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‘Commie killer’ Daniel Borden enters plea, is found guilty

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May 22, 2018
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Daniel Borden enters an Alford plea to a malicious wounding charge stemming from the August 12 Market Street parking garage beatdown. Charlottesville police

Daniel Borden enters an Alford plea to a malicious wounding charge stemming from the August 12 Market Street parking garage beatdown. Charlottesville police


Another man charged with malicious wounding in the August 12 Market Street Parking Garage beatdown of DeAndre Harris has been convicted.

Daniel Borden, whose local TV station and newspaper have said he was known for his swastika drawings and Nazi salutes in high school, was 18 years old when he traveled from Maumee, Ohio, to Charlottesville for the Unite the Right rally.

He entered an Alford plea in Charlottesville Circuit Court on May 21, which isn’t an admission of guilt, but an acknowledgement that there’s enough evidence to convict him. Judge Rick Moore did, indeed, find him guilty.

“His argument is he didn’t have malice in his heart or mind when he did this,” said defense attorney Mike Hallahan. The felony charge carries up to 20 years in prison.

Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Nina-Alice Antony—who noted that Borden was wearing a white construction hat with “commie killer” written on it during the attack—said videos show the teenager beating Harris with a wooden object while Harris was already on the ground, which the judge agreed was enough evidence for the malicious wounding charge.

Hallahan previously argued that Borden wouldn’t be able to get a fair trial in Charlottesville, and said at a March 29 motions hearing that the city has shown an “absolute sheer bias” against rally participants by pursuing charges against them but not prosecuting people for jaywalking or blocking Fourth Street during the car attack in which a white supremacist rammed his car into a crowd of people, killing Heather Heyer and injuring many others. Fourth Street was supposed to have been closed during the rally.

After two two-day trials for assailants in the same case, juries convicted Jacob Goodwin, from Arkansas, and Alex Ramos, from Georgia, and recommended a sentence of 10 years and six years, respectively. The judge will formally sentence both men in August.

Borden, who told the judge he’s currently working on getting his GED, is scheduled to be sentenced October 1, exactly one month from his twentieth birthday.

C-Ville.com

Matthew Heimbach’s probation revoked, sentenced to 38 days in jail

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May 15, 2018
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White nationalist group leader Matthew Heimbach was led out of a Louisville courtroom in handcuffs Tuesday after a Louisville judge revoked his probation.

Heimbach, leader of the Traditionalist Worker Party, was charged in 2016 with misdemeanor harassment after he repeatedly pushed a woman at a Donald Trump campaign rally in Louisville.

He ultimately pleaded guilty to second-degree disorderly conduct in July 2017 but avoided jail time when District Court Judge Stephanie Pearce Burke waived a 90-day sentence on the condition he not re-offend within two years.

But after picking up new criminal charges in Indiana in March, prosecutors with the Jefferson County Attorney’s Office moved to have his probation revoked.

In court on Tuesday, Burke ordered to serve 38 days in Metro Corrections, telling him, “I really hope that I do not see you back in this court.”

She said he would need to serve the 38 days in jail and not on home incarceration.

Susan Ely, who leads the county attorney office’s criminal division, said the 38-day sentence was the result of negotiation and that Heimbach could serve the remaining 52 days if he re-offends again.

“We wanted the absolute guarantee that he went into jail today,” Ely said.

Sheriff’s deputies handcuffed a smiling Heimbach with his hands behind his back and escorted him to the jail.

Steve Durham, assistant director of Metro Corrections, said Heimbach will be housed in a single cell, at least “for the time being.”

Heimbach, 27, was arrested in March after police say he got into a fight at a Paoli, Indiana, mobile home park where he was confronted by a fellow party leader over an alleged affair, a police report details.

The Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks hate groups across the country, describes the Traditionalist Worker Party as “a neo-Nazi group that advocates for racially pure nations and communities and blames Jews for many of the world’s problems.”

Jay Lambert, Heimbach’s public defender, said the Indiana case is still pending and that Heimbach’s agreement with Louisville prosecutors does not mean he’s pleading guilty to the new charges.

“What we structured here was a mechanism where Mr. Heimbach did not admit to any factual wrongdoing, but he acknowledged that there was sufficient evidence to revoke him had he gone through the hearing,” Lambert said.

The attorney said he was not aware if Heimbach was still the leader of the Traditionalist Worker Party.

Heimbach entered an Alford plea to the disorderly conduct charge stemming from the Trump rally, which allows the defendant to plead guilty while maintaining their innocence and acknowledging prosecutors had enough evidence to convince a jury.

Meanwhile, a federal civil suit is pending against Heimbach, Trump and others stemming from the incident at the Louisville rally.

Heimbach screamed and yelled at Trump protester and University of Louisville student Kashiya Nwanguma and pushed her repeatedly to make her leave the Kentucky International Convention Center, where the Trump rally was taking place, according to court records.

Protesters, including Nwanguma, allege in the civil suit that they were assaulted by audience members who were riled up by Trump. Heimbach has said in court papers that he acted at the urging of the then-presidential candidate.

The case is pending before the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Reporter Matthew Glowicki can be reached at 502-582-4989 or mglowicki@courier-journal.com. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: http://www.courier-journal.com/mattg.

Courier journal

An illegal photograph snapped during a court hearing has landed a Wigan man a hefty fine.

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May 15, 2018
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An illegal photograph snapped during a court hearing has landed a Wigan man a hefty fine.

Defendant Daniel Lewis fell foul of the Criminal Justice Act, which makes taking a photograph a contempt of court offence, earlier this year.

The 28-year-old, of Battersby Street, Ince, took out his mobile phone during a break in proceedings but was spotted by court officials taking a picture of the courtroom.

Lewis was in Wigan and Leigh Magistrates’ Court on January 15 after pleading guilty to a public order offence relating to disorderly or threatening words of behaviour.

For taking the illegal picture, he later appeared at Liverpool Magistrates’ Court on February 1, and pleaded guilty to the offence.

He received a £200 fine and was ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £20 and court costs of £85.

For the public order conviction he was handed a £150 fine and ordered to pay £80 in compensation, a victim surcharge of £20 and £85 court costs.

The court also imposed a restraining order meaning that Lewis must not contact ******* ******** or ****** ********* and not enter ******* *********, Ashton-in-Makerfield.

The order lasts until July 15 this year.

The Criminal Justice Act 1925 prohibits any photographs, portraits or sketches of a justice or witness in, or party to, proceedings in the courtroom or its precincts.

Wigan Today

From 2016

Matthew Heimbach’s probation revoked, sentenced to 38 days in jail

By
May 15, 2018
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Matthew Heimbach during a 2017 court appearance.(Photo: Matt Stone/The C-J)

Matthew Heimbach during a 2017 court appearance.(Photo: Matt Stone/The C-J)

Matthew Heimbach has been sentenced to 38 days in jail after a Louisville judge revoked his probation.

Heimbach, leader of the white nationalist group Traditionalist Worker Party, was charged with misdemeanor harassment in Jefferson District Court after he repeatedly pushed a woman at a Donald Trump campaign rally in Louisville in 2016.

Heimbach pleaded guilty to an amended charge of second-degree disorderly conduct in July 2017, agreeing to attend anger management classes.

The Jefferson County Attorney’s Office moved to revoke Heimbach’s probation after he was charged in Indiana earlier this year.

Courier Journal

Man jailed for making speech at Whitehall rally with the aim of inciting racial hatred

By
May 14, 2018
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Police said he “crossed the line between free speech and the abuse of an entire group of people based on their ethnicity”

A 48-year-old man has been sentenced to a year in jail after making a speech aimed at stirring up racial hatred at a rally in Westminster.

Jonathan Bedford-Turner, of Rudgard Lane, Lincoln, was charged with inciting racial hatred on October 3 last year.

He was first arrested after making a speech in Whitehall with the “intention to stir up racial hatred” on July 4, 2015.

After pleading not guilty at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on October 30 last year, he was found guilty on Monday (May 14) by a unanimous verdict at Southwark Crown Court.

He was jailed for 12 months but will serve half of the term in prison. He has been warned he will be at risk of licence recall if he re-offends.

Detective Sergeant Matt Hearing, investigating officer from Metropolitan Police’s Public Order and Resources Unit, said Bedford-Turner’s “intention was to stir up racial hatred”.

He added: “Bedford-Turner gave a speech in Whitehall that crossed the line between free speech and wholesale abuse of an entire group of people based on their ethnicity.”
Get West London

Ex-soldier guilty of racial hatred charge after CPS initially declined to prosecute

By
May 14, 2018
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Jeremy Bedford-Turner called for England to be freed from ‘Jewish control’ at London rally

Jeremy Bedford-Turner. The prosecutor said that he was ‘obsessed’ with and ‘despised’ Jewish people. Photograph: Sam Blewett/PA

Jeremy Bedford-Turner. The prosecutor said that he was ‘obsessed’ with and ‘despised’ Jewish people. Photograph: Sam Blewett/PA

A far-right army veteran has been found guilty of stirring up racial hatred after the Crown Prosecution Service was pressured to reconsider its decision to not bring charges against him.

Jeremy Bedford-Turner, 48, called for his “soldiers” to liberate England from “Jewish control” in an address outside Downing Street and blamed Jews for issues ranging from both world wars to Jack the Ripper.

The CPS declined to prosecute after an initial complaint but reconsidered the decision after a group brought a legal challenge at the high court.

Bedford-Turner now faces up to seven years’ imprisonment after a jury at Southwark crown court on Monday found him guilty of one count of stirring up racial hatred after two hours of deliberation.

“Nice knowing you, chaps,” he told his supporters before entering the dock.

The 15-minute speech was made at a rally against Jewish neighbourhood watch group Shomrim in Whitehall on 4 July 2015.

Bedford-Turner, who served for 12 years in the army, and speaks Pashtu and Arabic, told the crowd: “Let’s free England from Jewish control. Let’s liberate this land. Listen, soldiers, listen to me. It’s time to liberate our country.”

Dozens of his supporters attended his two-day trial. Under cross-examination, he admitted that he wanted all Jews to leave the UK.

Louis Mably QC, prosecuting, said the defendant was obsessed with Jewish people and that he despised them.

The Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) previously said it took the “unusual step” of bringing a judicial review after prosecutors declined to charge Bedford-Turner after an initial complaint.

“CAA was partly motivated by a growing concern that the CPS is failing to take antisemitic crime seriously,” a CAA spokesman said.

The CPS then said in March last year that it would get a more senior lawyer to review the case, and decided to press charges.

The case of Bedford-Turner, of no fixed abode, was adjourned until Monday afternoon when the judge will decide whether to sentence him at a later date.

The Guardian

Third Aryan Strikeforce member pleads guilty; admits attending meetings in Harrisburg

By
May 11, 2018
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A third member of a white nationalist organization has pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge that carries a maximum sentence of life in prison.

Henry Lambert Baird, 50, of the Allentown area, entered his plea Wednesday in U.S. Middle District Court.

He admitted taking part in planning meetings in the Harrisburg area with undercover FBI employees and on two occasions in 2017 participating in the transportation of imitation crystal methamphetamine and machine gun parts from Pennsylvania to Maryland.

Baird pleaded guilty to a charge of conspiracy to distribute more than 500 grams of methamphetamine.

It is the same charge to which Joshua Michael Steever of Manville, N.J., and Connor Drew Dikes, of Silver Spring, Md., pleaded last month. It carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years.

Assistant U.S. Attorney and defense attorney E. J. Rymsza estimated Baird’s sentence will be in the range of 17 to 22 years.

Steever was the founder of the Aryan Strikeforce and Dikes was the sergeant of arms of the white nationalist organization, which advocates violence as a necessary tool to achieve its political goals.

Rocktashel, in reciting the prosecution’s evidence, said Baird told the undercover employees he had tried to kill a man hanging around strikeforce members but the individual pushed his arm just as he fired.

The prosecutor said evidence also would show Baird was present for a 2016 discussion about having a terminally ill individual conceal a bomb and detonate it among protestors at a planned white nationalist rally in Harrisburg.

Rymsza would not let his client admit to the attempted killing or bomb discussion, saying they were beyond the scope of the conspiracy charge.

Baird is one of six men indicted as the result of an investigation involving undercover FBI employees who hired strikeforce members to be the “muscle” for the transportation of methamphetamine from the Pennsylvania to Maryland on four occasions in 2016 and 2017.

Strikeforce members were encouraged to use some of their “pay” to buy gift cards that later could be used to purchase weapons, Rocktashel said.

Among the weapons members expressed interest in buying were an Uzi, AK-47 and handguns, he said.

Another defendant, Justin Daniel Lough of Waynesboro, Va., is trying to have his federal indictment dismissed on the basis of outrageous government conduct.

He accuses the government with conceiving, planning and directing the operation in violation of basic principles of due process law.

Rocktashel rejects the allegations, saying well before the undercover investigation the FBI received information about strikeforce activity involving firearms and drugs in Potter County.

He also has stated at each of the three guilty pleas those involved were warned they were participating in criminal activity and were free to walk away.

Baird remains detained pending sentencing.

Penn Live

Four men convicted of attempting to incite racial hatred

By
May 9, 2018
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Four men have today been found guilty after posting extreme right wing stickers across a campus of a city centre university. A fifth man was acquitted.

The four were caught on CCTV on the evening of 9 July 2016 posting the stickers on signage at Aston University with the intention of inciting racial hatred. The stickers were discovered by security staff two days later and reported to police who started a hate crime investigation.

On the same day in Birmingham city centre, a Black Lives Matter demonstration was also being held.

The jury at Birmingham Crown Court took just over four hours to return the guilty verdicts.

The group comprises:

Chad Williams-Allen, aged 26 from Tantany Lane, West Bromwich and Gary Jack, aged 21, from Heathland Road, Shard End.

Two other men also stood trial but cannot be named for legal reasons.

They are due to be sentenced on 1 June.

Detective Chief Superintendent Matt Ward, who heads the West Midlands Counter Terrorism Unit, said: “We are committed to tackling all forms of extremism which has the potential to threaten public safety and security.”

Anyone who sees or hears something that could be terrorist-related should act on their instincts and call the police in confidence on 0800 789 321. In an emergency, always dial 999. Visit gov.uk/ACT for more information, including how to report extremist or terrorist content that is online.

West Midlands Police

Man Accused of Firing Gun During Rally Found Guilty

By
May 8, 2018
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A Charlottesville judge is handing down a guilty verdict in a case tied to violence during the Unite the Right rally last summer.

Richard Wilson Preston went before Judge Richard Moore in Charlottesville Circuit Court Tuesday, May 8. The 53-year-old Maryland man decided to not contest the single felonious charge of firing a weapon within 1,000 feet of a school.

The commonwealth said it would have presented evidence from an eyewitness during a three-day trial, which was scheduled to get underway Wednesday, May 9. The witness reportedly saw Preston raise his gun to take aim at Corey Long, a Culpeper County man accused of using a flame-throwing device on August 12, 2017.

Video footage from the ACLU of Virginia shows a man believed to be Preston firing a pistol during clashes between Unite the Right rally supporters and protesters near Charlottesville’s Emancipation Park.

Preston was arrested in Towson, Maryland on August 26, 2017. He reportedly has ties to the Ku Klux Klan.

A judge had previously set bond at $50,000 for Preston, but barred him from leaving the state or possessing a gun.

Preston is set to be sentenced Wednesday. He faces up to 10 years of jail time and a maximum fine of $100,000.

NBC

2nd man found guilty in Aug. 12 garage beating in Charlottesville

By
May 4, 2018
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At 4 p.m., the jury found Alex Michael Ramos guilty of malicious wounding. At 5:30 p.m., it recommended a prison sentence of six years with no fine.

On Thursday, 33-year-old Ramos, of Jackson, Georgia, became the second person convicted in the bloody group beating of DeAndre Harris after the failed Unite the Right rally last summer. On Tuesday, 22-year-old Jacob Goodwin was found guilty of malicious wounding, and a jury recommended a sentence of 10 years with the option of suspending some of the time.

The attack in the Market Street Parking Garage left Harris with a gash in his head that required eight staples, a chipped tooth and a broken wrist.

Proceedings in Charlottesville Circuit Court moved quickly in the second day of testimony, and the prosecution called a medical expert and a detective to the stand to talk about the injuries Harris suffered on Aug. 12.

Evan Pryse, a nurse practitioner from Sentara Martha Jefferson Hospital’s emergency department, said he examined Harris’ injuries after Harris took a decontamination shower to rid his body of any chemical irritants.

Pryse said he used eight staples to close the wound on Harris’ head and put his wrist in a splint after determining Harris had a broken ulna. Though Harris reportedly said he fell awkwardly on his wrist, Pryse said the injury was not consistent with a fall and looked more similar to a defensive-type “nightstick” wound. But Pryse said he did not have a definitive idea of how the break occurred.

While examining Harris for a concussion, Pryse said Harris seemed confused about questions and had a hard time understanding some of his injuries.

Charlottesville police Detective Declan Hickey described treating Harris right after he got out of the parking garage. Hickey, a former combat medic, said he kept trying to engage Harris to keep him from passing out. He said Harris seemed to be in shock and told him that he had been hit in the head several times.

The Monday following the rally, Hickey opened an investigation into the matter and said he identified Ramos as a suspect from a combination of confidential tips, social media tips and consultation with local law enforcement in Ramos’ home state of Georgia.

Walking the jury through videos of the assault, Hickey pointed out where the assault began and when Ramos jumped in at the end to land a punch on Harris’ head. Ramos’ hand appears to be wrapped in a blue plaid shirt, he said.

While looking through Facebook posts later, Hickey said he came across one that reportedly was written by Ramos. The post reads, “We stomped some ass…getting some was f***ing fun.”

Hickey said Ramos seemed remorseful after his arrest.

Through the testimony, Ramos, wearing a white dress shirt, sat quietly and occasionally took notes. He never reacted to any of the testimony or video clips.

Both sides rested their cases before 1 p.m. Ramos waived his right to take the stand, and his attorney, Jake Joyce, declined to present any evidence.

In her closing argument, Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Nina Antony asked the jury to remember that Ramos inserted himself into the altercation. She said Harris already was lying on the ground and being hit by other people when Ramos decided to throw a punch.

“Instead of moving on, we saw Mr. Ramos sprinting in,” Antony said. “He catapults himself into the fray.”

Calling it “classic assault and battery,” Joyce said his client only threw one punch — unlike some of the others charged in the case who used weapons. With a “battle royal” happening in the garage, Joyce said, there were a lot of taunts and provocation thrown around.

Joyce said Harris did not deserve what happened to him. But he asked the jury to think about Ramos’ actions in comparison to the other actors in the assault.

“I’m not asking you to find him not guilty,” said Joyce. “He is guilty of assault and battery.”

Deliberations took 35 minutes.

Ramos will be sentenced formally on Aug. 23.
Daily Progress