SALON

Tuesday, Aug 28, 2012 4:00 PM UTC

Trial in Amish hair-cutting attacks begins in Ohio

By

Topics: From the Wires,

CLEVELAND (AP) — A breakaway Amish group spent months planning hair- and beard-cutting attacks against followers of their faith in eastern Ohio, federal prosecutors said Tuesday as they outlined their case against 16 men and women charged with hate crimes in the attacks.

The accused ringleader, Samuel Mullet Sr., wore a blue shirt and suspenders, with a beard hanging down to the middle of his chest, and sat rigidly in his seat as the trial got under way in Cleveland. He and the other defendants denied the charges, rejected plea bargain offers and could face lengthy prison terms if convicted in the hair-cuttings, which are considered deeply offensive in Amish culture.

“Every one of these attacks targeted those symbols of Amish righteousness,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Bridget M. Brennan, who described the attacks in nearly step-by-step detail.

Prosecutors say the attacks were motivated solely by religious disagreements between Amish bishops and a breakaway group. The defendants describe what happened as internal church disciplinary matters and say the government shouldn’t get involved.

Brennan said some suspects kept the hair they cut, and one defendant took along a disposable camera to take pictures. Prosecutors presented one photo to jurors, saying it showed a suspect holding an Amish bishop on the night some defendants broke into his house and cut his beard.

The camera was hidden under a tree, Brennan said.

“They wanted to see the trophies they collected,” she said.

Brennan said that several defendants admitted their roles and that Mullet didn’t participate in the attacks but helped plan them.

“Sam Mullet was at the beginning and the end of all of these attacks,” she said.

Mullet has said he didn’t order the hair-cutting but didn’t stop anyone from carrying it out.

Brennan said that some of the victims would testify against the defendants and that the children, grandchildren and siblings of the suspects also would testify about what they saw and knew.

The defense was expected to present its case later Tuesday.

More John Seewer.

Next Article

Related Stories

More Related Stories

Featured Slide Shows

The week in 10 pics

close X
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11
  • Lisa Montgomery embraces her nephew Thursday after a tornado tore apart her home in Cleburne, Texas. The twister killed six people and destroyed entire swaths of the North Texas town.
    Credit: AP/LM Otero

  • Jack McMahon, the defense attorney for abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell, speaks outside the Criminal Justice Center Philadelphia Tuesday. His client was convicted of killing three babies in his clinic, and will serve multiple life sentences.
    Credit: AP/Matt Rourke

  • A photo taken Monday captures Vice President Joe Biden's response to a Milwaukee second-grader's innovative proposal to end America's epidemic of gun violence. This guy!
    Credit: AP/Jenny Aicher

  • Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., flanked by a grouper-eyed Michele Bachmann, addresses the IRS' admission that it targeted Tea Party groups in advance of the 2012 election. In an op-ed for CNN Thursday, the Kentucky senator slammed the president for his faux outrage.
    Credit: AP/Molly Riley

  • Ousted IRS chief Steven Miller is sworn in on Capitol Hill Friday. Miller testified before the House Ways and Means Committee on the extra scrutiny the agency gave conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status.
    Credit: AP/J. Scott Applewhite

  • Attorney General Eric Holder pauses as he testifies on Capitol Hill before the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday. Holder is under fire, among other things, for the Justice Department's gathering of phone records at the Associated Press.
    Credit: AP/Carolyn Kaster

  • O.J. Simpson sits during an evidentiary hearing at Clark County District Court in Las Vegas, Nev., Thursday. Simpson, who is currently serving a nine-to-33-year sentence in state prison for armed robbery and kidnapping, is using a writ of habeas corpus to seek a new trial.
    Credit: AP/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Jeff Scheid

  • Major Tom to ground control: On Sunday astronaut Chris Hadfield recorded the first music video from space, a cover of David Bowie's "Space Oddity."
    Credit: AP/NASA/Chris Hadfield

  • When it rains it pours. President Barack Obama speaks during a news conference Thursday with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, inexplicably inspiring an #umbrellagate Twitter meme.
    Credit: AP/Jacquelyn Martin

  • A smoke plume rises high above a road block at the intersection of County A and Ross Road east of Solon Springs, Wis., Tuesday. No injuries were reported, but the the wildfire caused evacuations across northwestern Wisconsin.
    Credit: AP/The Duluth News-Tribune/Clint Austin

  • Recent Slide Shows

  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11

Related Videos

Comments

 0 Comments

Comment Preview

Your name will appear as username

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href=""> <b> <em> <strong> <i> <blockquote>

follow salon

Most Read

Popular on Reddit

links from salon.com

From Around the Web

Presented by Scribol
listener_new_rect The Listener: So long, Sookie Stackhouse

Recommendations