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Shofar FTP Archive File: orgs/american//oregon/medford.0693




Archive/File: orgs/american/oregon medford.0693
Last-Modified: 1994/06/18

"Medford, Oregon: Summer of Skinhead Clashes

The summer of 1993 brought an apparent new crop of racist skinheads
to the Medfor-Grants Pass area. In June, near Applegate Lake, a
popular Southern Oregon recreation area, some 20 racist skinheads
assaulted a number of young people after they apparently had been
marching with Confederate flags and giving Hitler salutes. A number
of the racist skinheads interviewed by the Medford Mail Tribune of
June 20, 1993 claimed to be followers of Identity Christianity. The
group of twentry did not give names.

After a summer of clashes between anti-racist and racist skinheads,
a law enforcement official in Medofrd, Oregon termed skinheads the
'single most serious problem' when it comes to youth gangs. Law
enforcement officials also maintain that the Oregon Law Enforcement
Data System (LEDS), which is the unit of the Oregon State Police
mandated to track hate crimes, is not getting a complete picture of
hate crimes in the Southern Oregon area. Jackson County Sheriff's
Captain Bob Kennedy was quoted in a September 14, 1993 Medford Mail
Tribune article as saying 'We've had as many as four or five
unconfirmed reports each week that we weren't able to pin down.'
(see Dignity Report Vol. 1 / No. 2).

Previous racist skinhead activity in the area was headed up by
Southern Oregon Skinheads (SOS) whose membership included Leif
Barge, Laura Dailey, Mike Beregren, and Drew Bostwick. Barge and
Dailey both testified during the civil trial against Tom and John
Metzger of the White Aryan Resistance held in Portland, Oregon
during October 1990. In support of Metzger, Barge and Dailey
maintained that the principle witness for the Southern Poverty Law
Center, Dave Mazzella, was only weeks previous to the trial the
leader of SOS, contrary to his claims to have renounced his
membership in the white supremacist movement. The court ruled in
favor of SPLC and rendered a $12.5 million judgement against the
Metzgers. Little is known about the activities of SOS at present.

According to the most recent issue of Rick Cooper's NSV Report,
Bostwick was married to Amy Warren in a ceremony at the annual World
Aryan Conference held at the Aryian Nations compound this past July
1993." (Dignity)

                           Work Cited

The Dignity Report. Publication of the Coalition for Human Dignity
Research Department. March 1, 1994, v2, n3. PO Box 40344, Portland,
Oregon, 97240. (503) 281-5823



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