Jun 24, 2009 10:22 pm US/Central
Blogger Charged With Threatening Chicago Judges
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
A white supremacist blogger who has called for the assault and murder of federal judges for upholding handgun bans in the Chicago area faces up to 10 years in prison following his arrest Wednesday morning by the FBI.
Hal Turner, Internet radio talk show host and blogger, was arrested Wednesday morning by FBI agents at his home in North Bergen, N.J., on a federal criminal complaint filed in Chicago, according to a release from the U.S. Attorney's office in Chicago. He was arraigned in Connecticut on similar charges earlier this week.
The complaint alleges Turner made Internet postings threatening to assault and murder three federal appeals court judges in Chicago in retaliation for their recent ruling upholding handgun bans in Chicago and Oak Park, the release said.
Internet postings on June 2 and 3 proclaimed Turner's "outrage" over the June 2 decision by Chief Judge Frank Easterbrook and judges Richard Posner and William Bauer of the Chicago-based 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, the release said.
"Let me be the first to say this plainly: These Judges deserve to be killed," Turner allegedly wrote in postings that included photos, phone numbers, work addresses and courtroom numbers of these judges, along with a photo of the building in which they work and a map of its location.
Turner, 47, was charged with threatening federal judges with intent to
retaliate against them for performing official duties. He is scheduled for an initial appearance at 12:30 p.m. Thursday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael Shipp in U.S. District Court in Newark, N.J.
"We take threats to federal judges very seriously. Period," U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald said in Chicago.
According to the complaint affidavit, lawsuits were filed challenging handgun bans in Chicago and Oak Park after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in 2008 that said the Second Amendment entitles handguns at home for self-protection.
On June 2, 2009, the 7th Circuit affirmed a district court's decision to dismiss NRA challenges to the local handgun bans. The unanimous decision was written by Easterbrook, who was joined by Posner and Bauer.
On June 8, law enforcement agents were directed to postings on a Web site titled: "OUTRAGE: Chicago Gun Ban UPHELD; Court says 'Heller' ruling by Supreme Court not applicable to states or municipalities!"
The long entry that follows allegedly threatened the judges, noting the same court that decided the case of Matt Hale, a white supremacist imprisoned after being convicted of soliciting the murder of a federal judge in Chicago.
The entry further noted the same judge's mother and husband were murdered by a gunman in her home and stated: "Apparently, the 7th U.S. Circuit court didn't get the hint after those killings. It appears another lesson is needed."
The complaint charges that the posting was updated the next morning: "Judges' official public work addresses and a map of the area are below. Their home addresses and maps will follow soon. Behold these devils."
It included a photo of the Dirksen Federal Courthouse in Chicago with a label referencing "Anti-truck bomb barriers," according to the affidavit.
But CBS 2 Chief Correspondent Hay Levine reports that the threat of extremists is not limited to judges.
"The rhetoric of intolerance has been ratcheted up in this country," said Rich Hirschhaut.
Hirschhaut is executive director of Illinois' new state of the art Holocaust Museum in Skokie. After the recent attack on Washington's Holocaust museum, which left a security guard dead, Hirschhaut quickly scheduled a forum on Extremism in America to examine the recent uptick in hate crimes.
"The Internet has been discovered by the extremist underbelly of American society and in this case, Turner was using this virtual soapbox to vent his spleen," Hirschhaut said.
If convicted, threatening to assault or murder a federal judge carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Turner blogs under the heading "Honest talk in a time of universal deceit." He previously organized a rally of supremacist groups in Kalamazoo, Mich., and a neo-Nazi rally in Kingston, N.Y.
CBS 2 Chief Correspondent Jay Levine and the Associated Press and STNG Wire contributed to this report.
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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