Pulaski County Sheriff Sam Catron said he and his deputies had minor run-ins with Anderson before and that ''we knew it was only a matter of time'' before Anderson committed a serious offense.
Saturday, October 27, 2001
Neighbors wary of fugitive extremist
Hate-Filled Heart
By Joseph Gerth
The Courier-Journal
Steve Anderson, below right, bought this farm in 1993 near Elrod, and has used it to transmit his hatred for minorities and government via shortwave radio. The mailbox is secured with a padlock, and Anderson remains a fugitive since a sheriff's deputy's cruiser was shot about 25 times on Oct. 14.
Carol Coffey, news editor at a Somerset newspaper, said she isn't scared of Anderson despite threats he made to retaliate against her -- but the longer he remains at large, the more uncomfortable she feels.
ELROD, Ky. -- When Steve Anderson bought a farm in Pulaski County eight years ago, he came dressed in what seller Marvin Cromer took to be Amish garb -- black clothes, black hat -- and wearing a long beard.
But Anderson, now a fugitive who fled into the mountains of Eastern Kentucky earlier this month, soon switched to camouflage coveralls and Ku Klux Klan robes. He held latenight target practice that kept neighbors awake. He even played host to a small Klan rally about three years ago in which a cross was burned.
Anderson, 54, also operated a home-based shortwave radio station, where his commentary against blacks, Jews, immigrants and most things connected to the U.S. government drew the attention of the Federal Communications Commission, which rescinded his radio license in May, and the Anti-Defamation League, which complained to the FCC about Anderson's broadcasts. Anderson continued to broadcast despite the FCC action.
''If I had it to do over again,'' Cromer said, shaking his head about the farm sale, ''I wouldn't.''
Anderson has had minor brushes with the law since moving to Pulaski County in 1993. But on Oct. 14, he allegedly opened fire on a Bell County sheriff's deputy's cruiser and then fled.
Just five days earlier, Anderson told the story of ''Joe Patriot'' to his radio listeners. Patriot, he said, had been pulled over by a deputy for having a dusty license plate on his truck, and was asked to show his driver's license -- or ''national ID,'' as Anderson calls them. Patriot brandished his assault rifle and opened fire, telling the deputy that the gun is the only ''national ID'' he needs.
The story was eerily similar to what police say actually happened.
Anderson was pulled over north of Middlesboro because of a broken tail light. Deputy Scott Elder was about to send Anderson on his way with a warning when he noticed a couple of gun clips lying on the seat, according to the Bell County sheriff's office.
When Elder asked about the clips, Anderson allegedly pulled up a rifle hidden beside him and began firing, striking Elder's cruiser about 25 times. Elder, who took cover behind the cruiser, was unhurt; his girlfriend, who was in the cruiser, suffered minor cuts from glass.
Anderson drove into the nearby mountains, where authorities said his truck was found the next morning with a pipe bomb and ammunition inside.
'A matter of time'
The shooting didn't surprise Pulaski County Sheriff Sam Catron, who said he and his deputies have had minor run-ins with Anderson over the years. But he was arrested only once.
''He just didn't go across that line where we could take any legal action,'' Catron said. ''Our hands were tied because we didn't have a violation, but we knew it was only a matter of time.''
Anderson first arrived in Pulaski County about a dozen years ago from the Cincinnati area, where he had been involved in Klan activities and a motorcycle club, Catron said.