Man, 18, severely beaten in possible hate crime
Man, 18, severely beaten in possible hate crime
An 18-year-old man was severely beaten with a piece of concrete late Tuesday night, in an assault that’s being investigated by Buffalo police as a possible hate crime.
The victim, who lives off Genesee Street at the eastern edge of the city, was listed in serous condition today in Erie County Medical Center, where he’s being treated for a severe head injury.
“Police are looking into the possibility that it could be a hate crime, based on the information we have received,” police spokesman Michael J. DeGeorge said, refusing to elaborate.
Witnesses told police that the young man, who is white, was beaten by a group of about 10 to 12 black males. Police are investigating the possibility that the beating may have resulted from a dispute involving a friend of the victim’s.
Following the attack, which occurred at about 10:50 p.m. at Genesee Street and Floss Avenue, the victim managed to make his way to his nearby home.
Police fielded calls about a gang assault, and they followed the trail of blood to the man’s home.
Detectives say they have been hindered in their investigation by the victim’s reluctance to talk about the crime.
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German neo-Nazi’s Holocaust denial sentence upheld
German neo-Nazi’s Holocaust denial sentence upheld
(AP) – Aug 11, 2009
BERLIN — A German federal court on Tuesday upheld the Holocaust denial conviction of a founding member of a left-wing terrorist group turned neo-Nazi, saying he must serve his six-year sentence.
The Federal Court of Justice in Karlsruhe threw out Horst Mahler’s appeal of the Munich state court ruling made in February.
Mahler, a founder of the Red Army Faction in 1970, was convicted of incitement for posting videos denying the Holocaust on the Internet and distributing CDs promoting anti-Jewish hatred and violence. Denial of the Nazi Holocaust is a crime in Germany.
It was the latest in a string of neo-Nazi-related convictions for Mahler, a lawyer. In addition, a court in Mainz in 2003 found Mahler guilty of condoning a crime for saying the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the United States were justified and fined him several thousand euros (dollars).
He was also convicted in the mid-1970s for Red Army Faction-related activities — including several bank robberies and for helping notorious terrorist Andreas Baader, another founding member of the group, to escape from jail.
He was sentenced to 14 years in prison but was released in 1980 after he made several public statements condemning terrorism and Red Army Faction methods.
Mahler was a member of the far-right National Democratic Party from 2000 to 2003, and acted as its attorney.
Share on FacebookGerman commandos storm neo-Nazi ‘camp’
German commandos storm neo-Nazi ‘camp’
A neo-Nazi “youth camp,” which had been set up in a debt-ridden hotel in Germany by a leading Holocaust denier, was raided by German commandos on Tuesday, hours after a court in Lower Saxony had ordered the “campers” evicted, the Telegraph reported on Thursday.
According to the report, Jürgen Rieger, a Hamburg lawyer, Holocaust denier and senior member of the far-right National Democratic Party, had signed an agreement in early July with the hotel whereby he was granted a 10-year lease on the facility. However, trouble ensued when the owner of the hotel opposed his plan to maintain a Nazi training center akin to the “Hitler Youth” camps in the building.
In mid-July the owner, Jens Wilhelm, tried to order the neo-Nazis out of the hotel, the report stated. However, not only did they reject the demand, a group of their supporters stormed the building and refused to leave.
Fears that the neo-Nazi tenants were armed alerted police and German commandos to the scene. A tense stand-off ensued, with the police both keeping guard over the building while simultaneously trying to prevent a clash between neo-Nazi supporters and anti-Nazi demonstrators who flocked to the area, the report stated.
The incident ended when police stormed the hotel after hearing what they believed to be gunshots. The Telegraph reported that several fake firearms, a concealable truncheon and pepper spray were found in the building.
Four minors who were part of the neo-Nazi camp were handed over to youth services following the raid. The remaining eight members were not arrested, and left the premises masked and hooded.
Share on FacebookHungarian police prohibit neo-Nazi rally
Hungarian police prohibit neo-Nazi rally
August 16, 2009
BUDAPEST (JTA) — Plans for an international neo-Nazi rally were suspended after Hungarian police refused permission to hold the demonstration.
The rally to mark the death of Hitler’s deputy Rudolf Hess had been scheduled for Saturday. Several individuals and organizations had submitted a total of 13 demonstration requests.
President Laszlo Solyom and Prime Minister Gordon Bajnai had raised objections to the rally.
Hungarian police and courts, after decades of repressive Communist rule, have been anxious to uphold the democratic right of all political minorities to free expression of their opinions. Indeed, the Hungarian umbrella organization National Socialist Front said it had planned the rally in part to allow foreign neo-Nazis who are being silenced at home to air their views in Budapest.
But police spokeswoman Eva Tafferner explained that “The right of political assembly enshrined in the Constitution must not be abused to facilitate or promote law breaking or to injure the rights and freedom of other parties.”
The Hungarian Helsinki Commission, a leading human rights organization, countered that in the absence of legal reform, the police should have allowed the neo-Nazis to demonstrate, but their meeting should have been broken up at the initial display of Nazi symbols or behavior likely to cause fear in others.
The rally appeared to be aimed at exacerbating tension generated by a recent series of racially motivated murders targeting the Roma, or Gypsy, minority.
Share on FacebookNeo-Nazi fined €1,200 for putting swastika flag on a coffin
Neo-Nazi fined €1,200 for putting swastika flag on a coffin
A prominent neo-Nazi who buried a comrade with a swastika flag was fined €1,200 Monday, after a Passau judge found him guilty of displaying unconstitutional symbols.
Thomas Wulff was arrested last July after being seen by witnesses placing a Nazi flag in the casket of the deceased neo-Nazi Friedhelm Busse. Displaying swastika banner is a criminal offence in Germany.
Prosecutors in the Bavarian city had asked that Wulff get a six-month jail sentence. Wulff’s defence lawyer, the head of the Hamburg branch of the extremist National Democratic Party, Jürgen Rieger, said his client was exercising his right to free speech.
During testimony Monday morning, Wulff said he was given the flag by other bystanders at the funeral and he placed it on the coffin because he was standing nearest to the grave. He said the action was unplanned.
In its judgment, the court sided with Wulff’s story and said his actions were not a knowing provocation of the public and that the swastika had only been visible for a few moments. The court concluded a fine was sufficient punishment.
Wulff’s case has spawned additional drama. Passau police chief Alois Mannichl dug up the coffin and removed the flag shortly afterward.
In December 2008, Mannichl was stabbed at the door of his home by an unknown assailant who reportedly said, “Many greetings from the national resistance.” Police have not yet apprehended any suspects in the attack.
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