Southern Poverty Law Center - Texas

Extremism Headlines: Uganda anti-LGBTQ law, Eastman disbarred, Politician claimed 'white genocide'

creede.newton_3057 — Wed, 03 Apr 2024 16:01:48 +0000

Hatewatch

Every week, we highlight stories on extremism and the radical right from the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Intelligence Project. Here are stories that caught our attention through April 5.

Extremism Headlines: Uganda anti-LGBTQ law, Eastman disbarred, Politician claimed 'white genocide'

Kentucky politician claimed Jewish people promote "white genocide"

TJ Roberts, a politician from Boone County, Kentucky, said he was "sick of [Jewish people] promoting white genocide” in a private 2017 chat that Hatewatch obtained. "White genocide," or the great replacement conspiracy theory, is the unfounded claim that elites are attempting to dilute white-majority nations with immigrants.
Roberts' political activism looks like it began in far-right libertarian circles. He was a contributor to the Liberty Hangout, a far-right libertarian outlet that used to collaborate with white nationalist Augustus Invictus' defunct website. He was also part of a university group that invited white nationalist Richard Spencer to speak at a conference in 2017. Roberts declined to comment. Hatewatch shared the conversation with Rep. Thomas Massie, who has supported Roberts. Massie responded that he would "double" his support for Roberts.
In a statement to the Lexington Herald-Leader, Roberts said he remembered the chat but that his comment was taken out of context. On X, he denied making antisemitic comments.

Texas Company paid over $20 million to antigovernment group to bus immigrants

Hatewatch obtained documents that show Wynne Transportation, the company the state of Texas contracts to bus immigrants from the U.S.-Mexico border as part of "Operation Lone Star," paid antigovernment extremist Mayhem Solutions Group (MSG) tens of millions of dollars. A subcontractor who worked for Mayhem has called the conditions on these buses "inhumane." The documents also reveal a tangled web of limited liability companies that conduct the busing on behalf of Wynne Transportation.
Hatewatch has previously reported on MSG's sometimes unlicensed activities as a private investigations and security firm across the U.S.

John Eastman disbarred over 'unethical' acts

Former Trump team attorney John Eastman has been disbarred over "unethical" actions in relation to his legal attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election, Hatewatch reported. The California Bar's website listed him as "not eligible to practice law" as of April 2. Judge Yvette Roland recommended that "the serious and extensive nature of Eastman’s unethical actions, the most severe available professional sanction [disbarment] is warranted to protect the public and preserve the public confidence in the legal system." Eastman has appealed and it will be up to the California Supreme Court to issue a final order.

Professor 'hidden hand' behind far-right media platform

The Guardian has revealed that Scott Yenor, a professor at Boise State University and a scholar associated with the Claremont Institute, is the "hidden hand" behind Action Idaho, a far-right online media platform. The article reported that Action Idaho disseminated inflammatory right-wing commentary on Idaho politics, including attacks on LGBTQ individuals and Republicans deemed insufficiently right-wing. Notably, Yenor secured funding for Action Idaho from influential donors, including Thomas D. Klingenstein, the chair of the Claremont Institute board, according to The Guardian.

Uganda constitutional court upholds anti-LGBTQ law

Uganda’s constitutional court upheld an anti-LGBTQ law on April 3 that imposes severe penalties for consensual same-sex relations. Reuters reported. The law, signed into effect in May of last year, includes provisions such as life imprisonment for LGBTQ individuals engaged in consensual relationships. The court found that certain sections of the law violated the “right to health, privacy, and freedom of religion.” Despite this, the court declined to nullify the entire law. Additionally, the law prescribes the death penalty for cases of "aggravated homosexuality," which includes sexual relations involving people infected with HIV and minors. Petitioners against the law expressed disappointment, vowing to appeal to the Supreme Court.
Hatewatch previously reported on Uganda President Yoweri Museveni and first lady Janet Museveni's April meeting with Family Watch International (FWI) leader Sharon Slater and others from FWI. FWI is an anti-LGBTQ organization that works in legislation and policy across the world.

Read last week's edition here: Extremism Headlines: Nazi imagery on Army Patch, Arizona braces for election threats

Above photo: A panel of five Constitutional Court Judges of Uganda led by the Deputy Chief Justice of Uganda Richard Buteera read their joint judgement at the Constitutional Court, where the Court upheld the anti-LGBTQ Law in Kampala, Uganda April 3, 2024. REUTERS/Abubaker Lubowa

Hatewatch Staff

April 05, 2024

Garner v. Ladner

admin — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 21:07:27 +0000

Corrine Garner et al. v. Thomas Ladner et al.

On Christmas Day in 1987, Loyal Garner Jr., a 34-year-old truck driver from a small Louisiana town who had never been in trouble with the law, crossed the border into Texas to help a friend with car trouble. He was arrested on a traffic charge and taken to a county jail in Hemphill, Texas, where he was beaten by three lawmen. Garner died two days later in a Tyler, Texas, hospital. He left behind his wife of 14 years, six young children and his mother and father.

On January 19, 1988, the ��Ҵ�ý filed a federal civil action on behalf of the Garner family against the three lawmen, the local county government and the City of Hemphill. While the ��Ҵ�ý’s suit was pending, the three lawmen were tried and acquitted of state charges of violating Garner’s civil rights. Many observers at this trial, held in Hemphill, felt the proceedings were stacked in the lawmen’s favor.

After their acquittal, two of the lawmen filed a civil action against ��Ҵ�ý attorneys and the ��Ҵ�ý itself. The lawmen claimed that ��Ҵ�ý attorneys had conspired with two persons in Texas to frame them. A federal judge ruled that their suit was a transparent effort to interfere with the ��Ҵ�ý’s case on behalf of the Garner family, and he put the lawmen’s suit on hold.

��Ҵ�ý investigators found key evidence against the lawmen that had been unavailable to the prosecutors in the Hemphill trial. On the eve of the ��Ҵ�ý’s civil trial, the three lawmen and the county settled. The City of Hemphill had settled its portion of the case earlier. The settlement ensured financial security for Garner’s widow, his children and his parents. But the three lawmen who beat him to death were still free.

Armed with ��Ҵ�ý evidence, prosecutors in Tyler, where Garner died, filed murder charges against the lawmen. At the trial, a doctor who treated Garner said the power of the blow that killed him had the same force as that needed to hit a center-field fly ball with a baseball bat. On May 3, 1990, an all-white jury found the three lawmen guilty of murder. Thomas Ladner, the 42-year-old former police chief of Hemphill, was sentenced to 28 years in prison. James Hyden, 35, a former sheriff’s deputy, was sentenced to 14 years. Billy Ray Horton, 59, also a former sheriff’s deputy, was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

Date Filed

January 19, 1988

Status

Closed

Court where filed

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, Lufkin Division

Issue Area

Criminal Justice Reform

Plaintiffs

Corrine Garner et al.

Defendants

Thomas Ladner et al.

Garner v. Ladner

Case Number

Civil Action No. L-88-13-CA

Vietnamese Fishermen's Association v. Knights of the Ku Klux Klan

admin — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 22:00:26 +0000

Vietnamese Fishermen Case

Ending Klan intimidation
In 1981, armed Klansmen cruised Galveston Bay and practiced guerrilla tactics at secret paramilitary camps. They tried to destroy Vietnamese-Americans' fishing businesses by burning their boats and threatening their lives.

Fearful of competition from the Vietnamese, the white fishermen had invited the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, to send a message to the Vietnamese before the start of the shrimping season.

The Klan group trained in the use of grenades, explosives, weapons, techniques of ambush and hand-to-hand combat, all in preparation for what they believed was an impending "race war."

Klan Grand Dragon Louis Beam held several rallies and cross burnings in the Galveston Bay area. Then, on March 15, armed and hooded Klansmen embarked on "a boat ride" with a figure hung in effigy and a small cannon on board. The boat docked near the home of a Vietnamese man and terrorized his family.

Center attorneys filed a lawsuit that stopped the Klan's terror campaign and shut down its paramilitary training bases.

Date Filed

April 16, 1981

Date(s) of Disposition

07/15/1981: Preliminary Injunction issued against the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan (518 F. Supp 993)
06/03/1982: Permanent Injunction issued and final order (543 F. Supp 198)

Status

Closed

Court where filed

USDC Southern District of Texas

Issue Area

Hate & Extremism

Plaintiffs

Vietnamese fishermen who were terrorized by armed members of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan

Defendants

Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, Inc.; Louis Beam, Grand Dragon, KKK; various other Klan members; and members of the American Fishermen's Coalition

Landmark Case

Vietnamese Fishermen's Association v. Knights of the Ku Klux Klan

Case Number

H-81-895

Southern Poverty Law Center - Texas

Extremism Headlines: Uganda anti-LGBTQ law, Eastman disbarred, Politician claimed 'white genocide'

Extremism Headlines: Uganda anti-LGBTQ law, Eastman disbarred, Politician claimed 'white genocide'

Kentucky politician claimed Jewish people promote "white genocide"

Texas Company paid over $20 million to antigovernment group to bus immigrants

John Eastman disbarred over 'unethical' acts

Professor 'hidden hand' behind far-right media platform

Uganda constitutional court upholds anti-LGBTQ law

Garner v. Ladner

Corrine Garner et al. v. Thomas Ladner et al.

Date Filed

Status

Court where filed

Issue Area

Plaintiffs

Defendants

Related Documents

Garner v. Ladner

Case Number

Vietnamese Fishermen's Association v. Knights of the Ku Klux Klan

Vietnamese Fishermen Case

Date Filed

Date(s) of Disposition

Status

Court where filed

Issue Area

Plaintiffs

Defendants

Vietnamese Fishermen's Association v. Knights of the Ku Klux Klan

Case Number