FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CR
THRUSDAY, OCTOBER 17,1996 (202) 616-2765
TDD (202) 514-1888
MAINE MAN PLEADS GUILTY TO BURNING A CROSS IN AUGUSTA
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- A Maine man pled guilty today to
burning a cross in a neighborhood in Augusta where multi-racial
families reside, the Justice Department announced. It is the
second cross-burning plea in the past two days.
Since January, the Justice Department has brought 25
cases stemming from cross-burning incidents across the country,
involving at least 30 defendants.
In today's plea, Benjamin J. Newton, 18, of Augusta,
admitted in U.S. District Court in Bangor to violating federal
criminal civil rights laws. In August, the Justice Department
charged Newton with burning a wooden cross at the intersection of
Washington Street and Washington Street Place in the Sand Hill
neighborhood of Augusta, a primarily white neighborhood with
multi-racial families.
"We will continue to smother the flames of racial
hatred," said Deval L. Patrick, Assistant Attorney General
for Civil Rights. "Hateful acts like cross burnings strike at
the heart of the community and must be stopped."
A second man, Vincent Hallowell, also of Augusta, had
entered a similar guilty plea in September. Hallowell is
currently awaiting sentencing.
According to court documents, Newton and Hallowell on
June 22, discussed tarring and feathering a black person and
decided to build and burn a cross. The two allegedly carried the
cross to the Sand Hill neighborhood, doused it with a flammable
liquid and set it afire.
After lighting the cross on fire, Hallowell proclaimed,
"I'm purifying the streets." The two then left the scene
and Newton carried the flammable liquid and a hammer used to
drive the cross into the ground back to Hallowell's apartment.
"As I have repeatedly stated, deprivation of civil
rights is an extremely serious crime that will not be
tolerated," said Jay P. McCloskey, U.S. Attorney in Portland.
Newton pled guilty today to one count of conspiring by
means of threats and intimidation to deprive African-American
residents of the Sand Hill neighborhood of their right to live in
their homes free from racial discrimination.
He faces up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Yesterday, two Ohio men pled guilty to felony civil
rights violations for burning a cross in front of the home of an
African-American family near Mansfield, Ohio.
# # #96-516