Samuel Mullet
Seven Amish men who are part of a breakaway group led by Samuel Miller are charged with conspiracy to commit hate crimes.
Posted on 08/29/2012 3:58:35 PM PDT by JoeProBono
CLEVELAND - An Amish bishop was so ashamed after a hair-cutting attack that he stopped preaching and refused to attend a family wedding because he didn't want anyone to see him without his beard, his son testified Wednesday.The testimony came at the trial of 16 Amish men and women accused of carrying out a series of hate crimes on Amish church leaders in Ohio.
Andy Hershberger said after the attack his 77-year-old father was crying and "shaking all over."
Federal prosecutors say that a dispute between the leader of a breakaway Amish group and other bishops who sought to overrule his authoritarian methods led to the hair- and -beard cutting attacks that struck fear into Ohio's normally peaceful Amish community.
Those accused of planning and taking part in the attacks targeted the hair and beards of Amish bishops because of its spiritual significance in the faith, prosecutors said. Most Amish men do not shave their beards after marriage, believing it signifies their devotion to God.
Prosecutors say there were five different attacks last fall. The defendants who live in a settlement outside the tiny town of Bergholz near the West Virginia panhandle could face lengthy prison terms if convicted on charges that include conspiracy and obstructing justice.
Attorneys for the defendants have not denied that the hair cuttings took place and said in the opening statements that members of the breakaway group took action out of compassion and concern that some Amish were straying from their beliefs. Defense attorneys also contended that the Amish are bound by different rules guided by their religion and that the government shouldn't get involved in what amounted to a family or church dispute.
The attack on Raymond Hershberger took place at his farm in Holmes County, said his son who lives on the same land. The county is home to one of the nation's largest Amish settlements.
Andy Hershberger testified that five men arrived at his house on an October evening and said, "We want to talk with you and your dad." Once inside, one of the defendants, whom he identified as Johnny Mullet -- son of accused ringleader Sam Mullet Sr. -- stood up and said: "We're from Bergholz. We're here to do what you did to our people."
Hersherger described a chaotic scene, with the men holding down him, his father and his brother. He said his father covered his head, pleading "Don't shear me, don't shear me."Prosecutors showed jurors a photo of a man, identified by Hershberger as Johnny Mullet, standing over his father and holding him near his throat during the attack. Another suspect had taken the pictures with a disposable camera, investigators said.
Hershberger said clumps of hair were missing from his father's head and his scalp was bleeding a bit. Only an inch of his beard, which had hung to the middle of his chest, was left. He didn't preach again until his hair grew back.
"He was so ashamed with the way he looked," his son said. "He was heartbroken."
Hershberger said the attackers grabbed him by the beard too and tried to shave it.
But the clippers stopped working, he said, and the men left.
Samuel Mullet
Seven Amish men who are part of a breakaway group led by Samuel Miller are charged with conspiracy to commit hate crimes.
I bet they gave him a mean wedgey as well.
Amish hate crime? A FR meme is in jeopardy.
Looks like one of those Three Stooges beards with elastic on it. Pull it down, release and it snaps back. HARD!!!
What are the highlighted links in the story? I have seen them on other posts as well. I clicked on one and it locked up my computer..
A bunch of thugs invaded an old man's home, held him down in front of his wife and removed a traditional mark of dignity and manhood from his face in front of his wife in order to humiliate him in front of his family. And they did it by effectively "scalping" his chin.
Repulsive what happened.
Pictures: Amish men charged in beard-cutting attacks
http://www.cbsnews.com/2300-504083_162-10010414.html?tag=mncol;lst;2
Perhaps not, but it’s not exactly “In Cold Blood” either.
I think I have a virus or something then, because there are certain words highlighted in blue in the story that when hovered over or clicked on reveal ads..
But this preacher sounds totally traumatized by his facial hair loss. It may seem trivial to us but the point is these dudes assaulted the man. And yes the thugs do look really odd.
what browser do you use?
IE 9..any ideas?
I do know that IE has a feature that highlights words if you want to search them for additional info (or perhaps ads?). So maybe look in the various settings if there is a way to turn it off. I use Firefox with an addon called NoScript, which block everything on a page and lets me selectively allow stuff, and even when I temporarily allowed everything on the page, I still didn’t get any highlighted words. So that made me think it might be browser specific.
A quick search revealed a bunch of game apps one of my boys (they are both denying it and blaming eachother)downloaded..
A quick search revealed a bunch of game apps one of my boys (they are both denying it and blaming eachother)downloaded..
I get that too, and probably from the same source. Thanks for the info.
I went to add/remove programs and found the offending software. I removed everything that wasnt something I downloaded or added. Now I am looking for a safe game site for them to play with.
I think the offender was yontoo.com..
Glad you figured it out.
I opened my IE 9 and didn’t see it so I was stumped at that point.
I was stumped, too. I knew FR wasn’t selling ad space!
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