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American Morning
White Supremacist Matt Hale Behind Bars
Aired January 09, 2003 - 07:47 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.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: A disturbing story today out of Chicago, a white supremacist leader under arrest there. Federal prosecutors say that Matt Hale tried to arrange the murder of a judge.
Jeff Flock now tracks this story for us in Chicago.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Rahoa (ph)!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Rahoa (ph)!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Rahoa (ph)!
JEFF FLOCK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Rahoa (ph), it means racial holy war. Supporters of Matt Hale defiant, after he walked into federal court in Chicago.
MATT HALE, WORLD CHURCH OF THE CREATOR: And this is not Red China or the Soviet Union.
FLOCK: Hale railing against Judge Joan Lefkow, who ruled that Hale's white racist World Church of the Creator, based here in his brother's old bedroom in East Peoria, Illinois, had to change its name, because another church trademarked it. Lefkow ordered the church's Web site altered, and the group's precious white man's bibles either destroyed or edited to remove the words, "World Church of the Creator."
HALE: No court has the power or the right to order the burning of bibles.
FLOCK: Hale sued the judge and attacked her on his Web site. But, was there more?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're not going to comment on how we found out.
FLOCK: U.S. Attorney Pat Fitzgerald (ph) says Hale solicited someone -- he won't say who -- to kill Lefkow.
(on camera): Blacks, Jews, hate them?
HALE: Yes, we hate them.
FLOCK (voice-over): With venom on his tongue, Hitler stickers on his wall and an Israeli flag on his floor, Hale has been running the World Church of the Creator since 1995. His critics say this is not the first time he has incited others to violence.
RICHARD HIRSCHHAUT, ANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE: We've believed for more than four years now, since the tragic July 4 shooting rampage of his follower, Benjamin Smith, that Matthew Hale has had blood on his hands.
FLOCK: In 1999, Hale follower Ben Smith went on a murderous Midwest rampage against blacks, Jews and Asians, killing two, wounding nine. We saw in his front yard and talked then about the line between racist anger and violence.
(on camera): So, where is the line in terms of resorting to violence? Is there a line somewhere?
HALE: The line is, it has to rest with each individual person.
FLOCK (voice-over): This time, the government says it has proof Matt Hale crossed the line.
I'm Jeff Flock, CNN, in Chicago.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
Aired January 9, 2003 - 07:47 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: A disturbing story today out of Chicago, a white supremacist leader under arrest there. Federal prosecutors say that Matt Hale tried to arrange the murder of a judge.
Jeff Flock now tracks this story for us in Chicago.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Rahoa (ph)!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Rahoa (ph)!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Rahoa (ph)!
JEFF FLOCK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Rahoa (ph), it means racial holy war. Supporters of Matt Hale defiant, after he walked into federal court in Chicago.
MATT HALE, WORLD CHURCH OF THE CREATOR: And this is not Red China or the Soviet Union.
FLOCK: Hale railing against Judge Joan Lefkow, who ruled that Hale's white racist World Church of the Creator, based here in his brother's old bedroom in East Peoria, Illinois, had to change its name, because another church trademarked it. Lefkow ordered the church's Web site altered, and the group's precious white man's bibles either destroyed or edited to remove the words, "World Church of the Creator."
HALE: No court has the power or the right to order the burning of bibles.
FLOCK: Hale sued the judge and attacked her on his Web site. But, was there more?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're not going to comment on how we found out.
FLOCK: U.S. Attorney Pat Fitzgerald (ph) says Hale solicited someone -- he won't say who -- to kill Lefkow.
(on camera): Blacks, Jews, hate them?
HALE: Yes, we hate them.
FLOCK (voice-over): With venom on his tongue, Hitler stickers on his wall and an Israeli flag on his floor, Hale has been running the World Church of the Creator since 1995. His critics say this is not the first time he has incited others to violence.
RICHARD HIRSCHHAUT, ANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE: We've believed for more than four years now, since the tragic July 4 shooting rampage of his follower, Benjamin Smith, that Matthew Hale has had blood on his hands.
FLOCK: In 1999, Hale follower Ben Smith went on a murderous Midwest rampage against blacks, Jews and Asians, killing two, wounding nine. We saw in his front yard and talked then about the line between racist anger and violence.
(on camera): So, where is the line in terms of resorting to violence? Is there a line somewhere?
HALE: The line is, it has to rest with each individual person.
FLOCK (voice-over): This time, the government says it has proof Matt Hale crossed the line.
I'm Jeff Flock, CNN, in Chicago.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
