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Hal Turner
BornHarold Charles Turner
(1962-03-15) March 15, 1962 (age 62)
Jersey City, New Jersey
OccupationRadio host
Websitehttp://halturnershow.com/

Harold Charles "Hal" Turner (born March 15, 1962) is an American white nationalist, white supremacist and Holocaust denier from North Bergen, New Jersey. In August 2010, he was convicted for making threats against three federal judges with the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Prior to Turner's arrest, his program, The Hal Turner Show, was a webcast from his home once a week.

Early life

Turner was born in Jersey City and raised in Ridgefield Park. He served for ten months in the United States Marine Corps and received an honorable discharge. Prior to working in radio, Turner worked as a driver and a salesman.

Early career

Identifying himself as "Hal from North Bergen", Turner became notable in American conservative circles as a frequent caller to and supporter of WABC radio talk show hosts Bob Grant and Sean Hannity. Turner parlayed this fame into a role as the northern New Jersey coordinator for Patrick J. Buchanan's 1992 presidential campaign. He went on to serve as campaign manager for Libertarian Party candidate Murray Sabrin in New Jersey in the 1990s, including a 1997 gubernatorial campaign.

Turner claims he established a friendship with Sean Hannity, on whose program he was a frequent presence. However, when confronted by the New Black Panther Party's Malik Zulu Shabazz in 2008 about his association with Turner (in light of Hannity's scrutiny of Barack Obama's association with Jeremiah Wright), Hannity at first denied knowing Turner, then said he had banned Turner from his radio program. Turner subsequently posted this response on his website: "I was quite disappointed when Sean Hannity at first tried to say he didn't know me. In fact, Sean does know me and we were quite friendly a few years ago."

Turner became a talk radio host, joining fellow regular callers Frank from Queens and John from Staten Island to start the program The Right Perspective. Turner left the program in 2002, citing artistic differences. In 2002, Turner became a solo host, purchasing a time slot on shortwave radio station WBCQ, over which he broadcast for approximately four years. On WBCQ on March 22, 2004 he left the show "after harshly criticizing his supporters, listeners, and WBCQ." The show lacked financial support the owner of the station Allan Weiner was Jewish, and Turner had health problems. This led to the temporary closure of his website and show.

Activism and assault claims

In the 2000 US congress election, Turner sought, but did not receive, the Republican Party nomination for election to the United States Congress from New Jersey's 13th congressional district, losing to Theresa de Leon. Turner has identified himself as the "Chairman of the Republican Party of Hudson County, NJ Corp," a group which has no connection to the official Hudson County Republican Party recognized by the state and national party. According to news reports, Hudson County Republican officials have stated that Turner's party is a "paper corporation with little or no membership".

In response to an October 7, 2005, assault against a white student by a black student at Kingston High School, Turner, working with the white nationalist group National Vanguard, organized a rally which he called a "rally against violence". The case resulted in the perpetrator being indicted as an adult with two felony counts: assault and attempted assault. He characterized the rally both as "pro-white" and "against violence". The victim's mother chose not to attend the rally. In response, local residents, including political and religious leaders, organized a number of "Unity Rallies" with a tolerance theme. When the rally occurred on November 19, 2005, Turner and the National Vanguard attracted approximately 50 demonstrators, compared to the 100 counter-demonstrators.

On April 12, 2006, Turner had a physical altercation with Jaime Vazquez, a former Jersey City Deputy Mayor and a member of the Jersey City Council, who was the Jersey City Commissioner of Veterans Affairs at the time. 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." Vazquez suffered a back injury and a fractured wrist. Turner and Vazquez later filed criminal charges against each other. On July 16, 2006 North Bergen Municipal Court Judge Joseph Romano found both men to be equally credible and thus neither criminally liable.

Broadcasting and website issues

In 2002, Turner started broadcasting, but quit the show in July 2008 and resumed in April 2009 as Turner Radio Network. In August 2008 his website also closed down, though he retained a blog, it was shut down by his host, Google's Blogger, for violations of terms of service.

Origin of China Eminent Domain Hoax

In February 2009, Turner posted an article to his blog entitled: "FEDS GRANT EMINENT DOMAIN AS COLLATERAL TO CHINA FOR U.S. DEBTS!" claiming that a secret agreement had been made to allow China to physically take U.S. land, in the event of a U.S. default. The story then went viral and was posted across the internet, including most conspiracy and extremist right-wing sites and forums.

Anonymous website raid

Turner claimed that in December 2006 and January 2007 individuals who identified themselves as Anonymous took Turner's website offline, costing him thousands of dollars in bandwidth bills. As a result, Turner sued 4chan, eBaum's World, 7chan, and other websites for copyright infringement. He lost his plea for an injunction, however, and failed to receive letters from the court, which caused the lawsuit to lapse.

FBI Informant

Turner was a paid FBI informant for several years, supplying information about right-wing groups to federal agents. The original allegations that Turner acted as an informant for the FBI surfaced in 2008 after unidentified hackers claimed on Turner's website's forums that they had read email correspondence between him and an FBI agent, apparently his handler. This led to a discussion on a neo-Nazi website on January 10, 2008, in which Turner revealed he was quitting political work, was ending his radio show and that he was separating "from the 'pro-White' movement". The FBI has declined to comment on the matter. The Southern Poverty Law Center and the Anti-Defamation League reported on the emails that "a neo-Nazi Website had posted material reportedly found by the hackers, including alleged exchanges between himself and law enforcement agents which indicated that Turner had been providing information to them."

On July 28, 2009 in a Chicago courtroom, Turner's defense lawyer said that Turner worked as a paid informant for the FBI. In December 2009, The Record published an investigative report on Turner's "complex" relationship with the FBI and Federal Marshalls, noting that all parties broke off contact at several points.

Threats against judges and political figures

Turner has a history of making threats against various public figures. In 2005, Turner publicized the names of three federal court judges who handled lawsuits involving Matt Hale, a white supremacist convicted of soliciting the murder of a federal judge. Turner posted the judges' names and addresses on his Web site.

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."

Since the announcement was made, Turner has had difficulties finding a host for his website. He alleged that his website has been the target of denial of service attacks, and subsequently filed a pro se lawsuit.

On April 4, 2008, Turner encouraged violence against Lexington, Massachusetts school superintendent Paul Ash for establishing a new curriculum supporting gays and lesbians. On his website, he stated:

"I advocate parents using FORCE AND VIOLENCE against Superintendent Paul B. Ash as a method of defending the health and safety of school children presently being endangered through his politically-correct indoctrination into deadly, disease-ridden sodomite lifestyles."

He went on to provide Ash's personal information, including his address. Fourteen months later, on June 2, 2009, Turner posted on his blog

"Let me be the first to say this plainly: These judges deserve to be killed. Their blood will replenish the tree of liberty. A small price to pay to assure freedom for millions."

The next day Turner posted information on how to find Chief Judge Frank Easterbrook and Judges Richard Posner and William Joseph Bauer.

Arrest, trials and conviction

On June 3, 2009, Turner was arrested and charged with inciting injury to two politicians in Connecticut and a state ethics official. The warrant issued was for inciting his website's readers to "take up arms" against the officials. He was arrested in New Jersey. Turner was subsequently re-arrested on June 24, 2009 at his New Jersey home for making threats against the judges of the United States Court of Appeals in Chicago. FBI officials seized 200 rounds of ammunition as well as three handguns and one shotgun. Turner was denied bail.

On June 30, 2009, the website for Turner's blog was shut down and replaced with a notice stating that the site has been taken down by Turner's family, directing interested parties to a blog for the Family of Hal Turner, with entries by his mother.

In July the Connecticut case was handed to a division of the state court that handles more serious matters. On July 28 in the Chicago case, Turner pleaded not guilty to threatening to kill three federal appellate judges there and then sought his release from custody, saying he had been an informant for the FBI. The judge gave Turner 10 days "to produce concrete evidence of Turner's help to the FBI or federal marshals." On August 11, Turner was denied bail again. The judge cited the fact that Turner, from his prison cell, recorded and posted on the internet a telephone conversation that included the names of his arresting FBI agents. The judge said that Turner's act "tells me something about the disposition of Mr. Turner."

He pleaded not guilty, and his lawyer said the defense will use "Turner's background as an FBI informant" and argue that he was "trained by the FBI" as "an agent provocateur" to incite people." In late October Turner was freed on $500,000 bond, and was ordered not to use a computer or any device that can access the Internet. His trial started on November 30, 2009 and ended on December 4, 2009, with the defense opting not to call any witnesses. After two hours of deliberation, the jury announced it was deadlocked. Three days later the judge declared a mistrial, and a retrial was set for March 1, 2010. This second trial, overseen by Western District of Louisiana judge Donald Walter, was moved from the Northern District of Illinois to the Eastern District of New York: since the prosecution was to call the three judges to the stand, the defense felt that Turner would not get a fair hearing if the trial was conducted in the same city where the judges worked. A mistrial was declared on March 10.

In August 2010, his third trial began and on August 31, after three days of testimony the jury found Turner guilty. On 21 December 2010, he was sentenced to 33 months in prison. Upon completion of his sentence, he will be barred from participating in Internet or satellite radio programming for three years. In his sentencing memorandum, U.S. Attorney Patrick J. Fitzgerald made the following comment:

"For years, Turner has engaged in a campaign of intimidation against public officials and private citizens alike. Even Turner’s arrest in this case failed to deter him. Turner continued his tactics by using intimidation against a key witness in the government’s case against him. All the while, Turner has displayed defiance and no regret for his actions. Turner remains utterly incapable of acknowledging the genuine fear experienced by his innumerable victims – that is, except when he is the victim of a perceived threat. Turner has committed a serious crime, engaged in witness intimidation, lied repeatedly under oath, and has shown no regret whatsoever."

Footnotes

  1. "Official records from international Red Cross prove "holocaust" was fraud". www.halturnershow.com. 4 June 2007. Archived from the original on 2007-06-07. Retrieved 2009-07-15.
  2. 40 to Watch: Leaders of the Radical Right - Harold C. Turner
  3. ^ Max Blumenthal (2005-06-03). "Hannity's Soul-Mate of Hate". The Nation.
  4. "F.E.C. IMAGE 20020212929 (Page 13 of 25)". Retrieved 2007-01-01.
  5. Jason Linkins (2008-03-23). "Sean Hannity Confronted Over His Relationship With Neo-Nazi Hal Turner". The Huffington Post.
  6. Max Blumenthal (2005-06-03). "Hannity's Soul-Mate of Hate (page 2)". The Nation.
  7. "Annotated WBCQ Program Guide". WBCQ. 2004. Retrieved 2009-07-15.
  8. Stopped broadcasting on March 22, 2004 from WBCQ
  9. Turner was in the hospital a number of times in 2003 and 2004 http://www.frn.net/vines/Forum1/HTML/000877.html
  10. "Congressional Races". Center for Responsive Politics. Retrieved 2007-01-01.
  11. http://www.state.nj.us/lps/elections/elec2000/results/2000g_c_candidate_tally.html
  12. GET NJ - Hudson County Hate Monger Hal Turner Faces Purple Heart Veteran Jaime Vazquez in Court
  13. Woodstock Times: "Turning our backs in unity Kingston falls into line behind mayor's call to SPURN white supremacist rally"
  14. Fairchild, Mary (December 14, 2005). "KHS teen indicted for assault, not hate crime". Daily Freeman. Retrieved 2009-07-15.
  15. Kirby, Paul (2005). "Supremacist vows KHS rally". Daily Freeman. Retrieved 2009-07-15.
  16. ^ "Supremacist vows KHS rally". Daily Freeman. 2005. Retrieved 2009-07-15.
  17. Smart, Paul (2005-11-18). "Turning our backs in unity Kingston falls into line behind mayor's call to SPURN white supremacist rally". Woodstock Times. Archived from the original on 2006-05-23. Retrieved 2009-07-15.
  18. "Hal Turner, White Supremacists Exploit Tensions in Kingston, NY". Anti-Defamation League. 2005. Retrieved 2009-07-15.
  19. The Hudson Reporter - No charges in case of ex-councilman v. white supremacistNorth Bergen judge rules Turner, Vazquez not guilty
  20. Hague, Jim (July 16, 2006). "No charges in case of ex-councilman v. white supremacist". Hudson Reporter. Retrieved 2009-07-15.
  21. "Hal Turner Show". Retrieved 2009-12-24.
  22. "Harold C. "Hal" Turner v. 4chan.org". Justia. Retrieved 2007-07-27.
  23. "North Bergen blogger accused of threatening federal judges is held without bail". The Star-Ledger. August 10, 2009. Retrieved 2009-07-15.
  24. ^ Potok, Mark. "FBI's Use of Neo-Nazi Informant Knocked". Intelligence Report. Southern Poverty Law Center. Retrieved 2009-08-26.
  25. Mock, Brentin. "Virginia Developer is USA's Loudest Neo-Nazi". Intelligence Report. Southern Poverty Law Center. Retrieved 2008-03-26. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  26. "Hal Turner Claims to Leave Movement After Accusations of Being an Informant". Anti-Defamation League. 2008-01-18. Retrieved 2008-03-26.
  27. "Radio host denies threatening federal judges". Chicago Breaking News Center. July 28, 2009. Retrieved 2009-07-28.
  28. "Records show feds used ultra-right radio host for years". The Record. November 29, 2009. Retrieved 2009-12-15.
  29. "Hal Turner and His Supporters Threaten Officials and Other Targets of Their Hate". Anti-Defamation League. October 3, 2005. Retrieved 2009-07-15.
  30. ^ "White Supremacist Radio Host Urges Bombings, Assassinations". Anti-Defamation League. 2005-08-22. Retrieved 2008-02-16.
  31. Haunted by Threats, U.S. Judge Finds New Horror New York Times March 2, 2005
  32. 'Assassination' schedule announced for Congress: Radio-show host says leaders won't be allowed to 'betray' nation WorldNetDaily, December 6, 2006
  33. Official show blog
  34. Dallas Morning News. Hate-talk radio host down in mouth. February 6, 2007
  35. Hal Turner's blog (defunct as of 11-07-07)
  36. ^ Lexington superintendent threatened by radio host - Framingham, MA - The MetroWest Daily News
  37. "Blogger Threatened to Murder Judges, Feds Say". Wired. June 24, 2009. Retrieved 2009-07-15.
  38. Altimari, Daniela (2009-06-04). "Radio Host Hal Turner Charged With Inciting Injury To Two Connecticut Lawmakers". Hartford Courant. Retrieved 2009-06-04.
  39. "Police: N.J. blogger called for attack on police". Associated Press. 2009-06-03. Retrieved 2009-06-04.
  40. Dixon, Ken (2009-06-04). "N.J. man charged in threats against legislators". Connecticut Post. Retrieved 2009-06-04.
  41. "Blogger arrested in threats on federal judges". Chicago Tribune. June 24, 2009. Retrieved 2009-07-15.
  42. "200 rounds of ammo, hollow-point bullets seized from hate blogger Turner's home". The Jersey Journal. June 25, 2009. Retrieved 2009-07-15.
  43. "Turner denied bail and judge says: Next stop, Chicago". The Jersey Journal. Jul 1, 2009. Retrieved 2009-07-15.
  44. "Family of Hal Turner". blogspot. July 2009. Retrieved 2009-07-15.
  45. "NJ blogger's violence case in Conn. continued". Philadelphia Inquirer. July 14, 2009. Retrieved 2009-07-15.
  46. ^ "Lawyer: Man accused of judge threat was FBI source". Associated Press. July 28, 2009. Retrieved 2009-07-28.
  47. "Man accused of threatening judges was a paid informant for the FBI". Chicago Sun Times. August 11, 2009. Retrieved 2009-07-15.
  48. "Blogger arrested in threats on federal judges". Hartford Courant. August 18, 2009. Retrieved 2009-09-18.
  49. Kathleen Bergin (2009-11-24). "Upcoming trials test the boundary between 'true threats' and hyperbolic on-line speech". Archived from the original on 2009-12-05. Retrieved 2009-12-02.
  50. "Hate blogger Hal Turner is free on $500G bond but cannot access the internet". Jersey Journal. October 23, 2009. Retrieved 2009-11-18.
  51. "Both sides rest in trial of North Jersey shock jock". The Record. Dec 3, 2009. Retrieved 2009-12-15.
  52. "Jury deadlocked in case of North Bergen shock jock Hal Turner". The Record. Dec 4, 2009. Retrieved 2009-12-15.
  53. "Mistrial in Case of Hate Blogger Charged With Judge Threats". Wired. Dec 7, 2009. Retrieved 2009-12-15.
  54. Marek, Lynne (February 25, 2010). "7th Circuit judges may testify in retrial over Web threats". National Law Journal. Retrieved 26 February 2010.
  55. Sulzberger, A. G. (2010-03-10). "Internet Radio Host's Case Ends in Mistrial". The New York Times. Retrieved 2010-05-04.
  56. "Jury finds shock jock Hal Turner guilty of threatening judges". CNN. Aug 13, 2010.
  57. ^ "Local shock jock sentenced to almost three years in prison", Year in Review: The Hudson Reporter, December 26, 2010, page 13
  58. "Shock jock Hal Turner gets 33-month prison sentence". NorthJersey.com. Dec 21, 2010.
  59. "Government's Sentencing Memorandum: United States of America vs Harold Turner, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York, No. 09 CR 650" (PDF).

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