Matthew Hale has been convicted of attempting to have a federal judge murdered. He is the second leader of organized racists to feel the sting of the law recently. Georgia white supremacist Chester Doles was sentenced March 18, after pleading guilty to beng a felon in possession of firearms. The Associated Press has the story of Hale's downfall.
CHICAGO (AP) — Matthew Hale, the self-styled "Pontifex Maximus" of a white supremacist group, was found guilty Monday of trying to have a federal judge killed after she ruled against him in a trademark case.
Hale, 32, was found guilty of four of the five charges against him. Hale, who preached a gospel of "racial holy war," was found innocent of one of two counts of soliciting the murder of a federal judge. The judge was not attacked.
The conviction comes almost five years after Hale first attracted national attention when a follower of his World Church of the Creator went on a deadly shooting rampage, targeting minorities in Illinois and Indiana.
Hale's reaction to Benjamin Smith's three-day shooting spree — Hale laughed about it and imitated gunfire in secretly recorded tapes played for the jury — was part of the prosecution's case.
Smith killed two people, including former Northwestern basketball coach Ricky Byrdsong, and wounded nine before killing himself in July 1999 as police closed in.
I was doubtful that Hale would be convicted. To reach that decision, the jurors had to interpret a statute that requires multiple instances of intent. The evidence was there, but could have been easily misunderstood. Hale expressed intent to have U.S. District Judge Joan Humphrey Lefkow murdered to one witness. Then, months later, he discussed the matter with his bodyguard, the informant who testified at trial, in veiled terms. The informant believed that discussion to be his marching orders. The jurors had to connect the first expression of intent with the second, expressed to a different person, to convict Hale. The risk was that the jurors would seek the multiple expressions of intent in one episode. However, they interpreted the statute correctly.
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - jadester
It's easy to forget, with all the attention lavished on e.g. the Iraq situation, that all races are capable of producing evil leaders.
I think it does the jury in this case great credit, that they found him guilty. And here i was, almost convinced that commonsense no longer exists in the courtrooms...
2 - Mac Diva
I agree, Jade. Matt Hale is dangerous. If he had remained free another year even, I think someone would have paid the price for it in injury or death. He has followers in at least 14 states and they regularly 'stomp' people they have encounters with. Not that I think Hale would actually soil his wingtips. Others would at his behest.
3 - SK
Matt Hale's views may be particularly offensive and vile; however, in the legal community this case is just one more nail in the coffin of the average American's rights. The evidence in this case was very weak, and the conviction was the result of collaboration between the prosecution, the judge, and an inept defense attorney.
4 - Mac Diva
I followed the case closely and I believe the conviction was justified.
Your remark about collaboration by the judge is so odd I don't know what to make of it. Why would a judge meddle in such a high profile case? The risk to his career would not be worth the trouble. I have known some dishonest judges, but they were at low levels where it is easy to hide what one is up to. And, they had something to be gained from being corrupt. There was nothing for the judge in Hale's case to gain.
The prosecution's job is to 'get' the defendant. That is exactly what it did. Turning two of Hale's confidantes into informers was a fine strategy. Since Hale prides himself on planning dirt and then having others carry it out, that was probably the only way to catch him.
The defense attorney made the best arguments possible:
~ The prosecution had not proved a conspiracy to harm or murder the judge in Hale's copyright case because of a lack of explicitness in the proof of intent.
~ Hale being the leader of a violent hate group should be ignored. It is the facts in this particular situation that matter.
The responsibility for the conviction goes straight to Hale. It was ridiculous for him to become obsessed with holding on to a name for his organization that another had already claimed. The remedy was to change the name. Wantiing to murder the judge was beyond ridiculous. It would not have even gotten him the result he wanted.
I know Hale is a cause celebre of the far Right, but that just shows its poor judgment.
5 - Tommy Rydén
I was the director for COTC in Sweden during the Klassen era. Later (I had left the COTC after Klassens death) Hale contacted me and wanted my help in building the post-Klassen movement. I declined because I did not believe in COTC as the way forward, and also because I knew that groups that talk about revolution, both on the right and left, have a tendency to attract lots of unstable people and troublemakers. BUT it was not my impression, in the letters and emails we exchanged, that Hale wanted violence. He was not that kind of man (I have met violent dangerous people so I can compare). Also, lets face the truth here, the so-called copyright assault on his Church by some totally unknown quasi-religious group was perhaps no coincidence. In Sweden they would not have won, because here the law says that the party who have used the name/brand for most years and was first on the scene gets the right. Also, when the judge ordered the church books to be burned...well, would you like to turn over all your books for a modern-day book burning? Is that not something we all condemned the "Nazis" for doing?
6 - Kelly
How sad it is now to know U.S. District Judge Joan Humphrey Lefkow was in true danger and her husband and mother lost their life because of this sick individual and his followers.
Let this be a lesson to all of us that although these pepole can blend in with society, they are in no way "normal" or sane.
God Bless U.S. District Judge Joan Humphrey Lefkow and her family.
7 - RJ
"Putting Hale behind bars may well save some lives."
Oops! :-/
8 - Me
It is not a pleasure to say that I have a connection with Matt, but at least the connection is only through his brother. I was watching America's Most Wanted today about this case and it is obvious that Matt is a dangerous man. Mark, Matt's brother, is very different from Matt in that he's a great man who isn't a white separatist. It's people like Matt Hale who screw the world over for the rest of us.
9 - SFC SKI
Hopefully he'll end his days in prison aloine and uncelebrated.
10 - Eric
hale is in prison because he was coersed into saying something in jest to a federal pig dog.what it really biols down to is hale's politics do not fit our socialist marxist governments approved list of political adenda and speach codes so they took him down.agree with his politics or not he's a political prisoner
11 - SFC SKI
Maybe Hale's group should spend more time om their tracts so commentors like #10 will be exposed to proper spelling and grammar in some way.
12 - jonnnybones
If mumia could be set up why not hale?
13 - doc
A lot of people on this blog are proclaiming the mans guilt about the 2 murders of witch no evidance connects hale to.If it comes out in the future that It was a botched robbery committed by blacks or latrinos or some other nut the judge sentanced seeking revenge that will be the end of the story It will be old news
14 - Steve S
A lot of people on this blog are proclaiming the mans guilt about the 2 murders of witch no evidance connects hale to.
Nobody here is proclaiming the mans guilt about the murders.
If it comes out that It was committed by blacks or latrinos
Possible, but not likely. Hal Turner, of the Turner Diaries fame which prompted the Okla. City bombing, is the one listing the home addresses of federal judges involved in the appeals process, asking people to dig through their private lives, not blacks or latinos.
The fact that the shootings were on the anniversary of Waco also point the finger away from ethnic minority groups.
(and yes, for anybody concerned, the FBI is very well aware of the Turner webpage).
15 - doc
Cotc are not half the racial terrorist the black panthers are who advocated the rape of white women and murder of white police officers or the black religious cult based out of Miami Fla the yahweh sect who murdered 7 whites cotc is more a sepratist group with religious idology kind of like the nation of islam
16 - SFC SKI
Good attempt at reason, Steve S. but you know as well as I do, that reason, logic, fact, or appealling to some folks' better natures is futile. these supremacist thugs and their symapthizers see and hear what they want to.
17 - doc
Because the murders happened on the anniversy of waco that means minorities are exempt? white people had to do it? thats crazzy logic.as for people proclaiming the mans guilt look at what kelly wrote amoung others. what ever happened to beeing innocent till proven guilty. and no I am not a member of his religious cult I just think he was shafted for this politics
18 - Eric Olsen
when one's "politics" lead to murder, one is not a political prisoner
19 - Steve S
Because the murders happened on the anniversy of waco that means minorities are exempt?
No, of course not, but it does give more weight to the opposing argument.
20 - Dave
THey have descriptions of 2 white men how do they know they are not 2 junkies who where caseing houses? they are profiling and thats wrong. remember what happened with the betway snipers they profiled they where looing for white man in his 40's in a low paying job then they where looking for a asian Indian. I am not a hale supporter,but people are innocent till proven guilty in this country
21 - Eric Olsen
threats, descriptions of two white, the anniversary of Waco: hey, maybe it was a pair of self-loathing Michael Jackson imitators
22 - eric
olsen even murders can be political prisoners. example david lane who murdered tv talkshow host allen buke lane's human rights where violated by beeing tried 3 times for the same crime''triple jepordy.As for
23 - Eric
olsen that mj comment was funny,but even mj no matter how repulsive he is to most is innocent till proven guilty and all arguments need to be heard.how many of you in this blog proclamied jason williams or kobes guilty and said the vial things about tham you said about hale before all arguments where heard?
24 - Eric Olsen
when you're right you're right: innocent until proved guilty
25 - Eric
waco where the feds murdered mostly women and children i rest my case the feds are not to be trusted.as for the turner diaries some 200,000 people have bought and read that including myself. in my oppion it was a very poorly written book and very boaring,but nontheless books don,t make people commit murder no more then video games such as vice city .who the hell is the govenment to tell us what we can read