Posted at Roanoake.com By Dan Casey:
One of the best shows in town these days is the federal criminal trial of a racist crank who is charged with threatening various people all over the North American continent.
The defendant is one of Roanoke’s low-rent landlords, William A. White. He’s also the narcissistic costume-Nazi “commander” of the American National Socialist Workers Party.
White’s trial started last week, and I dropped in there for a spell Friday to hear the testimony of Leonard Pitts, the Pulitzer Prize-winning nationally syndicated columnist who is one of White’s alleged victims.
His column runs in this newspaper, and I am a big fan. And I wanted to get his personal take on the charges against the biggest jerk in town.
Plus, it’s always kind of fun to watch thuggish buffoons like Bill White on the hot seat, you know?
But the entertainment value diminished quickly after Pitts, who is black, began testifying.
Over the course of about two hours, he described to the all-white jury his reactions to a phone call his wife took from White one night in June 2007.
It was followed the next morning by two e-mails White sent Pitts. One had the subject line “N—-r Pitts,” and a link to an Internet post in which White revealed Pitts’ unlisted phone number and home address to the world.
In the other, White quoted lyrics from a racist song prophesying the day when the white race would destroy and enslave all blacks.
“I was essentially chilled by the dehumanizing language,” Pitts told the court. “What really sealed the deal and what really made my blood run cold was the reference to my home address and the reference to my wife.”
White was saying, ” ‘I have all this information about you and the name of your wife and I can get to you,’ ” Pitts told the jury.
That was only the beginning. There are a lot of racist freaks like White out there, after all.
Dozens of nasty phone calls and hundreds of hateful e-mails followed — not from White but from others. Pitts felt compelled to warn administrators at his children’s schools, the police in his hometown of Bowie, Md., and the FBI.
“My information was disseminated to people who were hateful and violent because of the color of my skin,” Pitts testified. “It was terrifying.”
White’s defense is that his actions are constitutionally protected by the First Amendment, and that though he may have veered close to the line of unprotected criminal threats, he never crossed it.
from politics1.com
LIBERTARIAN NATIONAL SOCIALIST GREEN PARTY – Kinder, gentler Nazis? These Libertarian Green Nazis are either the strangest conglomeration of diametrically opposed political ideologies of a political party I have ever seen — or one of the most wry political practical jokes found anywhere on the net (I’m still not certain which conclusion is correct, but I strongly suspect the latter). This party purports to be comprised of atheist, peaceful, pro-gay, pro-drug legalization, anti-racist, environmentalist Nazis who acknowledge the Holocaust likely occurred (but are neutral as to its justification) and oppose the government sponsored killing of Jews, Christians, gays and the disabled. The LNSGP “rejects Judeo-Christian moral standards, victim mentality political behavior, capital-centric value systems, and authority.” While membership is open to anyone regardless of their race or sexual orientation, individuals who openly profess a belief in either Judaism or Christianity are denied party membership. Articles, platform, FAQ and graphics. Worth a visit — even if only to decide for yourself if this is a joke or if it is serious. In the past — and as an indicator that the LNSGP is probably a practical joke — the LNSGP’s site had sections dedeicated to claims of participation in a public service project named the “Jewish Community Brothership” (to “Communicate the modern interpretations of Nazism and its implications for Jews in today’s multicultural Reich”) and some links to very bizarre “news” articles (example: “Nazi Moon Bases Established in 1942”).
John,
Thanks.
You mean the “Libertarian National Socialist Green Party” (nazi.org) which has nothing to do with the Libertarian Party (or the Green Party). That is what Bill White was associated with, not the LP.
I don’t know what “appeared pretty chummy” means in this context. Was there anything besides the flier to indicate the other candidates even knew about it, much less approved? As far as I can determine there is no evidence presented here yet that Bill White did not put it together himself.
I did see an oblique reference at parody site ericdondero.com (which apprantly is no longer up) that Dondero endorsed White. I don’t know if he really did or not. But I haven’t heard of anyone else involved with the LP endorsing him.
I am late getting back to this. I got here from the link in the most recent Bill White post.
I recall Bill White publicly identifying as some type of Libertarian or another for a long time. Though it was eventually some such nonsense as Libertarian Nazi, obviously not “libertarian” in any sense.
In 2002, he ran for some office ( maybe State Delegate)- I think as Independent and he appeared on joint campaign pamphlets/flyers with the LP candidate for Governor and some other Ind for Congress ( some UFO guy). If you ever get mailers for local office slates or are familiar with the rookie baseball cards of the 70s and 80s ( with 3 prospects from each team)- it kinda had that appearance. Now it could’ve been all Bill White’s doing and the other guys had no idea, but they appeared pretty chummy at the time. I don’t know if the guy was full-on Nazi at the time, but he was definitely an established Nut. I remember this being presented by some as a sort of independent “libertarian slate” of candidates in the area.
How so?
It doesn’t matter if they are Libertarian or not. We know that answer. Bill White was associated with the LP as recently as 2002 and Hal Turner is a former Libertarian campaign manager for a guy championed by “Ron Paul libertarians.” It’s bad whether you have a vendetta or are a libertarian and hate being associated with these assholes.
Never mind Drek. He’s just pursuing some weird vendetta against the LP.
There is nothing Libertarian about filth like Hal Turner. Neo-Nazis and White Supreamatics are almost 100% of the Paleoconservative quality. Basically Pat Buchanan but younger and violent.
Turner’s connection to the LP is rather tenuous. His ONLY connection is through the Murray Sabrin campaign in ’97, which most libertarians saw as a “republican lite” campaign.
Turner was later embraced by the republican party, being their Congressional candidate in 2000.
PEACE
Former libertarian activist turned neo-nazi and internet blogger Hal Turner was arrested for threatening legislators and judges. However last week the judge declared a mistrial because the jury was deadlocked. The case is complicated by evidence that Turner was a paid informant for the FBI.
Turner was active as campaign manager for the New Jersey Libertarian Party’s candidate for Governor in 1997, Murray Sabrin, who qualified for public financing and participated in major debates. However, like independent candidate Chris Daggett this year, he only got 5% of the vote.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hal_Turner
There is no doubt that White is a scumbag. But jeez, couldn’t this be about a better “victim”?
Pitts often plays the race-baiting sensationalist. Read his material sometime. It doesn’t matter if a problem is caused by government, greed, an accident, or a lightning strike — for Pitts, it will be about race.
Pitts does as much or more to fan the flames of racial discord as White does. Much more clever and circumspect, maybe. But he’s still a player in the same game. Given Pitt’s reach as a syndicated columnist, perhaps the damage he does is much greater.
I haven’t heard/seen the calls or emails in question. If White made a direct threat of physical harm, he should face the music.
One thing that should give readers pause is the source of this story: The Roanoke Times. It seems one of the major issues here is the publishing of the home address and private phone number of Leonard Pitts.
Welllllll….
The Roanoke Times published the personal information of all concealed-carry permit holders a year or two ago. This information was published in their print edition as well as on their website. Many concealed carry permit holders are former cops, battered spouses who just want to be left in peace by abusive exes, and some others who had their safety compromised by having their address (not to mention the mere fact of their gun ownership) and other personal information published.
So if Pitts worries that White published his personal information on the web, what about the Roanoke Times publishing the names and home addresses of concealed carry holders? Many of those folks were subject to much more direct threats than Pitts at the hands of White.