Leith City Officials Object to Craig Cobb Plea Deal
City officials in Leith, N.D., are now openly challenging a misdemeanor plea bargain tendered to white supremacist whose attempt to build a whites-only community fizzled when he was on seven terrorizing charges.
Leith Mayor Ryan Schock, City Councilman Lee Cook and Gregory Bruce, the town鈥檚 media representative, filed a formal last week against North Dakota Assistant States Attorney Todd Schwarz who offered Cobb the plea deal.
Instead of facing the possibility of years in prison for felony convictions, Cobb faces only a short sentence if a judge accepts the misdemeanor plea bargain.
The complaint, sent to the North Dakota Bar Association, Gov. Jack Dalrymple and Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem, accuses Schwarz of unprofessional conduct and demands he be replaced with a special prosecutor. The complaint contends the prosecutor didn鈥檛 consult with all the victims, including the mayor and Bruce, and that he used vulgar and unprofessional language during interviews with other victims.
It is the latest development that has turned the tiny North Dakota town, 30 miles from Bismarck, into a microcosm of hate in America and how government officials and the criminal justice system deal with it. Since Hatewatch on Cobb鈥檚 plans to take over the town and turn Leith into a whites-only enclave, there has been subsequent media attention. The BBC has documented the flap, and National Geographic is scheduled to air a special report later this spring.
Bruce, who told Hatewatch today he has exclusive authority 鈥渢o speak for the city,鈥� said that he, the mayor and city councilman are outraged that Cobb was offered a get-out-of-jail plea bargain.
鈥淲e think he should go to trial and let a jury decide if he鈥檚 guilty or innocent of these felony terrorizing charges,鈥� Bruce said.
鈥淭he three of us feel this is a travesty of justice 鈥� and (believe) the charge should be reinstated,鈥� the written complaint says, adding: 鈥淲e request that a 鈥榮pecial prosecutor鈥� be appointed to have Craig Cobb brought to trial and there be no plea deal offered.鈥�
The three city officials say in the complaint that their lives have been 鈥済reatly impacted鈥� by the events. 鈥淲e have received numerous death threats by supporters of Craig Cobb and Kynan Dutton as well,鈥� the complaint says.
Schwartz, who has called the Cobb affair in Leith 鈥渁 media circus,鈥� did not immediately responded to a request for comment about the complaint filed against him.
At a February hearing, a judge didn鈥檛 accept the misdemeanor plea deal, but ordered another psychiatric evaluation of Cobb and asked that a presentence report include detailed interviews with his alleged victims. That process is ongoing, and a date for the next court hearing 鈥� where the plea will either be accepted or rejected by the judge 鈥� hasn鈥檛 been set.
The mayor and Bruce were among seven victims identified in seven 鈥渢errorizing鈥� felony charges filed against Cobb after he and fellow racist Kynan Dutton marched through the streets of Leith on Nov. 16, carrying rifles and screaming profanities.
Cobb called it a safety patrol, but the event quickly landed him and Dutton in jail.
Less than a week earlier, that Cobb 鈥� a neo-Nazi who hates African Americans and Jews 鈥� had submitted to a DNA test that shows he is 14 percent sub-Saharan African.
After his arrest, Cobb , offering to sell his property in Leith and leave the state if prosecutors dropped criminal charges.
