THE GOOD THE BAD & THE UGLY
Posted on 07/29/2005 10:51:51 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - Organized hate groups like the Ku Klux Klan have historically terrorized blacks and Jews in the Southeast. But the recent influx of Hispanic immigrants to the region has given hate groups a new target, and officials say Hispanics are increasingly targets of hate crimes.
Former Klansman Daniel Schertz, a 27-year-old from the southeast Tennessee town of South Pittsburg, was indicted in June on charges of building pipe bombs to kill Hispanic immigrants.
Imperial Wizard Billy Jeffery of the North Georgia White Knights denied any connection to the bomb plot and said he banished Schertz from the group, but he readily admits he isn't happy with the flow of immigrants to the region.
"The blacks fought for their civil rights. These illegal immigrants are coming in here and having everything just handed to them," Jeffery said.
The Hate crimes against Hispanic immigrants have been common in other parts of the country, but Southern states saw their Hispanic populations boom in the 1990s. Arkansas' Hispanic population rose by 337 percent during the decade, Georgia's by 300 percent, Tennessee's by 278 percent and South Carolina's by 211 percent.
One of the first signs of organized anti-Hispanic activity in the South occurred in Gainesville, Ga., in 1998, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, an Alabama group that tracks hate crimes.
The American Knights of the KKK held a rally on Hall County Courthouse steps, followed by a cross-burning in nearby Winder. A few years later, in 2001, the nation's largest neo-nazi organization, the National Alliance, staged a rally in Hall County.
Santos Aguilar of the Alianza Del Pueblo, an advocacy center for immigrants in Knoxville, said he believes the number of hate groups taking aim at immigrants continues to grow.
"The majority of the crimes are not reported to the law enforcement agencies," he said.
While a member of the North Georgia White Knights, Schertz was caught by an undercover federal agent and a confidential informant. Court records show he took them shopping for bomb materials at a home improvement store.
"Once at Lowe's, Schertz picked out five end caps and some silicone for the pipe bombs he was making," the agent's affidavit says. He then explained how to wire the explosives.
After returning to a shed at his home, Schertz gave instructions "down to the proper order of laying gun powder and shrapnel material." He made five pipe bombs and sold them for $750, records show.
Schertz is charged with teaching and demonstrating how to make a weapon of mass destruction and interstate transport of explosive material with intent to kill or injure. He is being held without bond.
Schertz's attorney, Mike Caputo, declined to comment on the charges, but said he was working on a plea agreement. He said Schertz is a military veteran and has no previous criminal record.
His Klan leader, Jeffery, said Schertz was thrown out of the Klan for unrelated disobedience in mid-May — weeks after the alleged bomb making and selling in April.
"We kicked him out for breaking his oath that he swore before God," Jeffery, 43, said in a telephone interview. "We are not a violence-making group, and we don't believe in that. This isn't the '50s and '60s."
Federal agents say hate groups always deny involvement when one of their members is charged with a crime.
"There are always a percentage of these people who are ready, willing and able to go off," said James M. Cavanaugh, special agent in charge of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Nashville field division.
Cavanaugh said that "when the group burns the cross, worships under the swastika, you dehumanize the people ... that has been a plague on the world for centuries."
The Southern Poverty Law Center's Intelligence Report counted 762 active hate groups in the United States in 2004. South Carolina had the most, with 47, and Tennessee had the most Klan chapters, with 13.
David Lubell, director of the Nashville-based Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition, said the Schertz case shows how supremacist talk can prompt violence.
"It is what happened in the civil rights movement. All of a sudden it is acceptable to incite hatred of immigrants, whether Latino, or from Africa, or Asia or wherever," he said.
Lubell said "usually it is a lone wolf kind of person who listens to these messages and acts on them ... This is just a symptom of what has been anti-immigrant sentiment, much more freely used by radio talk show hosts, anti-immigrant groups and even politicians."
___
On The Net
Southern Poverty Law Center: http://www.splcenter.org
National Immigration Law Center: http://www.nilc.org
ATF: http://www.atf.treas.gov
"People feel they will not be protected, and they are risking deportation," said John Bernstein, director of federal policy at the National Immigration Law Center in Washington. "That is more and more a problem with hate crimes."
David Lubell, director of the Nashville-based Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition, said the Schertz case shows how supremacist talk can prompt violence.
"It is what happened in the civil rights movement. All of a sudden it is acceptable to incite hatred of immigrants, whether Latino, or from Africa, or Asia or wherever," he said.
Lubell said "usually it is a lone wolf kind of person who listens to these messages and acts on them ... This is just a symptom of what has been anti-immigrant sentiment, much more freely used by radio talk show hosts, anti-immigrant groups and even politicians."
just a symptom.. hmmmm?
The illegal immigrants are just victims , yaknow.
I guess this is why Tennessee will have a Minutemen Project effort online soon... and that will probably be considered a hate crime too, by the nudnik lawyers quoted in the article.
Of course it doesn't help that an "ally" of conservatives, Bush, calls these minutemen "vigilantes".
ping!
I think gangs aren't thrilled with all the illegals taking some of their jobs either.
I see more violence coming from that than the KKK.
I see, invoke the KKK so the illegals garner sympathy.
Of course, the biggest hate group targeting Hispanics is the Democrat party. They want to make them into slaves like they've been doing to African-Americans for the past 200 years.
There. Fixed it.
Now then...when can we expect the author of this bullscheiss to write a damning article about the turbo-racist Hispanic groups, La Raza and MEChA?
Oh...right...never.
They can't quantify how many illegals are here, but I'll bet they can document every act perped against them.
It's rather humerous that they act like illegals don't come forward. Why the hell wouldn't they? Law enforcement agencies across the nation REFUSE to take them into custody and turn them over the the INS.
I agree. The only crimes they don't report are illegal on illegal.
That guy in the pic's supposed to be Mexican? He looks Irish. (Pale and dark hair)
Arkansas to get grant for immigrant centers Saturday, Jun 25, 2005 Arkansas News Bureau LITTLE ROCK - Arkansas will receive $850,000 to establish centers for immigrants in the state, Gov. Mike Huckabee announced late Friday in a news release. The governor's office was informed of the grant by U.S. Labor Secretary Elaine Chao. The centers will provide job placement assistance, translation assistance, resettlement assistance and legal assistance for immigrants, according to the release. "With our growing immigrant population, we're delighted to receive this grant," the governor said. "These immigrants are adding much to the culture and the economy of Arkansas. We want to do everything we can to make the transition easy for them." The grant will go to the state Employment Security Department. Arkansas is among states with a growing immigrant population.
...see tagline...
Do you know WHO "that guy in the pic" is?
The face is familiar. I SHOULD know. I'll probably have to sleep on it. :)
Sleep? What's THAT? ;)
Yep, always the South with the hate... unknown in the rest of the world.
Or the unlicensed, uninsured motor vehicle accidents... er... crashes.
Err is this really a law? A pipebomb is a WMD? Not to diminish the possible crimes involved here, but how long before they start charging people with firecrackers.
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