Jury Finds Bill White Guilty on Four Counts
A federal jury today agreed with some but not all of the government’s allegations that former neo-Nazi leader made threats against various people with whom he disagreed.
White was found guilty of threatening a Citibank employee, intimidating tenants of a Virginia Beach, Va., apartment complex, threatening a University of Delaware administrator and threatening a Canadian human rights lawyer, according to . He was acquitted of threatening the Citibank employee with the intent to extort, threatening Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Leonard Pitts and threatening a New Jersey mayor.
The jury reached its verdict late this afternoon after deliberating for less than four hours. During the eight-day trial in U.S. District Court in Roanoke, Va., the jurors heard testimony from victims who said they were terrified by the blog posts, telephone calls and E-mails that White used to target them. The defense, which did not call any witnesses, argued that White’s communications were protected free speech under the First Amendment.
White, 32, was the self-described commander of the American National Socialist Workers Party, a neo-Nazi group, and ran the hate website Overthrow.com until his arrest last fall. He could be sent to prison for up to 40 years.
