San Jacinto

Special Section: Inauguration '09

Local police believe five recent attacks on minorities in the San Jacinto Valley may stem from a backlash to the election of Barack Obama as the first black president in U.S. history.

Hemet police and Riverside County gang detectives said the beatings, which occurred in the weeks following Obama's election, appeared to be racially motivated and they fear more racial violence during his presidency.

The attacks and rhetoric from the white supremacist group involved in the beatings is part of a larger insurgence of hate groups throughout the nation, especially in the Inland region and Southern California, experts said.

Confidential police informants and the Web site of a local white supremacist group have pointed to anger about the election of the country's first black president, said Sgt. Mark Richards of the Hemet/San Jacinto Regional Gang Task Force.

"All of these attacks occurred after the election and we believe there's some connection to the election of an African-American," Richards said. "All of a sudden these attacks occurred and we don't think it's a coincidence."

Brian Levin, a Cal State San Bernardino criminology professor, said the greatest concern is fringe activists who may turn violent. He said fundamentalists may take the inauguration and presidency as a sign of everything they fear and an opportunity to attack blacks, Hispanics and Jews.

"To elect a biracial president is the worst thing for these white supremacists. He's their antichrist," Levin said. "These people can't get to him, so the fear is they'll get to someone close to him symbolically."

Nationally, federal authorities have been tracking crime that might be associated with anger over the election. In New York, three teens were charged with beating four black men with lead pipes out of anger on Election Day.

However, while experts agree about the increase in hate group activity, some say the activity may not be a direct result of Obama's election.

Experts say anger over the economic downturn and illegal immigration could be larger issues.

Hemet attack

Ten days after the election, a 19-year-old Hispanic man was stomped on and beaten to the point that he required life support, Hemet police Lt. Jeff Pinney said. Police said the attack appeared to be provoked "by racial hatred alone," Pinney stated in a report.

The attack, and the other four, were believed to have been carried out by the Hemet-based white supremacist group, the COORS Family Skins criminal street gang, Richards said. The gang, which also has roots in Big Bear, has existed for about a decade and stands for "Comrades of our Racist Struggle."

On the group's Web site, members have expressed anger over Obama's election and vowed to follow the philosophies of the Aryan nation and Nazi beliefs to carry out violence against minorities and Jews.

Four people from the CO ORS gang have been arrested and charged with attempted murder and witness intimidation related to the beating.

Justin Tyme Hayes, 20, Derek Shane O'Brien, 22, Darrin Peter Thibault, 24, and Crystal Lee McCann were arrested. McCann is charged with threatening witnesses not to talk about the case. No hate crime charges have been filed, although prosecutors say the attack has the appearance of a hate crime. The defendants are charged with committing the crime to benefit a gang, which increases the potential penalty for the attack.

The defendants have not said the attacks were prompted as a result of Obama's election but witnesses have indicated the case is an example of the white supremacists exacting revenge against blacks and Hispanics in the wake of the election, Pinney said.

"Our informants have been saying we are going to be seeing more of this because skinheads are angry Obama was elected," Pinney said. "We don't have any other apparent motives than he was just a Hispanic guy walking by."

Tracking Hate

Officials with the Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks hate crimes around the country, said it is too early to tell if these or other attacks are related to anger over the election.

"I don't think anti-black violence prompted by Obama's election easily translates into attacks on brown people," said Mark Potok, director of intelligence projects at the center. "It's been a mini phenomenon the last couple weeks of the campaign and after the election. If that's going to translate is way too early to tell."

Pinney said the series of attacks following the election were a spike and racial crimes are generally rare in the San Jacinto Valley and have been curbed by police pressure. Many CO ORS gang members are in prison and the group's Web site has been dismantled.

Analysts with the Los Angeles Anti-Defamation League said they are tracking rhetoric and potential hate crime throughout Southern California.

Melissa Carr, special projects director for the league, said rhetoric and threats have been posted online but no violent attacks in Southern California have been definitively tied to the election of the nation's first black president.

"It seems the campaign and the election has brought some of this rhetoric to the forefront," Carr said. But we have to remember even bad people are allowed to say bad things and we have to have the ability to act on them when they become an issue."

Reach John Asbury at 951-763-3451 or jasbury@PE.com