Misplaced Pages

Revision as of 21:08, 25 July 2007

The neutrality of this article is disputed. Relevant discussion may be found on the talk page. Please do not remove this message until conditions to do so are met. (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Harold "Hal" Turner (born March 15, 1962) is an American White Nationalist Internet radio talk show host from North Bergen, New Jersey. His program, The Hal Turner Show, was broadcast from his home in North Bergen via the Internet on Wednesday evenings. He is also the owner and operator of the Turner Radio Network (not related to Ted Turner's Turner Broadcasting networks such as TNT, TBS, CNN, etc.).

In 2000, Turner sought the local Republican Party nomination for election in his local congressional district but lost to Democrat Bob Menendez and six other candidates, including another Republican, Theresa de Leon.

Turner was also the campaign manager for Libertarian Murray Sabrin in a number of campaigns in New Jersey in the 1990s according to various sources including Sabrin's website. Turner has made monetary contributions to the Sabrin campaign as recently as 2000, according to the Federal Election Commission.

Viewpoints

Turner operates a website called halturnershow.com which expouses his views on racial issues. Turner's website and radio program is largely devoted to a digest of news concerning crimes committed by minorities, which Turner couches in racist epithets. He also expresses opposition to illegal immigration, is vehemently anti-Semitic and opposes the existence of Israel. He authors and publishes Holocaust denial material. Turner has stated that he believes assassination and overthrowing the government are acceptable actions. He has stated his belief that the current United States government is corrupt beyond repair. However, he has also endorsed Ron Paul for president in 2008. His website operates as a virtual meeting place for fellow white supremacists, via it's comment pages.

"Rally against violence"

On November 19, 2005, a rally was organized in response to the assault of a 14-year old white student, seriously injured by an older black student at Kingston High School. The white student's injuries required several reconstructive surgeries, and Turner made much of the suffering of the child on his radio show, often even engaging the child's mother on the air to discuss her sadness and outrage. While Turner occasionally implied that the black student "did not face any sanction" on his radio show, the 16-year old was in actuality charged as an adult with two felony counts, assault and attempted assault.

According to the mother of the victim, the assailant referred to the victim as a "white nigger" prior to the assault. A grand jury investigated the incident, and found that race was not a factor in the assault. Nonetheless, Turner pursued his "Rally Against Violence" by appealing to "pro-whites" with allegations of black students terrorizing white students throughout the high school in the town; Turner claimed to have received many emails from "students in that high school that tell me these things are so terrible that they are afraid to go to (school)", marketing the appeal of the rally jointly not only to white supremacists, but also to anyone who misperceived the rally as indeed a rally "against violence." While the victim's mother at first suggested that she would attend the event, she ultimately declined, indicating that she is "not a racist".

Fight with Jaime Vazquez

On April 12, 2006, Turner had a physical altercation with Jaime Vazquez, a former Jersey City Deputy Mayor and member of the Jersey City Council (at the time Vazquez was Jersey City Commissioner of Veterans' Affairs). Vazquez, a disabled, Purple Heart-awarded Vietnam War veteran, was protesting in front of Turner's house in response to Turner's hiring an airplane to carry a banner with an anti-Mexican slur over a political rally at Jersey City's Liberty State Park, and to comments he made about the rally. The North Bergen Reporter quoted Turner as saying "(t)he illegal immigrants are breaking the law, and people like me should break the law as well by shooting them down." In response, Vazquez picketed with a sign reading: "Hal Turner -- shoot me! Racists and bigots like you are cowards." Turner confronted Vazquez and a fight ensued, in the course of which Vazquez suffered a back injury and a fractured wrist.

Turner and Vazquez filed criminal charges against each other. On July 16, 2006 North Bergen Municipal Court Judge Joseph "Jay" Romano found neither man criminally liable. Judge Romano's decision stated:

"Frankly, I find both witnesses to be credible. I find both witnesses to be vehement in espousing their views and because their views diverge, there has to be some tension. Who pushed who is something this court cannot determine beyond a reasonable doubt."

Threats against political figures

On his Oct. 25, 2006 webcast, Turner told his audience: "I fully expect now that I gave out the home addresses and phone numbers of the New Jersey Supreme Court that I will have the New Jersey State Police here tomorrow again. Well, I'm not going to shut up. I am not going to stop putting these ideas in people's heads because violence solves everything. And if some very angry people were to go down to some of those judges' houses and tune them up, oh sure, they might get thrown in jail, but that would send a shockwave to the rest of those (expletive) in black robes that they can be gotten to." After adding that it would take some time for police to respond to a 911 call, he stated, "How many times you think you can bash someone in the head with a sledgehammer in two or three minutes?"

Turner went on to say that his listeners should phone, write and visit the homes of four of the justices, including the then-chief justice, to show that "they can be gotten to." Turner then announced the addresses of the lone African-American on the justice court John E. Wallace, Jr., a justice who co-authored the state's Gay Unions decision Barry Albin and one who wrote a more liberal dissent favoring the right of gays to marry, then-Chief Justice Deborah Poritz, as well as that of Justice Roberto Rivera-Soto.

After this, the justices of the New Jersey Supreme Court received heightened police protection, which continues to this day. According to the Newark Star-Ledger, after Turner's threat, police searched the area around the Haddonfield, N.J. home of Justice Roberto Rivera-Soto for intruders 200 times as of March, 2007.

On December 6, 2006, Turner announced on his website:

We may have to ASSASSINATE some of the people you elect on Nov. 7! This could be your LAST ELECTION CHANCE, to save this Republic... Sorry to have to be so blunt, but the country is in mortal danger from our present government and our liberty is already near dead because of this government. If you are too stupid to turn things around with your vote, there are people out here like me who are willing to turn things around with guns, force and violence. We hope our method does not become necessary.

According to news reports, the Secret Service and FBI have refused to comment about ongoing investigations of Hal Turner.

Since his threats were made public, Turner has had difficulties finding a host for his website, and has stated that he has filed a number of lawsuits concerning this issue. As of July 25, 2007, his website was back online.

References

1. "Congressional Races". Center for Responsive Politics. Retrieved 2007-01-01.
2. murraysabrin.com
3. "F.E.C. IMAGE 20020212929 (Page 13 of 25)". Retrieved 2007-01-01.
4. "OFFICIAL RECORDS FROM INTERNATIONAL RED CROSS PROVE "HOLOCAUST" WAS A FRAUD!"
5. Hal Turner Show: Ron Paul Excluded
6. ^ Fairchild, Mary (2005-12-14). "KHS teen indicted for assault, not hate crime". DailyFreeman.com. Retrieved 2007-01-01. Cite error: The named reference "DailyFreeman-assault" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
7. ^ Paul Kirby (2005-11-08). "Supremacist vows KHS rally". DailyFreeman.com. Retrieved 2007-01-01. Cite error: The named reference "DailyFreeman-rally" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
8. "Media do not agree about Hal Turner's Kingston Rally". national-socialism.us. 2005-11-20. Retrieved 2007-01-01. (Warning: this site might be illegal to view in Germany and other countries)
10. UPI Wire Hate Talker's Assault Trial Delayed The Post Chronicle May 19, 2006
11. Jim Hague No charges in case of ex-councilman v. white supremacist Hudson Reporter/NorthBergenReporter.com July 16, 2006
12. http://www.newhouse.com/n.j.-supreme-court-justices-under-guard-after-threat-3.html N.J. Supreme Court Justices Under Guard After Threat
13. ^ 'Assassination' schedule announced for Congress: Radio-show host says leaders won't be allowed to 'betray' nation World News Daily, December 6, 2006
14. Official show blog
15. Dallas Morning News. Hate-talk radio host down in mouth. February 6, 2007
16. Hal Turner's blog

External links

• Hal Turner's Official Web site
• The Hal Turner Show on Blogspot
• Turner Radio Network (Verizon and AT&T customers are blocked as of January 04, 2007)
• The Nation magazine article about Turner's alliance with Sean Hannity and his self-proclaimed recovery from homosexuality
• Article at MSNBC detailing Turner's stormy relationship with other white supremacists in the wake of the Lefkow killings
• One People's Project, Organized opposition to Hal Turner.
• Jersey Journal article about Vazquez & Turner
• Hudson County Hate Monger Hal Turner Faces Purple Heart Veteran Jaime Vazquez in Court
• Hal Turner, "OFFICIAL RECORDS FROM INTERNATIONAL RED CROSS PROVE "HOLOCAUST" WAS A FRAUD!", Hal Turner website, June 4, 2007

• American radio personalities
• American talk radio programs
• 1962 births
• Living people
• People from New Jersey
• American neo-Nazis
• Racism