2 FACE CHARGES OF RACIAL ATTACK; AFRICAN-AMERICAN STRUCK WITH HAMMER IN LANCASTER PARKING LOT.Byline: Karen Maeshiro Daily News Staff Writer In the third incident of its kind in two weeks, two white supremacist white supremacist n. One who believes that white people are racially superior to others and should therefore dominate society. white supremacy n. Noun 1. skinheads Noun 1. skinheads - a youth subculture that appeared first in England in the late 1960s as a working-class reaction to the hippies; hair was cropped close to the scalp; wore work-shirts and short jeans (supported by suspenders) and heavy red boots; involved in attacks were arrested in a hammer attack on an African-American Wal-Mart employee who struck up a conversation with the girlfriend of one of the men. The victim, 20-year-old Nathaniel Harris, was gathering shopping carts in the Lancaster Wal-Mart parking lot about 11:30 p.m. Tuesday when he approached a young white woman he thought was a former high school classmate. ``Mr. Harris thought he knew her. He was mistaken, and it went downhill from there,'' Detective Brian Schoonmaker said at a Lancaster sheriff's station press conference Wednesday, held to announce the arrests and release details of the crime. Harris suffered minor injuries and was treated and released from a hospital, deputies said. Arrested were Shaun Broderick, 19, of Newhall and Christopher Crawford, 25, of Lancaster, whom authorities described as members of a white supremacist prison gang called the Nazi Low Riders. The attack, coming eight days after a Palmdale meeting at which Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. County Sheriff Lee Baca Leroy David Baca (b. May 27 1942, East Los Angeles, California) is the Sheriff of Los Angeles County, California. After graduating from Benjamin Franklin High School (Los Angeles) in 1960, Baca worked his way through East Los Angeles College before starting with the L.A. and District Attorney Gil Garcetti Gilbert "Gil" Garcetti (b. August 5, 1941) served as Los Angeles County's 39th District Attorney for two terms, from 1992 until November 7, 2000. Background Gil Garcetti received a bachelor's degree in Management from the University of Southern California and a Juris pledged to vigorously investigate and prosecute hate crimes, drew immediate condemnation from community leaders. ``We have worked hard and made great strides in our battle against crimes of this nature for more than four years,'' Lancaster Mayor Frank Roberts Frank Roberts may refer to:
continue attacking others on the basis of race.'' The assault is the third such incident in the last two weeks. Last week, Ku Klux Klan Ku Klux Klan (k  ' klŭks klăn), designation mainly given to two distinct secret societies that played a part in American history, although other less important groups have also used fliers were found at Antelope Valley College Antelope Valley College is a comprehensive community college located in Lancaster, California, USA. It is operated by the Antelope Valley Community College District, with a primary service area of 1,945 square miles covering portions of Los Angeles and Kern counties. , and Sean Croley, 18, of Lancaster was charged with committing a hate crime after he spray-painted a swastika and ``WP'' - which stands for ``white power'' or ``white pride'' - on the trunk of an African-American man's car. Darren Parker, chairman of the Antelope Valley This article is about the Los Angeles County region. For the census-designated place in Wyoming, see Antelope Valley-Crestview, Wyoming. The Antelope Valley Human Relations human relations npl → relaciones fpl humanas Task Force, thinks the spate of hate incidents coming at the same time as the meeting with Garcetti and Baca was no coincidence. ``It's because we're touching a nerve,'' Parker said. ``I think they think the valley's becoming unified against this, and they're beginning to act out.'' Both Broderick and Crawford were arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon Assault with a Deadly Weapon is the term used to describe the act of threatening to harm one or more people by using a weapon (usually a firearm). Here, assault must be differentiated from battery as they are often confused. Assault is threatening to use force. and committing a hate crime. Broderick was also booked on drug charges after deputies found methamphetamine and remnants of a drug laboratory in a motel room on Sierra Highway Sierra Highway is a road in Southern California, United States. It runs from Tunnel Station near the north limit of the City of Los Angeles, where it intersects with San Fernando Road and Foothill Boulevard, as well as Interstate 5, and continues north to Mojave, mostly paralleling where he had been staying, deputies said. Broderick, who was being held in lieu of $500,000 bail, and Crawford, who was held on $150,000 bail, were scheduled to be arraigned Friday. 22-ounce hammer used Broderick has tattoos of a swastika and an iron cross on his chest. Crawford was convicted in 1993 of an assault charge in an Antelope Valley case, sentenced to two years, and released from parole about 1-1/2 years ago. Deputies said Broderick and Crawford became angered after seeing Harris talking to Noun 1. talking to - a lengthy rebuke; "a good lecture was my father's idea of discipline"; "the teacher gave him a talking to" lecture, speech rebuke, reprehension, reprimand, reproof, reproval - an act or expression of criticism and censure; "he had to Broderick's girlfriend. Broderick argued and scuffled with Harris, and then retrieved a 22-ounce framing hammer Framing hammers, used for framing wooden houses, are heavy duty rip hammers with a straight claw. The hammer heads typically weigh from 20 to 32 ounces (567 to 907 grams) for steel heads, and 12 to 16 ounces (340 to 454 grams) for titanium heads. from his car, yelled, ``We're going to kill you, n-----,'' and attacked Harris with the hammer, deputies said. ``Whether it was their own bias or the fact that the victim was talking to one man's girlfriend, the investigation will have to bear that out,'' said Capt. Tom Pigott, commander of the Lancaster sheriff's station. A Wal-Mart security guard intervened and pulled the suspects off the victim. The assailants ran to their car and tried to run over Harris, who jumped out of the way. The suspects then fled, leaving the hammer and Broderick's girlfriend behind. The security guard noted the license plate of the car, a 1987 Chevrolet Sprint The Chevrolet Sprint was a rebadged version of the Suzuki Cultus sold in the United States and Canada. From 1985 to 1988, the car was sold as the Suzuki Forsa and Pontiac Firefly in Canada. , which was broadcast to patrol deputies. Gang Enforcement Team deputies spotted the car a few miles away and detained the two men, whom Harris identified as his attackers, deputies said. White supremacist materials found Searches were made at Broderick's residence in Newhall, and the Lancaster homes of Crawford, in the 45000 block of Fig Avenue, and of Broderick's girlfriend, in the 44600 block of Division Street, where deputies said they found white supremacist materials. Deputies also searched Broderick's room at the Tropic Motel in the 43100 block of Sierra Highway, where they located the drug lab, deputies said. Deputies said they found a large amount of the cold medication Sudafed in the suspects' car, which came from the Wal-Mart store and is used to manufacture methamphetamine. Broderick's girlfriend, who also sports white supremacist tattoos, has cooperated with authorities as a witness, deputies said. Pigott estimated there are between 200 and 300 skinheads in the Antelope Valley, which includes active hard-core gang members and associates. About 40 to 45 are members of the Nazi Low Rider group, Schoonmaker said. ``We aggressively investigate and prosecute any hate crime,'' Pigott said. But he denied that the Antelope Valley was becoming a mecca for racists. He noted that the region's population has grown, attracting people seeking affordable housing and clean air. ``We are going to get a cross-section of people. With that comes these particular people who harbor their particular biases,'' Pigott said. Seven hate crimes this year Since January, seven hate-crime incidents have been reported in the Lancaster sheriff's station area, and charges have been filed in three, Pigott said. He said there were 20 incidents in 1998, and prosecutors filed charges in 12 of those cases. While Broderick is a recent transplant who belonged to white supremacist gangs in the San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. and Newhall, Crawford grew up in the Antelope Valley, Schoonmaker said. They are ``kids that for various reasons have adopted a white supremacist mentality,'' Schoonmaker said. ``Whether it's minorities living here for their whole lives or just moving up, they take offense to all that. There's always going to be something to take issue with.'' Antelope Valley hate crime reports, by year 1994 1 1995 19 1996 40 1997 33 1998 Not available 1999 Not available CAPTION(S): 3 Photos, Box PHOTO (1 -- color in AV edition only) Capt. Tom Pigott, commander of the Lancaster sheriff's station, holds the hammer believed used to attack an African-American Wal-Mart employee in the Lancaster store parking lot Tuesday night. Jeff Goldwater/Daily News (2) BRODERICK (3) CRAWFORD Box: (ran in AV and SAC editions only) Antelope Valley hate crime reports, by year (see text) SOURCE: Los Angeles County Human Relations Commission |
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