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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