UKIAH CA ROBBERY OF ARMED TRUCK TO RAISE FUNDS FOR WHITE SUPREMACIST CAUSES 3.6 million gotten and donated to white hate groups
Perpetrated by grp called "the order" assassinated Alan Berg 1984 Denver radio host and a jew https://www.denverpost.com/2009/06/17/the-murder-of-alan-berg-in-denver-25-years-later/
The murder of Alan Berg in Denver: 25 years later – The Denver Post
https://www.denverpost.com/2009/.../the-murder-of-alan-berg-in-denver-25-years-lat...
Jun 17, 2009 - Even after a quarter century, the violent murder of Denver talk-radio icon Alan Berg at the hands of a white supremacist group reverberates amid fresh reminders of hate crimes. ... Berg, 50, was killed by automatic- weapon fire in 1984 as he returned home from dinner with his ex-wife, Judith Lee Berg.
Even after a quarter century, the violent murder of Denver talk-radio icon Alan Berg at the hands of a white supremacist group reverberates amid fresh reminders of hate crimes.
It has been 25 years since Berg was gunned down in the driveway of his Congress Park condominium, and the commemoration comes just days after a white supremacist allegedly opened fire at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., killing a security guard.
Berg, who was Jewish, gained a strong following in the early 1980s through talk radio, where his liberal views mixed with a combative and often-abrasive on-air persona. In the process, he ignited the anger of The Order, a splinter group of the Aryan Nation white nationalist movement that financed its anti-government goals with bank robberies in the Pacific Northwest — before turning to murder.
Berg’s slaying marked an early signpost on the road that led to the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, said Mark Potok, director of the Intelligence Project at the Southern Poverty Law Center in Montgomery, Ala.
“In a sense, it was one of the opening shots of a truly revolutionary radical right,” he said, “perfectly willing to countenance the mass murder of American civilians for their cause.”
A revolutionary mindset
Groups such as The Order moved the far-right away from its roots as a restorationist movement and into a violent, revolutionary mindset, Potok said. Berg appeared on a hit list that included TV producer Norman Lear; a federal judge from Kansas; and Morris Dees, one of the founders of the Southern Poverty Law Center.
Anath White, now a writer and movie producer in Los Angeles, was the last producer to work with Berg. She recalls the shows shortly before he was killed when he confronted members of the Christian Identity movement, who believed Jews were descended from Satan.
Berg challenged the members. The exchange was rancorous.
“That got him on the list and got him moved up the list to be assassinated,” White said.
But she is certain that even if Berg had known how dangerous the Christian Identity people and their supporters were, he would not have canceled or changed his tack for those shows.
“He was a person who took risks for his beliefs,” she said.
Berg, educated as a lawyer, had spoken before on the danger of his celebrity. “Hopefully, my legal training will prevent me from saying the one thing that will kill me,” he said. “I’ve come awfully close.”
Berg, 50, was killed by automatic- weapon fire in 1984 as he returned home from dinner with his ex-wife, Judith Lee Berg. Eventually, four members of The Order were indicted in the slaying, but only two were convicted — alleged triggerman Bruce Pierce and alleged getaway driver David Lane.
Lane died in prison in 2007. Pierce continues to serve his 252-year sentence at a federal prison in Pennsylvania and remains active in the movement through correspondence, which he signs, “I Serve God, Race & Truth.”
No one was ever convicted of murder in Berg’s killing. But investigators quickly zeroed in on who pumped 13 bullets into his body, and why.
The Order, formed by nine men who met in a Washington-state farmhouse in 1983, was dedicated to separation of the races and the annihilation of Jews. They targeted Berg not only because he was Jewish, but also because he ridiculed them and their leaders on the air, prosecutors contended.
Berg billed himself as “the man you love to hate.” But in 1994, Judith Berg told The Denver Post that the private man wasn’t much like the raging, controversial personality he presented on the air.
“He wanted people to look at themselves and to be conscious of their thoughts — to take responsibility for their attitudes and decisions,” she said. “The angry image was largely shtick.”
Norm Early, who was Denver’s district attorney then, declined to prosecute on murder charges, saying the evidence wouldn’t stand up in court.
Violating his civil rights
Federal authorities tried four suspects in 1987, and the two found guilty were convicted of violating Berg’s civil rights. Lane, then 49, was sentenced to 150 years. Pierce, then 33, got the same, in addition to sentences on other charges stemming from the robberies in the Northwest.
Richard Scutari was accused of acting as a lookout for Pierce. Though acquitted of that charge, he was sentenced to 60 years on federal racketeering charges for other Order-related crimes. Scutari was denied parole in 2000 and can’t apply again until 2016.
Jean Craig was accused of collecting information on Berg to assist in the plot. She, too, was acquitted in the civil rights case but convicted for other crimes.
Bob Mathews, a co-founder of The Order, was believed to be another lookout. But before he could be prosecuted, Mathews died in a blaze that resulted from a gun battle with FBI agents in Washington state.
White, Berg’s last producer, testified at two trials and still gets chills at the memory. But she felt that if anything good came from the tragedy, it was a wider awareness of the threat that loomed.
“Alan’s death blunted a lot of this activity at a crucial time,” White said. “I think something horrible like what just happened at the Holocaust museum proves that these folks don’t always go away. But I’d like to believe there are fewer of them out there now.”
Kevin Simpson, Jason Blevins and Karen Auge contributed to this report.
In Berg’s own words
After Alan Berg’s death, The Denver Post collected some of the quotes that made him “the man you love to hate.”
On newspaper reporters:
“You guys stink, just plain stink; you crawl, you’re the bottom of the barrel; I mean, you suck!”
On self-help books:
“Most people aren’t OK, so let’s quit prodding them. Let’s build huge wino farms and put all the winos on them and let them live out their lives in peace, until they drink themselves to death.”
On religion:
“Until I know better, I’m it. I’m God.”
To Morley Safer of “60 Minutes”:
“You’re even ruder (than I am). You go around sticking microphones in people’s faces and intimidating them and violating their rights, and when they try to explain to you, that part ends up on the cutting-room floor.”
On Denver:
“Compared to what goes on in Denver, I’m damned exciting. I’m not waving a big flag for myself, but Denver is not a very exciting community.”
On the danger of his job:
“Hopefully, my legal training will prevent me from saying the one thing that will kill me. I’ve come awfully close.”
The Order (white supremacist group)
 | |
| Motto | Thou art my battle axe and weapons of war: for with thee will I break in pieces the nations, and with thee will I destroy kingdoms; Jeremiah 51:20 |
|---|---|
| Formation | September 1983 |
| Extinction | December 1984 |
| Type | White supremacist, Christian Identity, neo-fascist, neo-Nazi, White separatist, White nationalism, domestic terrorist, revolutionary |
| Purpose | Paramilitary fomenting white nationalist revolt, against the "Zionist Occupation Government" and establishment of the Northwest Territorial Imperative |
| Location |
|
Key people
| Robert Jay Mathews (leader), David Lane |
The Order, also known as the Brüder Schweigen (German for Brothers Keep Silent) or Silent Brotherhood, was a white supremacist terrorist organization active in the United States between September 1983 and December 1984. The group raised funds via armed robbery. Ten members were tried and convicted for racketeering, and two for their role in the 1984 murder of radio talk show host Alan Berg.
History[edit]
The Order was founded by Robert Jay Mathews in late September 1983 at Mathews' farm near Metaline, Washington.[1] Mathews was baptized into the Mormon faith as a high schooler. He formed the "Sons of Liberty", an anti-communist militia mostly made up of Mormon survivalists that had no connection to the historical organization of the same name.
A fundamental goal of The Order was revolution against the American government, which its members, and those of other white supremacist groups, believed to be controlled by a cabal of prominent Jews. The Order was named after, and partly modeled on, a fictional terrorist group in William Luther Pierce's novel The Turner Diaries.[2] The Order's goals included the establishment of a homeland (now the Northwest Territorial Imperative) from which Jews and non-whites would be barred. They often referred to the United States federal government as ZOG, an acronym for Zionist Occupied Government. Members of the Order included Randy Evans, Gary Yarborough, Bruce Pierce, Denver Parmenter, Frank DeSilva (also known as Frank Silva), Richard Scutari, David Lane, Randy Duey, and David Tate.
The Order drew up a hit list of enemies, and on June 18, 1984 radio talk show host Alan Berg was murdered in front of his home by Bruce Pierce, assisted by other members of The Order.[3] Berg was number two on The Order's list.[4]
In December 1984, authorities were able to track Mathews down to a house on Whidbey Island where he refused to surrender.[2] During a shootout, the house was ignited by incendiary flares, became engulfed in flames and Mathews was killed.[2] Mathews is considered a martyr by some white nationalists.[5][6]
Funding[edit]
The next discussion to take place was funding for actions of The Order. Options included bidding on lumber-jacking and timber contracts, counterfeiting money, diaspora funding from overseas oil countries and robberies. Timber contracts would serve as legal funding, counterfeiting money would appeal to the ideals of the group, undermining the government. Counterfeit money would raise new, clean money for the organization while also devaluing US currency. Robbery was first denied as an option due to its sinful nature, until someone mentioned they could rob pimps and dope dealers, which would raise money for the organization as well as set back street criminals in their businesses.[7]
The organization won a bid on a timber trimming contract for a trail in the Salmo-Priest Wilderness. After five hours of blistering work, Matthews decided to call off the work and head home. Headed back to the trucks, David Lane muttered, "Well, we're going to have to be better thinkers than our fathers were, because we're sure not the men they were,"[7] while Matthews mentions that the pay off from the job "would not fund the right wing for a week anyway."[7] The Order decided to try their hand at robberies, attempting to target pimps and dope dealers. After weeks of trailing black men in flashy cars and realizing they had no idea what a pimp or dope dealer truly looked like, they decided to switch to other crimes for funding.
The Order raised money through violent crime. This began with the robbery of a sex shop, which netted them $369.10.[8] Their later attacks were more effective, including several lucrative bank robberies, as well as bombings of a theater and a synagogue. The Order ran a large[9] counterfeiting operation, and executed a series[citation needed] of armored car robberies, including one near Ukiah, California that netted $3.6 million.[10] Proceeds from these robberies were distributed to leaders of sympathetic organisations such as William Pierce (National Alliance) and Frazier Glenn Miller, Jr. (White Patriot Party).[11]
Convictions[edit]
Ten members of The Order were tried and convicted under Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) statutes with the help of the testimony of Frazier Glenn Miller, Jr., who testified against Order members in order to have his own sentence reduced. In a separate trial, three other members of The Order were tried and convicted of violating the civil rights of Alan Berg.[12] No one has been charged in the murder of Berg. David Lane, the getaway driver for Berg's assailants, was sentenced to 190 consecutive years on the charges of racketeering, conspiracy, and violating Berg's civil rights. He died in prison in 2007.[13] Order member Bruce Pierce was sentenced to 252 years in prison for his involvement in the Berg murder, and died of natural causes at the Allenwood Federal Correctional Complex on August 16, 2010 at the age of 56.[14]Like Mathews, Lane and Pierce are regarded by many white supremacists as heroes, political prisoners and martyrs. In another trial, 14 men were charged with sedition, conspiracy and civil rights violations.[13] Thirteen of them were acquitted, and the judge dismissed the charges against the fourteenth man for lack of evidence.[13] Over 75 men and women were tried and convicted of various charges connected to The Order.[clarification needed]
A 2011 NPR report claimed that some of the people associated with this group were imprisoned in a highly restrictive Communication Management Unit.[15] Richard Scutari, a member of the Order, was sentenced to a 60-year prison term in 1986,[16] and was removed to USP Marion CMU in July 2008.
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Further reading[edit]
- Dees, Morris. Gathering Storm: America's Militia Threat. Harper Perennial, 1997. ISBN 0-06-092789-5
- Flynn, Kevin; Gerhardt, Gary. The Silent Brotherhood. Signet, 1990. ISBN 978-0-451-16786-6.
- Söderman, Magnus; Holappa, Henrik. Unbroken Warrior: The Richard Scutari Letters. Nationellt Motstånd Förlag, 2011. ISBN 978-91-85737-04-8
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