REPUTED RACIST PAIR'S BAIL SET; $1 MILLION IMPOSED FOR EACH ONE'S BOND.Byline: Daily News Staff and Wire Services A judge set bail at $1 million each for two reputed white supremacists accused of attacking an African-American Wal-Mart employee who spoke to a white woman with them. Shaun Lee Broderick, 19, of Newhall and Christopher Crawford, 25, of Lancaster pleaded not guilty to one count of attempted murder In the criminal law, attempted murder is committed when the defendant does an act that is more than merely preparatory to the commission of the crime of murder and, at the time of these acts, the person has a specific intention to kill. and to two counts 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. by means likely to produce great bodily injury. Broderick also pleaded not guilty to manufacturing methamphetamine and to possession of the drug for sale. Investigators allege that he used a claw hammer on Nathaniel Harris, 20, in the Tuesday attack in the Lancaster Wal-Mart parking lot. A federal prosecutor said the FBI also is looking into Tuesday's 11:30 p.m. attack on Harris, who was gathering shopping carts when he asked Broderick's girlfriend whether he went to high school with her. Harris was hit in the upper body with the hammer by one suspect and punched by the second man, investigators said. A Wal-Mart security guard pulled the two men off Harris. The assailants got into a car and drove off, allegedly trying to hit Harris as they fled. Broderick and Crawford were stopped by sheriff's deputies a half-hour later. Harris was taken to a hospital and treated for minor injuries. The suspects are reputed to be members of the Nazi Low Riders, a white supremacist prison gang that surfaced in the early 1990s in Orange County and has spread throughout Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, and the San Joaquin Valley Noun 1. San Joaquin Valley - a vast valley in central California known for its rich farmland Calif., California, Golden State, CA - a state in the western United States on the Pacific; the 3rd largest state; known for earthquakes , according to the Anti-Defamation League Anti-Defamation League B’nai B’rith organization which fights anti-Semitism. [Am. Hist.: Wigoder, 33] See : Anti-Semitism , which tracks extremist groups. Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Gennaco declined to say whether federal civil rights charges will be filed against the pair. Gennaco has prosecuted several other members of the Nazi Low Riders. Prosecutors asked that bail be set at $1 million for each of the alleged 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 , said District Attorney's Office spokeswoman Sandi Gibbons Famous people named Gibbons include:
A third defendant is accused with Broderick of making methamphetamine and of possessing the drug for sale. Dennis Butt, 21, was arrested when deputies investigating the beating reported finding a meth meth n. Methamphetamine hydrochloride. lab in a Lancaster motel room, where Broderick had been staying. Bail for Butt was set at $500,000. He also pleaded not guilty to the charges. The attack came less than two weeks after District Attorney Gil Garcetti and Sheriff Lee Baca announced JOLT, a program aimed at combating hate crime activity in the Antelope Valley. Juvenile Offenders Learning Tolerance is intended to steer first-time hate crime offenders away from violence. Prosecutors said neither Broderick nor Crawford would qualify for the program. |
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