Federal officials have arrested seven Amish men in Ohio and charged them with violating the Hate Crimes Prevention Act in connection with a string of beard-cutting incidents.
The seven Amish men arrested in an early-morning FBI raid were charged with violating the Matthew Shepard-James Byrd Hate Crimes Prevention Act, Assistant Attorney General Thomas E. Perez of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division and Steven M. Dettelbach, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Northern Ohio, announced on Wednesday.
Samuel Mullet Sr., Johnny S. Mullet, Daniel S. Mullet, Levi F. Miller, Eli M. Miller, Emanuel Schrock and Lester S. Mullet are accused of attacking members of the mainstream Amish community, allegedly as retaliation for a decision to overturn a series of excommunications dealt out by Samuel Mullet, Sr.
Mullet, who formed the breakaway Bergholz Clan in 1995, has been accused of running the clan like a cult. Mullet, according to an FBI affidavit, “has forced extreme punishments on and physical injury to those in the community who defy him, including forcing members to sleep for days at a time in a chicken coop on his property and allowing members of the Bergholz clan to beat other members who appear to disobey” him.
The affidavit also alleges that Mullet has been “been ‘counseling’ the married women in the Bergholz clan and taking them into his home so that he may cleanse them of the devil with acts of sexual intimacy.”
Mullet excommunicated eight families who chose to move away from his clan, meaning they could not re-enter other Amish communities. In 2005 or 2006, the complaint says, a group of seven Bishops overturned the excommunications. The first beard-cutting victim, in fact, was one of those Bishops.
That victim “stated that he would prefer to have been beaten black and blue than to suffer the disfigurement and humiliation of having his hair removed,” according to the FBI affidavit. A Holmes County Sheriff’s Detective who is a former member of the Amish community is advising the FBI.
The case unfolded in early October, when local authorities charged five members Mullet’s clan, known as the Bergholz Clan, with aggravated burglary and kidnapping, alleging they were involved in a series of six break-ins involving hair cutting. The FBI started investigating the incidents in late October. One recent attack was allegedly conducted by the victim’s son.
During a recorded phone call between Levin Miller and Samuel Mullet on Oct. 9, while Miller was in Holmes County Jail, Mullet reminded Miller how he “was in the ‘chicken house’ and ‘chicken shit’ for a long time. Miller told Mullet he was worried about the pictures they took and asked if “we” should get rid of them, and Mullet told him he would take care of the photos and not throw them away.
The FBI interviewed the operator of a business called New Bedford Sharpening Service in Baltic, Ohio who provided a receipt showing that he sold one mane sheer to Miller for $27.95 on Oct. 4. The sheers were eight inches long and special ordered from Bolivar, New York.
FBI Special Agent Michael S. Sirohman, who wrote the complaint, also uses interviews that Mullet conducted with WKYC and the Associated Press against him.
If convicted, the maximum sentence is life in prison.
What is a "hate crime" again? Is it like when you kill somebody you really hate versus just killing someone that you really liked or....?
I'm trying to think of scenarios where people DON'T kill people they hate and all I can think of is a hitman.
The real money is in stealing hubcaps from one-horse carts.
"First they came from the Mullets..."
Watch out, Donald Trump! Comb-overs are next on the list of haircut hate crimes.
The very concept of a hate crime is unncessary. Why is the emotion of hate any more worth of of prosecution then any of the other emotions that are the motives behind the crimes. How about jealousy crimes? Or greed crimes? Or sloth crimes? Or even love crimes? The reality is that these men (and the men in the Matthew Shepherd case) are guilty of actual crimes of assault and murder, etc.
It is a slippery slope indeed to make the motive a crime. It is this kind of thinking that will ultimately lead to interference with free speech (inciting to commit a crime being the exception) or even prosecution for expressions of motivating emotions rather then actual crimes.
jerry It's not that slippery of a slope. What you're afraid of it leading to would require a pretty huge jump that is not likely to happen anytime soon.
I actually think that this case is a textbook example of why the concept of a hate crime exists.
audiarjerry ...especially because "all he did" was cut their hair. The motive, in this case, is what turns hair-cutting into a crime worth punishing, because of how it was meant (and received) by the assailant (and victim).
For things like murder... yeah, it's not like it really makes a difference one way or another.
Mullet? Seriously, <i>Mullet</i>? You can't make this shit up.
if your leader is banging your wife or your kids to get rid of the devil in them, you might belong to a cult.
And this isn't the only high-profile incident like this in recent times. There was another set of assaults in a Mennonite community called Manitoba in the eastern lowlands of Bolivia:
Also important to point out the Holmes County authorities know all about Amish issues. The county (which has only 42,366 residents) was reported on the last census to be 45% German-speaking, with basically all of these being Amish. And having heard the language myself, I can say that it is extremely different from Hochdeutsch. I couldn't understand much (except for the large-scale borrowing from English), and I think a native German speaker wouldn't do much better.
It is important to point out here that the beards are required by Amish communities for all married men. That's why the victim said he would rather be beaten.
It's "shear," not "sheer."
Those beard cutting Amish aren't "hamish"
the article doesn't say if they're in jail ... but if they are, i imagine it makes for some interesting dynamics inside....
those punishments and that cleansing shit --- mullet (i still can't believe that name) needs to spend the rest of his life in prison.
This will be the perfect example for racist TeaChoads that hate crime laws are slanted against white people. Not that proof of anything means anything to the poor dears. Bless their hearts anyway. Give them plastic trophys and a hug.
Oops I meant NOT SLANTED.
How about you offer proof of innate cognitive and physical equality among different ethnic groups? All the evidence points in the opposite direction. I won't hold my breath. fitley
<blockquote>The affidavit also alleges that Mullet has been “been ‘counseling’ the married women in the Bergholz clan and taking them into his home so that he may cleanse them of the devil with acts of sexual intimacy.”</blockquote>
It always comes down to that with these cult leaders, doesn't it?
I wonder if the man in the photo appreciates having his face appear on almost every article this site runs about this bizarre tale.
Mickey Bitsko well considering none of them use electricity and I'd assume the internet...
It's much more complex than that. I can't see anyone casually surfing the net but I also think many wouldn't have a problem reading news online about crimes that affect their community just because it's online. It would just have to be at a public library or something like that, not in their house. Not all are technophobes.
Mickey Bitsko
Since the Amish don't use electricity, I'm pretty sure he doesn't know.
we r all husseins Or it could be a still from Woody Allen's "Zelig."
Mickey Bitsko Probably not since the Amish disapprove of depictions of human faces.
Mickey Bitsko And the CBC has the same picture, identifying that man as Sam Mullet.
HarryBowman Thanks for the info, Harry.
Scrolling your mouse over the photo reveals that he is Sam Mullet, the alleged mastermind of the bizarreness. However, it would probably be a good practice for TPM to provide captions for their photos. I have often wondered who the people in their photos are, and only recently discovered the mouse scroll feature. Mickey Bitsko
Dixon 2.0 Thanks very much Dixon, I didn't know that.
I think it is imperative that Dusty Hill and Billy Gibbons be given round-the-clock protection immediately.
I always thought 'cleansing the devil' was a solo activity.
- +1 TPM username 4 and counting - +1
milwaukenTPM username 4 and counting
And +2 for your user name.
This is funnier than hell.. How can it be a hate crime? it's like charging a black person with a hate crime against another black.. I don't think the term can apply.
This should be turned into a comedy movie AFTER the beard-cutters get off scott-free.. as they should be.
Gone Rouge unlike
firenze_30fps eeww that reallllly hurt my feelings..
Gone Rouge It's a hate crime because they're attacking other people on the basis of their religious beliefs. Your argument is the equivalent of saying that a white person can't be convicted of a hate crime against a black person if they're both Baptists, or that a Muslim can't be convicted of a hate crime against a Jew if they're both Semitic.
Beyond that, at a minimum, they're guilty of assault. If they are actually breaking into someone's house, and physically preventing the victim from getting away, it's kidnapping.
How can you think they should get off scott-free [sic]?
Early Out I was being facetious about them going scott free
You all seem to be missing an important point here.. the people who did this were Amish! they did it because they were furious degenerates (probably) because they were thrown aside.. it was their own people who did it!
and no, you're wrong, it's not the same as when a white person does something to a black person..
these people are all part of an extremist group.. if one commits a crime against another, it can be called many things, but not a 'hate crime'. that term in this case is a complete cop out.
Gone Rouge "...these people are all part of an extremist group...."
By your logic, Protestant and Catholic Irish couldn't commit hate crimes against each other because they're all Christians.
Gone Rouge Hate crimes are about more than race. Matthew Shepard is one example, and his case wouldn't have been materially different if he and the perpetrators had all been black.
Also, it's not about how you feel about the attack; it's about seeking justice for the victims and their community. Even if you are unsympathetic to how serious this is perceived to be within the amish community, surely you can still see the value of the investigation in that it's bringing other potentially criminal acts to light (ie sexual assault, forced imprisonment).
Gone Rouge Would you be saying they should not be prosecuted if they had forced their way into a non-Amish home and shaved the heads of all of the women in it? It's the same thing.
slb You've all lost your minds.. I'm saying they can prosecute them for all they want related to the crime, just not as a "hate crime".
Gone Rouge No, you just don't understand how society defines the term "hate crime."
A hate crime is a hate crime, period.
Life in prison??? seems a bit extreme...
flyd_p Agreed, but that is the maximum sentence, and I imagine the punishment will depend at least in part on how badly the victims were harmed. And I imagine that is the reason the prosecution got one of the victims on record saying that "he would prefer to have been beaten black and blue than to suffer the disfigurement and humiliation of having his hair removed.”
The law is the law,it does not matter if you are white,black,purple or blue..If they commit a crime they should be treated no different,amish or not!!! I am going to tell you non amish people something, something that might rub your hair the wrong way... ( but so be it ) You non amish people will drive down the road and if you see a horse and buggy, you will say oooooh how nice, if you see an amish farmer out in the field plowing with 5 or 6 horses you will say oooooh how nice,and if you see his wife and girls out planting garden, again you will say oooooh how nice...But here is the thing, if you non amish ( and when I say non amish I mean somebody that was not born and raise amish) if you would only know the inner workings of the amish church I do not think you would be going oooooooh how nice... The wife and I were both born and raise amish and we were both in the amish church most of our lives..But enough is enough...One day I saw an amish man steal something, I mean that just blew my mind because Sundays just looking at him you would never think that he would be that kind of person...( Just gos to show that you can not judge a person by the way he or she is dressed.) I know of an amish man that srarted to rape his daus when they were 5 years old, but he is where he belongs,in prison...I know of an amish bishop that was a school treacher and it come out that he was rapeing little boys, he is also in prison..
I thank the law enfocement people for doing their duty amish or not.... If these men do not get prison terms out of this then the justice system of the U.S.A. has failed the honest and hard working poeple. It will also be a sign to these men that they can go out and do whatever to whomever ,whenever they want to and get away with it because they are amish!!!!! If they get prison terms out of this it will send a loud message to all the rest of the amish and non amish that something of this sort we will not put up with... We will not put up with a Waco Tx in Ohio or Ind or wis...So I hope the justice system will put them where they belong, (behind bars)
I think the key word here is "CULT". It seems that Mullet broke away from the main stream Amish to form his own little dictatorship; punishing and raping those whom he deemed necessary. That is pure cult country folks so it's not surprising that "things happened". This just makes me want to take a very long & hot shower...
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