Many specifically targeted Center co-founder Morris Dees and Center president Richard Cohen, whose televised comments about the case were viewed across the country.

After the case gained national attention in August, when Moore defied a court order to remove his monument, hundreds of hateful e-mails began pouring into the Center. The messages' vitriolic tone became exceedingly strident after Moore was removed from office in mid-November. (See 'Ten Commandments' Judge Removed for Ethics Violation.)

Center leaders were called "scumbags," "Christ-killers" and "subhuman." Many other messages labeled the Center staff as "communist," and the tone of a great number was decidedly anti-Semitic.

Some hate mail merely entreated Center staff to "be ashamed," while others called for the Center to "burn in hell." A Portland man wrote Cohen to say that he wanted to witness Cohen's public execution "just for the opportunity to spit in your face beforehand."

All mail with any hint of serious intimidation was forwarded to the Center's security department for its threat assessment.

Following are excerpts:

• "Dees and Cohen are a pair of chickenhawk jackals who never tell the truth."
• "Dees is a godless s.o.b. jew and deserves to burn in hell."
• "You're the lowest form of human waste — just human maggots! Enough is enough! Quit your ongoing battle against Christians and religion in American society. We true American citizens are going to be watching you and your organization closely now. Many Christians are just now realizing who the real enemy is, and there is no doubt — whatsoever — our #1 enemy in America is Morris Dees and his Southern Poverty Law Center. We Christians are watching you closely now."
• "May the wrath of God be delivered upon you."
• "I hope all of you who had anything to do with removing the Ten Commandments die in a car accident with a fuel tanker along with the rest of your filthy, stinking, traitorous families!"

SPLC Report
December 2003