The Justice department and this Motley attorney is really scared of Bill White even though White poses no threat.

SOURCE

Roanoke neo-Nazi faces fines, possible jail time
Posted to: Crime News Norfolk

By Tim McGlone
The Virginian-Pilot
© April 3, 2008

NORFOLK

The leader of a Roanoke-based white supremacist group faces fines and possible jail time for interfering in a local racial discrimination suit involving black tenants of a Virginia Beach apartment complex.

William “Bill” White of Roanoke, commander of the American National Socialist Workers’ Party, faced a federal judge in Norfolk on Wednesday to explain emails and Internet postings regarding an attorney representing the tenants.

The attorney took the publications as threats and said he was forced to have off-duty police guard his home outside Richmond.

White and his attorney argued in court that the emails and postings were “misunderstood and misconstrued” and were meant strictly as satire.

U.S. Magistrate F. Bradford Stillman said he would rule on the sanctions at a later date. The sanctions, if any, would then have to be approved by a district judge.

The case began more than a year ago when five tenants of an apartment complex at 15 1/2 Street in Virginia Beach sued their landlord, John Crockett Henry, claiming a long pattern of racial discrimination.

The residents accuse Henry of using racial slurs against them and their children and placing restrictions on black residents that were not applied to white residents, including a curfew.

After the suit was filed, White sent a derogatory letter to the tenants as well as a magazine he publishes called the National Socialist, which has a swastika on the cover and articles expressing hatred against blacks and Jews.

The Department of Justice, which intervened on the tenants’ behalf, suspects that Henry has strong links to White and his white supremacy groups, according to Justice Department court filings. White denies knowing Henry.

That case is set for trial in May.

In the meantime, attorneys for the tenants, in their pre-trial preparations, subpoenaed White seeking any records linking him to Henry. Documents provided in court included the blog entries.

On Feb. 22, White posted a message on a white supremacist blog that listed the name, home address and phone number of one of the attorneys in the case, Kevin Mottley of Troutman Sanders in Richmond.

“After we are done with our legal dispute, they are open game,” White wrote of the tenants and attorneys involved.

Specifically, of Mottley and his wife, White wrote:

“Do not send them `hate fliers’ or nooses. Do not call and record them and place those phone calls on YouTube. Do not open credit cards in their name, empty their bank accounts by Internet, hack their emails.”

“I perceived this posting to be a threat,” Mottley testified Wednesday.

He said he believed White’s true intention was for anyone who read it to do exactly the opposite. He said he began receiving strange phone calls right after that. His wife now fears for her safety and is afraid to leave the house.

White testified that nothing he posts on the Internet is illegal. Anyone in his group who commits a crime is booted, he said. But any postings he has made, such as calling for the killing of human rights advocates, is meant as satire, he said.

“I don’t see how you can take that other than as a joke,” he said of some of his postings.

After hearing White’s testimony, Mottley said from the stand that he felt no less concerned.

“I don’t perceive Mr. White to be a choir boy,” Mottley said. “Maybe in his mind he finds some humor in this. I don’t.”

The attorney for Mottley is pushing for a criminal contempt citation against White, which could lead to jail time. White could also face a fine or be forced to pay attorneys’ fees.

Judge Stillman did not give a time frame for when he would rule.

White and his attorney, Harry W. Brown of Roanoke, declined to comment outside of court Wednesday.