Just off the wires:

SAN FRANCISCO - BAY CITY NEWS SERVICE

As the San Francisco district attorney's office prepares its case against Eric Hunt, the man suspected of attacking Nobel Peace Prize laureate and author Elie Wiesel in San Francisco on Feb. 1, new information surfaced today that Hunt may have been member of an established neo-Nazi group. Hunt, 22, was arrested Feb. 17 by authorities in New Jersey and is in the process of being extradited to San Francisco for prosecution.

After his arrest, San Francisco police Lt. Mike Mahoney, who heads the department's special investigations unit, said Hunt had recently graduated from college, and appears to be a "lone wolf'' and not part of an organized group.

Today, Jeff Klein of the militant Jewish Defense Organization in New York said his group uncovered Hunt's blog where he claims to be a member of the American National Socialist Workers' Party, a neo-Nazi organization. In addition, the leader of ANSWP issued a statement applauding Hunt's actions. "Police claim Eric Hunt is not a member of a hate group. Now we have the proof," Klein said. Hunt writes in his blog that he is "a soldier of ANSWP," and says, "I have the authority of our leader to confront Jew Lairs and fake Aryans ..." Hunt goes on to say that he will visit the heads of several organizations dedicated to combating racism and "see that they tell the truth, even if I have to beat it out of them."

Bill White, who leads ANSWP, issued a statement on his organization's Web site that said, "Insofar as my views may have played a role in motivating Mr. Hunt, I can only say that I hope I inspire a hundred more young white people to sacrifice themselves for our collective racial whole."

White also said that Wiesel "should be afraid to walk out his front door." Klein called on the government to shut down the Web sites that make death threats against Wiesel, pointing out sites that list Wiesel's home address.

"It's against the law to make a death threat on the Internet. We want them taken down," he said.

Wiesel, 78, a survivor of Nazi concentration camps during World War II and author of the acclaimed memoir "Night,'' received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1986. Hunt allegedly traveled to San Francisco from New Jersey specifically to confront Wiesel while Wiesel was attending the three-day RockRose Institute World Forum Meeting at the Argent Hotel, according to the district attorney's office. According to police, a man believed to be Hunt joined Wiesel in an elevator at the hotel on the evening of Feb. 1 and asked him for an interview. Wiesel agreed and suggested they go to the hotel lobby, but the man instead invited Wiesel to his hotel room, police said. When Wiesel declined, the man allegedly tried to force Wiesel into his room. Wiesel screamed for help and the man ran off, police said. Wiesel was not physically injured in the attack, police reported.