Convictions October 23, 2001 Manassas VA

April Scruggs, 42, and her son, Jarvis Wilhoit, 19, were charged with assault and battery and a hate crime after allegedly attacking two Afghan brothers.

Hate Incident October 8, 2001 Hampton VA

Fliers from the neo-Nazi National Alliance were left outside a synagogue.

Hate Incident September 19, 2001 Laurel MD

The words "terrorist murderer" were spray-painted on a car belonging to an Indian immigrant.

Hate Incident September 8, 2001 Churchton MD

Racial epithets and anti-government phrases were spray-painted inside two homes under construction.

Hate Incident August 24, 2001 Edgewater MD

The letters "KKK" were spray-painted on the garage of a home about to be sold to a black family.

Hate Incident August 10, 2001 Annapolis MD

Satanic symbols and a racial slur were scrawled inside a predominantly black church.

Hate Incident August 5, 2001 Crofton MD

Racial epithets were spray-painted on a black couple's house and vehicle.

Hate Incident August 5, 2001 Annapolis MD

A black family's car tires were slashed and their home was spray-painted with racist phrases.

Hate Incident August 3, 2001 Roanoke VA

Two men and the pastor of a predominantly gay church were allegedly attacked after a Bible study and prayer meeting.

Hate Rallies/ Events July 29, 2001 Washington DC

National Alliance and other neo-Nazi's stage second rally at German Embassy. 75 white power activists faced off against over 150 anti-racist demonstrators.

Hate Incident July 23, 2001 Centreville VA

A swastika and the words "I Love Hitler" were written on the garage door of a Jewish family's home.

Hate Arrests/ Convictions July 23, 2001 Roanoke VA

Ronald E. Gay, 55, was sentenced to four life terms for a shooting rampage in a gay bar that killed one man and left six other people wounded.

Hate Incident June 7, 2001 Ellicott City MD

Swastikas, Ku Klux Klan references and disparaging remarks about African Americans, Hispanics, Jews and immigrants were spray-painted on a house under construction.

Hate Incident June 3, 2001 Arlington VA

A dozen cars, including an off-duty police cruiser, were spray-painted with the letters "KKK" and "MS-13," the name of a Salvadoran street gang.

Hate Incident June 1, 2001 Manassas VA

Fliers with profanity and images targeting blacks, politicians and homosexuals, among other groups, were left on the car windshields of local residents.

Hate Incident May 30, 2001 Dale City VA

Racist pamphlets and drawings were placed on several cars in a racially diverse apartment complex.

Hate Arrests/ Convictions May 21, 2001 Clinton MD

Paul Lee Jones, 19, Mark David Weaver, 18, Kevin Hamilton Murphy, 18, and a 13-year-old were charged with three counts of malicious destruction of property and two counts of theft for allegedly spray-painting upside-down crosses, pentagrams, "KKK" and racial and anti-Semitic slurs on two churches and an elementary school.

Hate Incident May 19, 2001 Hagerstown MD

Recruitment stickers from the neo-nazi National Alliance were put on street signs, parking meters and other public property downtown.

Hate Rallies/ Events April 28, 2001 Woolwine VA

The Rebel Knights of the Ku Klux Klan held a rally.

Hate Incident April 19, 2001 Bel Air MD

A painted message listing Ruby Ridge, Waco and Oklahoma City, followed by the words "Bel Air" and the date "4-19-01" was found on a parking space at a local FBI office.

Hate Rallies/ Events April, 2001 Washington DC

About 30 National Alliance members rally at the German Embassy in support of German neo-nazis.

Hate Incident April 1, 2001 Bethesda MD

Three swastikas and the words "Go home" were spray-painted near the entrance of a synagogue.

Hate Incident March 27, 2001 James City VA

The letters "KKK" were spray-painted on a car parked at a black family's residence.

Hate Arrests/ Convictions March 21, 2001 Stafford VA

Thomas J. Rivers, 18, was sentenced to 25 years in prison for malicious and felony wounding in connection with an attack on a gay teenager.

Hate Arrests/ Convictions March 17, 2001 Bowie MD

Two white teens were charged with spray-painting a racial slur and the letters "KKK" on the exterior wall of a gym.

Hate Incident March 11, 2001 York VA

The words "White Power", the letters "KKK", and other racial slurs were spray-painted on eight vehicles in a local neighborhood.

Hate Incident February 8, 2001 Fort Valley VA

A flier from the Keystone Knights of the Ku Klux Klan was left at a white family's residence.

Hate Incident January 22, 2001 Woodstock VA

Fliers from the International Keystone Knights of the Ku Klux Klan were left in driveways.

National & International

Hate Rallies/ Public Event July 26-28, 2002 Ulysses Township PA

Aryan Nations World Congress gathering sponsored by the PA faction of the neo-Nazi Aryan Nations.

Hate Arrests/ Convictions July 26, 2002 Boston, MA

A white-supremacist couple were found guilty Friday of plotting to blow up Jewish and black landmarks around Boston in what prosecutors said was a scheme to foment "racial holy war." Felton was a member of the White Order of Thule, while Chase belonged to the World Church of the Creator. They met after Chase corresponded with Felton for almost a year while he was in prison for the attempted murder of a black taxi driver.

Hate Rallies/ Public Event July 24, 2002 York, AL

A Ku Klux Klan leader who won the right to march in York on Friday has decided against staging the event. Gollub said he had originally planned the march to recruit new members and honor the area's Southern heritage.

Hate Arrests/ Convictions July 24, 2002 Benson NC

Charles Robert "Junior" Barefoot Jr., a Ku Klux Klansman who allegedly plotted to blow up several Johnston County offices was charged last week with a federal firearms violation. Agents raided Barefoot's home near Benson and found a cache of more than two dozen weapons, including an Uzi and an AK-47, two homemade bombs, bomb-making equipment and a purple robe that agents identified as a Klan robe. Sheriff's deputies also found a cross that appeared to be burned.

Hate Incident July 14, 2002 Toronto ON

Christopher Steven McBride, 20, and Sylvia Asante, 19 were charged with the slaying outside of an Israeli-owned pizza shop. They allegedly shouted anti-Semitic slurs before McBride fatally stabbed David Rosenzweig, a Hasidic Jewish father of six.

Hate Rallies/ Public Event July 13, 2002 Denver CO

White power concert featuring Max Resist, Intimidation One, Definate Hate, Final War, Youngland, H8 Machine and others. Sponsored by the Heritage Press.

Hate Incident June 9, 2002 Tulsa, OK

Alonzo Lincoln Bailey, 33, was chained to a fence, doused with an accelerant and set on fire. Arrested was Tedford, who has tattoos that suggest a link to a white supremacist group; Bailey was black. "The victim had been bound at the ankles, around the hands, around the waist, around the neck and chained with a chain and lock to a fence," according to court documents.

Hate Rallies/ Public Events June 8, 2002 Toronto, ON

First white power concert in Toronto in seven years takes place.

Hate Arrests/ Convictions May 21, 2002 Mount Holly NJ

One of two reputed white-supremacist skinheads (34 and 24) accused of beating a sleeping African American couple (20, 25) with baseball bats after breaking into their Pemberton Township home last year pleaded guilty yesterday to two counts of aggravated assault.

Hate Incident May 25, 2002 Chester County PA

White solidarity gathering sponsored by the Ray Redfeairn-led faction of Aryan Nations.

Hate Incident May 6, 2002 Oakland CA

Federal agents are investigating fires at an Oakland synagogue that appeared to be the work of an arsonist, officials said Sunday. Beth Jacob received an anti-Semitic letter a few weeks ago. The fires come a month after arson in Los Altos gutted the Antiochian Orthodox Church, which serves a largely Arab American congregation.

Hate Arrests/ Convictions May 3, 2002 Portland, OR

Long time Portland racialist and Youth of Hitler skinhead Gary Carson Brown was found guilty this week on 12 criminal counts including robbery, assault, kidnapping and extortion.

Hate Arrests/ Convictions May 2, 2002 Portland, OR

Two men described as racist skinheads have been convicted in the November beating of a woman (19) who refused to fight anti-racist skinheads.

Hate Incident May 1, 2002 Pittsburgh PA

A man with a shaved head, fatigue pants and black boots spray painted a swastika on a pillar outside The Edward and Rose Berman Jewish University Center. Eight days earlier, Morton Brown, 30, of Shadyside, found dozens of anti-Semitic fliers on the windshields of cars parked along Elwood and Walnut streets. An address at the bottom of the page listed the World Church of the Creator.

Hate Rallies/ Events April 20, 2002 York PA

Aryan Nations faction headed by Richard Butler sponsors a rally celebrating Hitler's birthday.

Hate Rallies/ Events April 20, 2002 Potter County PA

Meeting of the neo-Nazi group, Aryan Nations, to celebrate Hitler's birthday. Other Hitler birthday white power concerts took place in Detroit, MI and Orange County, CA.

Hate Arrests/ Convictions April 11, 2002 Los Angeles CA

A man allegedly involved with white supremacist groups has been arrested on suspicion of threatening an interracial couple in Sylmar last month, police said. Police served a search warrant at MacDonald's home and found "some literature and pictures [that] depicted an association with known white supremacist gangs in the Valley," Lee said.. On March 21, a man pointed a gun and made derogatory comments toward the couple walking near Dronfield Avenue and Hubbard Street, Lee said.

Hate Incident March 2002 Toronto ON

Intruders start fire inside of one of Toronto's oldest synagogues, Anshei Minsk, damaging books and furnishings.

Hate Arrests/ Convictions March 19, 2002 Joliet IL

A Joliet man and two juveniles, alleged to be white supremacists, have been charged with arson and a hate crime in connection with the torching of a garage and two vehicles belonging to a predominantly black church in Joliet. The church's garage was burned Jan. 23 with what investigators said was an accelerant, and painted with a swastika and a threatening racial epithet. In the first week of March, arsonists struck again, burning the church's bus and van, which were parked across Brown Avenue in the church's parking lot, and painting racist graffiti. Inside one suspects' home police found Nazi and white supremacist graffiti and posters.

Hate Arrests/ Convictions February 6, 2002 Roanoke Rapids NC

A black Tarboro teen-ager was the victim of an alleged hate crime while he was visiting a friend in Roanoke Rapids during the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend. Four men (ages 16, 21, 21, 21) attacked the youth. Two of the assailants have been arrested while the other two remain at large. Christian Davis, 21, was visiting a white female when the alleged incident occurred. The assailants came to the residence after making a racial and threatening phone call to Davis. Once they arrived, they began beating and kicking Davis body while making racial comments. The assailants also allegedly used a stone and a bar stool to strike the victim.

Hate Incident January 22, 2002 Columbus OH

At Johnson Park East Side Middle School vandals set student artwork on fire, trashed the teachers' lounge and spray-painted doors and mirrors with swastikas and "KKK" the symbol for the Ku Klux Klan. Investigators today are expected to charge the two 16-year-olds and one 14-year-old with burglary and arson.

Hate Incident January 17, 2002 Newport TN

Three days before a Ku Klux Klan rally, a wooden cross was burned in the front yard of this small town's first black mayor.

Hate Arrests/ Convictions January 17, 2002 Oslo - Norway

Two neo-Nazis were convicted Thursday of stabbing a black Norwegian teen-ager in a killing that sparked anti-racism demonstrations across Scandinavia. Benjamin Hermansen, 15, had gone out to meet a friend near his Oslo home when he was attacked by the two men on Jan. 26, 2001. The teen had spoken out against racism on national television a few months before his death after he was assaulted by neo-Nazi youths during a soccer tournament in Denmark.

Hate Incident January 13, 2002 York PA

Over 350 demonstrators gathered yesterday to support or protest the noon visit by white supremacist leader Matt Hale of the World Church of the Creator. Hale's group has been accused of helping hone the racist beliefs of a man who went on a shooting rampage in 1999. The gunman, Benjamin Smith, killed two people and wounded nine in Illinois and Indiana before killing himself. The victims were Jewish, black or Asian. Counter-demonstrators took to streets to oppose the Illinois-based supremacist.

Hate Arrests/ Convictions January 12, 2002 Elkhart IN

Alex E. Witmer plead guilty Friday to the racially motivated 1999 murder of Sasezley Richardson. Witmer, 20, admitted his role in the slaying in exchange for an agreement from prosecutors to withdraw their request for the death penalty. Witmer's partner in the crime, Jason Powell, 21, of Elkhart, pleaded guilty in June 2000. He is scheduled for sentencing April 11. The two were affiliated with the Aryan Brotherhood, a white supremacist gang. Powell had hoped to gain membership by killing a minority, and that, Witmer said, was why Powell shot Richardson, 19, on Nov. 17, 1999.

Hate Incident January 9, 2002 Gloucester MA

Fresh tracks in snow led Gloucester police from the last of 136 slashed car tires to a suspect's house and a cache of illegal weapons and neo-Nazi literature yesterday morning. Eastman is facing charges of malicious damage and felony charges for possession of illegal weapons, including a sword and a sawed-off, double-barreled shotgun. More than 100 vehicles throughout the downtown area had among them at least 136 slashed tires, and the total damage was still being tallied last night. Some of the cars had swastikas scratched on them.

Hate Arrests/ Convictions January 7, 2002 Nashville TN

Michael Smith, 33, was arrested Friday after someone told police he was sitting in his car with a rifle pointed at the Sherith Israel Congregation synagogue. Smith led officers on a chase while holding a gun pointed at his own head. The chase ended after a few minutes in a parking lot. Police found an AR-15 assault rifle, a 9 mm semiautomatic pistol, ammunition and surgical gloves in Smith's car. While being interrogated, police said Smith directed officers to a cache of military weapons, including a shoulder-fired, anti-tank rocket, that were stored at a rental shed and buried along the banks of the Duck River about 50 miles southwest of Nashville. Authorities searched Smith's apartment and recovered 11 live hand grenades, eight firearms, including a sniper rifle, explosive components and bomb-making material. They also found white supremacist literature from the National Alliance, the Ku Klux Klan and other hate groups.

Hate Incident December 18, 2001 Memphis TN

Authorities here have begun an investigation into the distribution of hate literature targeting Jews and the vandalism of a menorah. Literature from the National Alliance, a white supremacist group based in West Virginia, was found Friday taped to the doors of Temple B'Nai Israel and Synagogue Agudath Achim and around a fallen 12-foot menorah, Rabbi Pinchus Ciment and other Jewish leaders said.

Hate Arrests/ Convictions December 11, 2001 New Haven CT

A New Haven man was arrested Tuesday after a cache of assault weapons and hate literature were found in his home, police said. Charles Cornelius, 31, was charged with four counts of illegal possession of an assault weapon, police said. After raiding his Forest Road home Tuesday, police said they found several AR-15 assault weapons, a pistol grip shotgun, hand grenades and hundreds of rounds of ammunition, as well as the hate literature. The hate literature is connected to Matt Hale's World Church of the Creator, police said.

Hate Incident December 10, 2001 Columbus OH

The Dayton-based leader of the Aryan Nations sermonized in Columbus that whites caught up in the violence could legally shoot black rioters "in the head," according to a tape recording referred to in federal court records. The statement of Harold Ray "Butch" Redfeairn on April 22 to a group attending a service of the Church of Jesus Christ Christian in Columbus is part of evidence brought against Danny W. Kincaid, an Ohio man facing 27 criminal charges in federal court in Columbus. The Aryan Nations is intent on "creating an all-white country" within the United States.

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