The Associated Press story on the New Jersey guy who advocating killing federal judges reveals that the bloodthirsty blogger was apparently a paid FBI informant.
A right-wing New Jersey blogger charged with threatening federal judges told a
jury Thursday that his racist Internet rants were an FBI-sanctioned ruse to “flush out” dangerous neo-Nazi and white supremacist members of his audience.
“I’m not a white supremacist,” Hal Turner testified at a retrial in Brooklyn. “Never have been.”
Turner, 47, of North Bergen, N.J., has used his testimony to detail his career as a paid informant for an FBI agent investigating extremists. Prosecutors haven’t disputed he was an informant, but say he acted on his own last year when he wrote that three federal judges in Chicago “deserve to be killed” for a decision on gun control and posted their photos and the courthouse.
Asked on cross-examination Thursday about another blog posting that lauded the 2005 slaying of the mother and husband of another federal judge in Chicago, Turner insisted that the FBI had encouraged him to do it to help identify the killer.
The missive was meant to “improve my anti-government image with the people we were trying to flush out,” he said.
I have not followed this trial, but it would be great if Turner’s lawyers could compel the FBI to open their files and reveal the feds’ ties with this guy.
This is reminiscent of the 1960s, when undercover federal agents dressed as protestors would destroy property or commit violent acts during antiwar demonstrations.
I don’t think there has been much reporting on Turner’s trial. The initial stories that came out when he was indicted fascinated me and I am glad to see more about the case. The First Amendment Center has been following this story and only has posted three AP articles, so far.
http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/news.aspx?id=22678
This story begs the question – how many Hal Turners are there working for the government? Is this supposed to be COINTELPRO 2.0?
And while the government claims to be concerned about domestic terrorism (or perhaps the lack thereof), why do they feel the need to provoke people to act out? Do they believe everyone incited to violence by Mr. Turner would contact Turner and clue him in?
I contacted the FBI and asked if they would subsidize my blog if I told a lot of West Virginia jokes, but they said that didn’t qualify as hate speech.
Or maybe the agents running the Blogger Subsidies Program have strong personal convictions regarding wool and personally opposed any use of taxpayer dollars that would malign sheep.
Well, it’s no secret that a lot of folks in DC have a thing for sheep. In fact, I think I once read something about J. Edgar Hoover dressing in sheep’s clothing, or something like that.
I saw just this about Turner over at Raw Story:
“A judge in December declared proceedings against Turner a mistrial after the jury became deadlocked on an argument of whether hate speech is protected under the First Amendment. The trial was postponed and moved to Brooklyn, where it resumed on March 1.”
I didn’t know that. He probably should beat the charges that seem to be based on making 3 judges “feel” threatened. Hell, the government makes me “feel” threatened, among other things. Turner is only guilty of being a scumbag. Recently, Max Boot (also a scumbag) wrote an article designed to incite Obama to bomb Iran, killing a lot of people. Why hasn’t he been arrested? The only difference is that Boot probably works for the CIA rather than the FBI. I suspect he also likes to roll in the hay with lambs.
I wonder if Turner’s lawyer(s) have a stash of information they could put on the table regarding his FBI ties. That could be great reading.
As far as “feeling threatened” – people who wear bat suits do seem to get special treatment….
Dunno about Boot’s ties to the CIA, but I think he’s a senior something-or-other at the Council for Foreign Relations.
*** I’m not aware of anyone in Congress showing the least curiosity about the alleged FBI bankrolling of bloggers to incite violence. Maybe some congressman is starting to pry into this, but I’d be surprised.
Checks-and-balances my ***.
This one ranks up with the paid Muslim Agitator who drove around from Mosque to Mosque in an expensive car, attempting to seduce folks into terrorist plots , thus bagging those hapless fellows
in Newburgh, N.Y. . Apparently the fellow acted like a rich uncle on the G-Mens dime. When the arrests are made, its always a big media event.
Uh oh, another mistrial for Turner
http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/news.aspx?id=22699
Tom – thanks for the update. But this isn’t a “mistrial” – the government lost. The government had the burden to prove the dude guilty, and the government failed.
Why in Hades can the government get a “do-over” – to try different arguments to sway a different group of Jerseyites who failed to dodge jury duty?
This is the govenrment’s idea of a level playing field….