'Victim' of cross burning in Anoka now faces charges
The black resident apparently told others that he was going to set the fire and blame his neighbor.

By Kevin Duchschere, Star Tribune

Last update: September 29, 2007 – 12:03 AM

A black Anoka resident who three days ago reported the burning of a cross on his lawn was charged Friday with setting the blaze himself in a search for sympathy and money.
Police began to suspect De'Andre June Sr., 47, after learning that he had told inmates at the Anoka County jail last week that he was going to burn a cross in his yard and blame it on his neighbor.

According to the complaint, one of the inmates told investigators that he had asked June what he had against his neighbor. "Nothing, but I'm the only dot [black]" on the block, June replied.

When he was arrested Thursday afternoon on an unrelated Hennepin County felony warrant, June told police that he didn't know who had burned the shape of a cross into his grass.

By Friday he had been charged in Anoka County District Court with three misdemeanor counts of falsely reporting a crime, disorderly conduct and obstructing the legal process.

The news about June surprised and disappointed neighbors and supporters in Anoka, who had planned a community prayer rally at the family home Sunday. Many had offered encouragement and sympathy after June called police about the incident Wednesday morning.

Julie Swiler of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Minnesota and the Dakotas, which had issued a strong statement Wednesday denouncing the cross burning, said that "when a hate incident is fabricated, it diminishes the serious message that an act of hate harms individuals and causes harm to society."

It's hard, she said, when someone takes advantage of an honest desire to help.

Shortly after June notified police about the cross burning, he also called KSTP-TV. When the news team arrived, he escorted the reporter over to neighbor Barb Craven's house to get her comment on the cross burning.

Craven, who had offered her support for June, said Thursday she was glad that the charges showed that "our community would not do something like this. ... This was not about color; it's about character."

Anoka police Capt. Philip Johanson said his office received a number of calls from people offering their support to June and his family. "It's been moving this week," he said.

A burning cross, traditionally considered a declaration of war, achieved special status following the Civil War as an act of intimidation when Ku Klux Klan members began burning crosses near the houses of black families.

Johanson said he detected no indication that the attack had been fabricated when police responded early Wednesday morning.

"We really pushed forward with this as a bias crime," he said. But a canvassing of the neighborhood uncovered no leads or suspects, he said.

June has been convicted of numerous felonies in Minnesota and has served various stretches of prison time since 1993, said Department of Corrections spokeswoman Shari Burt.

His crimes have ranged from burglary to motor vehicle theft to fleeing an officer, and his last prison term ended in June 2002, Burt said.

This summer, he was sentenced in Hennepin County for financial fraud involving criminal use of a credit card from his former employer. He was released from the Anoka County jail on Monday after spending a week there in connection with a series of driving violations.

On Wednesday, a few inmates were watching KSTP's news and saw June on TV talking about the cross burning. According to the complaint, two of them told a deputy that June had spoken to them about pulling just such a stunt.

A third inmate told police that June had "talked about getting sympathy and money from the public with a cross burning since he was a black man."

Stories about the cross burning appeared in newspapers Thursday. By that afternoon, armed with the inmates' testimony and the Hennepin County warrant, authorities went to the June house to arrest him.

As his family watched, according to the complaint, June became agitated and began to shout profanities at the officers. At one point, he fell to the floor and said he was having a heart attack, the complaint says.

The Rev. Nathan Powell, lead pastor of Anoka Covenant Church, said Friday that he had spoken to June's family members and that they were shocked by what had happened.

"It's pretty disappointing," he said. "Whenever you want to extend help, sometimes people take advantage of it. But I really hope the neighbors come around the family."

Staff writers Rochelle Olson and Paul Walsh and staff researcher John Wareham contributed to this report.

Kevin Duchschere • kduchschere@startribune.com

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