New Mexico Man Pleads Not Guilty Branding Swastika on Navajo Man

[Stuart G]

Source: MSNBC, AP

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A New Mexico man pleaded not guilty Monday to federal hate-crime charges in the case of a mentally disabled Navajo man who had a swastika branded on his arm with a hot metal clothes hanger.

William Hatch, 29, of Fruitland and two other defendants are the first to be prosecuted by the federal government under a historic 2009 law targeting hate crimes involving disabilities or sexual orientation.

..Paul Beebe, 26, and Jesse Sanford, 25, both of Farmington, also appeared but had no attorneys and didn't enter pleas. U.S. Magistrate Robert Scott indicated he would have lawyers appointed to represent both men then scheduled their arraignments for Tuesday


Read more: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40421002/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/

---

What kind of human scum does this to their fellow humans?

[rug]

1. Nazis.

Or Nazi wannabes.

[jwirr]

2. Court appointed attorneys - they branded the young man but now they

are the ones asking for help. What is wrong with this world?

[hughee99]

3. If I understand correctly, the swastika was at one time

a Navajo symbol used in healing rituals. Obviously, if they're writing "KKK" and "white power" on him, it's probably not this traditional use that they were intending.

[mikekohr]

5. The Swastika is an ancient symbol that has many symbolic meanings.

In Native American cultures it is often a representation of the four winds, in parts of India it is considered a good luck symbol.

But here in America when someone burns it into your skin with a heated coat hanger and shaves the symbol into your head against your will, it means something else.

I hope they are sent to prison for a long, long time. Or perhaps they should be sentenced to community outreach programs on the Navajo Reservation and be required to express their remorse by giving anti hate lectures at Farmington's schools to help break a very troubling pattern that has existed there for a long, long time.

[mikekohr]

4. Farmington, NM Has a Long History of this Sort of Hate

Read the book, "THE BROKEN CIRCLE, A True Story of Murder and Magic in Indian Country," which covers a murder and mutilation of a Navajo man by white teenagers and the area's long history of such inhumanity to our fellow man.

[madrchsod]

6. branding a mentally ill person does`t get one any respect in prison...

they`ll be looking over their shoulders for years.

[underpants]

7. I duped you in GD. I sent to my buddies with "count the wrongs in this story" as a subject line

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x9651929

[KT2000]

8. Humans aren't so great

I have a cousin who is mentally challenged. He has come across ass@&*#% like this throughout his life. No swastikas but he was set up in life threatening situations for other peoples sadistic entertainment plenty of times. He still thinks everyone is his friend.
There are angels too - in his case a woman and her husband saved him.
Thank god he broke his hip and is now in the care of a nursing home which is much better than how he lived before.

There are lots of ignorant scum out there. That is why we must protect the most vulnerable among us.

[mikekohr]

9. Read the book, "The Broken Circle, a true story of murder and magic in Indian Country."

by Rodney Barker. This story of a murder and mutilation of a Navaho man by local white teens from Farmington, NM happened in 1974. Not much has changed in Farmington in the last 35 years.

[KT2000]

10. OK but

I sense that it is pretty upsetting.
It seems that the ignorance goes from one generation to the next and there is nothing to break the chain. Town cultures (big shots) tend to protect the criminals too.

[mikekohr]

11. Extraordinarily upsetting, but here's a link that will lift your spirits a bit

Here's a more expansive article on past hate crimes against Navajo People in and around Farmington, NM, as well as the efforts of Farmington and Tribal officials to end the cycle of inhumanity to our fellow man.
http://www.washingtonpost.co...m/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/29/AR2010112904168_2.html


mike kohr
International Brotherhood Days
www.brotherhooddays.com

[KT2000]

12. Thanks

link isn't working for me but I will try to do a search at WA Post for it.
I looked at your site for the Brotherhood Days. Are there still annual gatherings?

[mikekohr]

14. International Brotherhood Days Is Presently Dormant

and no further gatherings are scheduled. Thanks for the interest and comment about the site.

?
International Brotherhood Days
www.brotherhooddays.com

[Judi Lynn]

13. Had to find their photos, needing to put faces with these filthy names:

http://pub.tv2.no.nyud.net:8090/multimedia/TV2/archive/00805/mugshots_805004i.jpg

Fra venstre: Paul Beebe, Jesse Sanford og William Hatch. De er alle siktet for hatkriminalitet mot en psykisk utviklingshemmet 22-åring. Foto: Police handout/Scanpix



http://onepeoplesproject.com.nyud.net:8090/images/bebehatchsanford.jpg

Beebe, left, Hatch, middle, Sanford, right.