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CNN Live Today

Interview With Devin Burghart

Aired May 08, 2002 - 14:43   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: More now on the mailbox pipe bomb case and a troubling question. Why would a young man like Luke Helder, well-educated and seemingly headed for a bright future, instead choose to spread his message through what federal authorities call domestic terrorism? That's what the FBI suspects Helder of doing.

Our guest is Devin Burghart, director at the Center for New Community, near Chicago. His association tracks hate groups, especially those that target young people. Devin, good to see you.

DEVIN BURGHART, CENTER FOR NEW COMMUNITY: Thank you for having me.

PHILLIPS: I know you read this letter. Let's talk about it, the one that he sent the college newspaper. What did your group analyze from this?

BURGHART: Well, what we were able to determine from this letter is that we have, in this instance, a very confused young man. And unlike a lot of the more spectacular acts of domestic terrorism we've had over the years, with Ted Kaczynski and Timothy McVeigh and even the Benjamin Smith shootings, in this case there appears to be no clearly discernible political motive or ideology for the acts.

PHILLIPS: So, is this really someone that could cause a lot of harm in a massive way, or is this a rebellious kid looking for some adventure?

BURGHART: Well, I think it's somewhere in between there. What you have here is someone who wanted to use violence as an attention- getting measure to promote his ideas. What's most disturbing about that is, rather than relying on traditional means to express himself, his first act, rather than his last act, to gain public exposure and attention, was to use acts of terror like this to garner publicity.

PHILLIPS: Is this anti-government sentiment, is this on the rise among young kids? Obviously we've seen a lot of horrible cases in the past couple years. This is just another one to add to the list.

BURGHART: There is in fact a disturbing increase amongst young people, acts of terror like this. And in fact, there's an entire movement out there dedicated to promoting and attracting young people and providing them with the ideological ammunition to carry out these kinds of horrific acts. PHILLIPS: What about hate rock? We talked about this band that he was in, Apathy. He wrote a lot of lyrics for his songs. Matter of fact, in his letters there's a comparison made between the lyrics of the songs, the words in these letters. Let's talk about the influence of hate rock for a moment. Is this something that we really should address in a very serious manner, or is this less serious than we've talked about?

BURGHART: We at the center take hate rock very seriously, both as supporters of music and art, but also as people concerned about hatred and bigotry in local communities. We've seen a massive rise in the number of young people attracted into the white supremacist movement through the use of music.

In fact, in the United States today there are more than 50 labels and distributors promoting hatred and bigotry -- the kind of hatred and bigotry that would make mainstream acts like Eminem and Marilyn Manson look like choir boys. In this instance it appears as those Apathy wasn't one of those bands.

It wasn't one of the bands which we currently track at turnitdown.com. But it shows us that individuals can easily use music as a means to express themselves, sometimes for good. And in some cases, as with those hate rock bands, to promote hatred and bigotry.

PHILLIPS: But this would be the beginning. When you find that your child's in a band like this or writing music like this, this is something you don't want to just ignore. You have to take this more seriously than if your child was writing Christian songs.

BURGHART: We think it's essential that parents, that teachers, that people in the recording industry and most importantly young people understand what's being promoted by lyrics and by bands, and that they take a stand to speak out, stand up and turn down the sounds of hate.

PHILLIPS: So how can we reach out to young people, to our kids, to express rage before it turns into violence and hate like this?

BURGHART: Well, the most important step in bridging -- in working to stop that -- the bridging of the gap between healthy youth rebellion and hard core white supremacy and hatred is, first of all, talking with children, helping them understand the lyrical content. And so also parents know what their kids are listening to.

But even more importantly, it's encouraging youth to take a stand against hate, to develop peer-based initiatives to work to effectively counter bigotry and hatred in whatever form it manifests itself. That I think is the key.

PHILLIPS: Devin Burghart, Center for New Community. Check out the Web site, turnitdown.com. We appreciate you coming on, Devin. Thank you.

BURGHART: Thank you.

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