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Berhanu v. Metzger
filed 11/22/1989
Agenda area: Hate Groups/Hate Crimes
In 1988, racist Skinheads beat an Ethiopian graduate student to death with a baseball bat. Mulugeta Seraw was murdered by recruits of neo-Nazi leader Tom Metzger, founder of White Aryan Resistance (WAR), who faced a Center civil suit and a $12.5 million judgment.
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Brown v. Invisible Empire, Knights of the Ku Klux Klan
filed 11/03/1980
Agenda area: Hate Groups/Hate Crimes
In 1979, over 100 Klan members attacked Decatur, Alabama marchers protesting the conviction of Tommy Lee Hines, a retarded black man accused of rape. After a ten-year fight, the Center secured criminal convictions and financial compensation for the victims.
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Donald v. United Klans of America
filed 06/14/1984
Agenda area: Hate Groups/Hate Crimes
On March 20, 1981, members of the United Klans of America abducted a young African-American man at random, put a noose around his neck, beat him, cut his throat and hung his body from a tree. The Center sued the Klansmen and won an historic $7 million judgment.
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Johnson v. Amox et al.
filed 09/19/2005
Agenda area: Hate Groups/Hate Crimes
This is a lawsuit against four young white men who terrorized, humiliated and beat a mentally retarded African-American man, dumped his unconscious body on the side of a dark country road and left him for dead. In 2007, a jury awarded a $9 million verdict to help the family pay for the care the victim will need for the rest of his life.
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Jordan Gruver v. Imperial Klans of America
filed 02/22/2007
Agenda area: Hate Groups/Hate Crimes
The Southern Poverty Law Center filed suit against the Imperial Klans of America and four Klansmen, saying several members were on a recruiting mission for the group in July 2006 when they savagely beat a teenage boy at a county fair in Kentucky.
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Jouhari/Horton v. United Klans of America/Frankhouser
filed 08/28/1998
Agenda area: Hate Groups/Hate Crimes
In 1988, a white fair housing advocate and her daughter were harassed and threatened over the internet by Klansmen and neo-Nazis. After they filed complaints with the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Center achieved justice against the hate groups.
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Keenan v. Aryan Nations
filed 01/25/1999
Agenda area: Hate Groups/Hate Crimes
Victoria and Jason Keenan were chased and shot at by members of the Aryan Nations in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. Held at gunpoint, the mother and son feared for their lives. The Center sued and obtained a $6.3 million jury verdict; Aryan Nations was forced to turn its compound over to the victims it had terrorized.
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Leiva v. Ranch Rescue
filed 06/26/2003
Agenda area: Hate Groups/Hate Crimes
Assault and false imprisonment against a group of immigrants brought Ranch Rescue - a fringe group of paramilitary vigilantes dedicated to anti-immigrant border patrols - to the national spotlight. Ranch Rescue's most recent intimidation campaign led to a suit seeking justice for the immigrants they terrorized. Plaintiffs obtained judgments and a settlement totaling almost $1.5 million.
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Macedonia v. Christian Knights of the Ku Klux Klan
filed 06/07/1996
Agenda area: Hate Groups/Hate Crimes
On a summer evening in 1995, members of the Christian Knights of the KKK set a fire completely destroying a 100-year-old black Baptist church in South Carolina. The Center sued the Klan on the church's behalf, winning the largest judgment ever awarded against a hate group.
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Mansfield v. Church of the Creator
filed 03/07/1994
Agenda area: Hate Groups/Hate Crimes
For killing an African-American Gulf War veteran, a white supremacist "reverend" received an award of honor from the leaders of the racist Church of the Creator (COTC). In the wake of this horrible crime, the Center sued the COTC for inciting violence against African-Americans.
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Mansfield v. Pierce
filed 02/27/1995
Agenda area: Hate Groups/Hate Crimes
Fearful that his white supremacist group would be sued over the murder of a black sailor, the leader of the Church of the Creator sold the group's property to the late neo-Nazi leader William Pierce. The Center sued and obtained a $1 million judgment against the COTC and a $85,000 judgment against Pierce.
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McKinney v. Southern White Knights
filed 03/24/1987
Agenda area: Hate Groups/Hate Crimes
"Black and white together" is one of verses of the famous civil rights hymn, "We Shall Overcome." But when blacks and whites marched together in all-white Forsyth County, Georgia, in 1987, they were greeted with Klansmen throwing rocks and shouting racial slurs.
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Person v. Carolina Knights of the Ku Klux Klan
filed 06/05/1984
Agenda area: Hate Groups/Hate Crimes
In the mid-1980s, a North Carolina Klan group was one of the most militant and violent, engaging in paramilitary-style training, using U.S. military personnel to prepare recruits for combat. After a series of terrorizing incidents, the Center sued the Klan and won court orders shutting down their illegal training camps.
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Sells v. Berry
filed 01/18/2000
Agenda area: Hate Groups/Hate Crimes
The Imperial Wizard of one of the most aggressive Klan groups in the country detained and terrorized two journalists covering a story about a planned Klan rally. The Center sued, winning a $120,000 judgment, and investigating criminal charges that sent the Klan leader to prison.
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Vietnamese Fishermen's Association v. Knights of the Ku Klux Klan
filed 04/16/1981
Agenda area: Hate Groups/Hate Crimes
Armed men in Klan robes spewed hate-filled threats, burned crosses and destroyed shrimp boats. White fishermen, fearful of competition from Vietnamese immigrants, invited the Klan to Galveston Bay, Texas. The Center sued and brought an end to their illegal activities, including paramilitary training camps.
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