Hal Turner, Internet Radio Host, Arrested For Inciting Violence Against Public Officials...Again

Hal Turner, New Jersey's top white-supremacist internet-radio show hosting lunatic is back in the news today, for pretty much the same reason he was in the news earlier this month: threatening public officials with bodily harm, and subsequently getting arrested for it!

This time out, Turner's calls to vigilantism ranged beyond the Tri-State area, all the way to Chicago. WGN has the news:

Hal Turner, an occasional talk show host on internet radio and blogger, was arrested today by the FBI in his New Jersey home on charges he threatened to murder three federal appeals court judges in Chicago following their recent ruling upholding handgun bans.

According to the U.S. attorney's office, postings on Turner's web site included photos of the judges and addresses for them, with statements such as: "Let me be the first to say this plainly; These judges deserve to be killed."

Actually, Turner went even further. A day after Turner posted the original threat, urging readers that "it appears another lesson is needed," he posted an update with the names of the judges, along with photographs, phone numbers, and work addresses, right down to office numbers. In the update, Turner wrote: "Judges official public work addresses and a map of the area are below. Their home addresses and maps will follow soon. Behold these devils."

Well this is about to get REAL for Turner, because now he's run afoul of U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald. From the official complaint (which can be seen in its entirety, via PDF, here):

Hal Turner, an intermittent internet radio talk show host and blogger, was arrested today by FBI agents at his home in North Bergen, N.J., on a federal complaint filed in Chicago alleging that he made internet postings threatening to assault and murder three federal appeals court judges in Chicago in retaliation for their recent ruling upholding handgun bans in Chicago and a suburb.

Internet postings on June 2 and 3 proclaimed "outrage" over the June 2, 2009, handgun decision by Chief Judge Frank Easterbrook and Judges Richard Posner and William Bauer, of the Chicago-based 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, further stating, among other things: "Let me be the first to say this plainly: These Judges deserve to be killed." The postings included photographs, phone numbers, work address and room numbers of these judges, along with a photo of the building in which they work and a map of its location.

Turner, 47, of North Bergen, N.J., was arrested this morning after FBI agents went to his residence to execute a search warrant. He was charged with threatening to assault and murder three federal judges with intent to retaliate against them for performing official duties in a criminal complaint filed today in U.S. District Court in Chicago. He is scheduled to have an initial court appearance at 12:30 p.m. tomorrow (Thursday) before U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael A. Shipp in U.S. District Court in Newark.

"We take threats to federal judges very seriously. Period," said Patrick J. Fitzgerald, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, who announced the charges with Robert D. Grant, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The United States Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey and the FBI Office in Newark are providing local assistance.

PREVIOUSLY, on the HUFFINGTON POST:
Hal Turner, Talk Radio Host, Facing Charges For Inciting Violence Against Officials

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Comments

[AuntiepoppyCock]

hahaha good...he has no idea who he's playing with.

[JanPoore]

Kudos to Patrick Fitzgerald. This has got to stop. The FBI and Justice Department have to start going after these lunatics and arresting them. That includes Rush Limbaugh, Michelle Malkin, Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck, Bill O'Reilly, Anne Coulter, Michael Savage, Bill Cunningham, and the rest of them that incite hatred and violence. There is a difference between free speech and inciting violence. The people in the media have a special accountability to be responsible in what they say. The weak-minded, low IQ people who listen to these cult leaders think they are supposed to go out and act. There have been several murders recently, caused directly or indirectly, by these charletans encouraging violence.

[kitkatborn]

I agree. Hopefully, this will make them stop and think.

[JulieSA]

What did those people you listed do to deserve being arrested?

Please be specific.

This blogger Turner deserves it, but what did those other people do? Question the president's policies? You think people should be arrested for that?

[The Ghost]

If stupid were illegal, you'd get life.

[roald]

JulieSA, I will take a chance that you are truly interested. I am also unwilling to waste my time pulling up dozens of references for you. While the rhetoric stops short of Turner's, the message, condemning the person instead of the action, is the same to the unstable. Google O'Reilly Tiller. I'll give you a start,

Tiller, O'Reilly likes to say, "destroys fetuses for just about any reason right up until the birth date for $5,000." He's guilty of "Nazi stuff," said O'Reilly on June 8, 2005; a moral equivalent to NAMBLA and al-Qaida, he suggested on March 15, 2006. "This is the kind of stuff happened in Mao's China, Hitler's Germany, Stalin's Soviet Union," said O'Reilly on Nov. 9, 2006.

O'Reilly has also frequently linked Tiller to his longtime obsession, child molestation and rape. Because a young teenager who received an abortion from Tiller could, by definition, have been a victim of statutory rape, O'Reilly frequently suggested that the clinic was covering up for child rapists (rather than teenage boyfriends) by refusing to release records on the abortions performed.

[JanPoore]

Thank you Roald.

JUlieSA Turn off Faux News and do your homework. The Internet is a wonderful source of information. Just a couple of examples, Bill O'Reilly as mentioned by Roald, Rush Limbaugh saying that he hopes Obama (and therefor the country) fails, Limbaugh encouraging racism, all of them falsely spreading lies that Obama is a secret Muslim and is to be feared (which equates to telling the rednecks to go get him)...

I don't want to do the work for you if you are too lazy. Go google each of their names and also read on Mediamatters.com.

[commercelib]

I'll never understand the American mentality. We are terrified of a few terrorists but blithely accept the thirty-thousand plus handgun deaths in the country each year. Day before yesterday a ten-year-old Dallas girl accidentally shot to death her younger sister with dad's handgun. Just another day in America. American priorities are assbackwards. What in the HELL is wrong with us?

[gayinmt]

Reminds me of the guy that shot the three cops because Obama was going to take away his guns. Great statement for gun rights, you know, killing cops with them and all.

[azcamp]

At least one federal law enforcement official is on the ball. Fitzpatrick means business. Now the DOJ may reign in the violent right-wing nuts who are bordering on calls for domestic terrrorism. Just bringing charges will deter some of this talk. We can expect this case to end up at the Supreme Court a few years from now.

[roald]

I'm glad that Obama was wise enough to decide whether to retain US Attorneys based on ability rather than political affiliation.

[Rebecca Borchers]

THANK GOD the FBI is taking people like him seriously.

[Wombaticus]

Oh come on, he only exhorted his listeners to murder these judges and gave out names and locations where they can found! Its not like he showed a nipple for a split second!

[end sarcasm]

Can anyone even begin to imagine that this particular story gets even a fraction of the news coverage that the wardrobe malfunction did? Just more proof of how dorked up our brain feeding system is, we get fluff when we should be eating healthy.

[mama1974]

Well said! Apparently nipples are far more threatening than murder. Not to mention this won't be on a single magazine cover because we wouldn't want to "miss" the latest in celebrity news. It has become ridiculously time consuming to sift through all the garbage in order to find actual news stories and, even when we do it, you have to read it, watch it, and download it from numerous sources to get past all the spin. Surely, no news agencies will be crass enough to see this story and try to paint it with the freedom of speech brush but I, sadly, can see that happening. When did news become such a twisted business?

[Cogs]

It's not much of leap to go from the rants on Fox News to threatening bodily harm. O'Reilly regularly calls out public officials and private citizens and demands that they be held accountable for actions he deems offensive. However, when there is an extreme response, he reverts to his "your humble reporter" act.

[JulieSA]

"O'Reilly regularly calls out public officials and private citizens and demands that they be held accountable for actions he deems offensive. '

So does Olbermann, only more so.

[WBP]

Julie:

Essentially what you have to offer is:

"I'm rubber you are glue" or something like that. NEW RULE: Saying "well he did it" is NO LONGER an acceptable intellectual retort.

Now, without saying 'well he did it" ADDRESS THE MERITS OF THE ARGUMENT.

[JanPoore]

O'Reilly also threatens people, even a 10 year old boy, has his staff stalk people to get involuntary interviews and likes to show soft porn of women with no clothes in the name of reporting a story that has nothing to do with sex. Olbermann calls him out on this arrogant and hypocritical behavior.

O'Reilly makes stuff up to get offended about. Keith gets offended about real stuff.

So what's your point?

[bronceye]

One down, fox news to go.

[JanPoore]

"Fox News to go" - pun intended? Let's hope so. :-)

[JulieSA]

Who on Fox called for public officials to be ki l led? Any quotes?

[DullKnife]

Do your own research tr 0ll. Start with "Ann Coulter rat poison".
Thanks for stopping by and offering a rational discourse.

[Rondo]

New Jersey? I thought this article was going to be about Iran.

[bigpat]

"Sean, Sean! You're my one phone call! You gotta get me out of here!"

[obama4eva]

exactly...­i wonder what would sean say about this??

[Rubicks]

"There goes my date for the Friday night..."

[Rubicks]

Gah, hit reply too soon. That'll teach me!

Should read...

"There goes my date for Friday night..."

Thursdays.­.. Never could get the hang of Thursdays.­..

[Unshriven]

It's about time this ride got started.
Buckle up boys.

[Center-of-the-Bird]

We've been on this ride for a while now, maybe we haven't noticed because we have been going uphill. Now that we are at the top, enjoy the view and take a deep breath.
I have had the privilege to work in the south and south east the last 15 years or so, the curve toward FOX News dominance has been complete for the last 7 years. Every airport terminal, bar, eatery, etc. is showing FOX News. Once upon a time you could talk politics with pretty much any southerner, they all seemed very engaged with what was happening around them. Now, FOX News talking points are the rage for a huge number of people. You have to work hard to find someone objectively analyzing politics. Another ominous note, when I came back home to the west coast, I found my ex-brother-in-law shouting, (yes shouting, it seems to be the only way these comments have a chance to stand) the same chant I heard in the south.
Eventually Fox will implode over its own weight of miss-deeds, question is will the US survive it.
I'm buckled!

[tm22]

You are correct that eventually; Fox will explode.
1. Their message has become more erratic, self-centered, and often, dangerous.
2. They are closing off the communication loop to a specific target (their "cult following), getting more and more brazen in rhetoric since the election.
3. Sponsorship (the teabagger parties) as a way to manipulate the vulnerable (people in airports).
4. Appearing to snowball into psychopathic or paranoid behavior by daring the public to confront them and their conspiracy theories (via the fairness doctrine).

This arrest may start a step up of more hostile "preaching" and abusive behavior until the cross that threshold where they talk to their viewers about a "dress rehearsal" for a holy war or some kind of destructive behavior that will have the law drawn into their bizarre vortex .
Buckle up is right...

[sonoffestus]

As an Anmerican living outside the US, I am beginning to believe you folks are not going to "make it". I mean you will go on, but the future will be so very different for most Americans. There will be social dislocation and discord cheered along by the likes of beck, hannity, limbaugh, etc., etc..

Your government is bought and paid for by corporate interests. You the people have no voice. You the people are divided, and many feel powerless to do anything about it.

I also believe the American public does not have the will or courage to take to the streets and demand change.

You will be tossed crumbs and you will feel grateful. Unfortunately, it appears your days in the sun are slowly fading. I hope I am wrong, but that's the view and just an opinion as I listen and watch from the outside.

[Aesthete]

Freedom of speech has always been a tenet of liberty in America, but the abuse of a freedom usually leads to the loss of it. It's already true that one cannot yell "fire" in a crowded theater. With the current high level of stress, frustration, and longstanding bigotry, it is profoundly irresponsible for anyone to use the electronic media or any other public forum to incite violence and criminal behavior. It is also a Biblical admonition to bridle one's tongue.

[AdamX]

Of course, handgun bans are unconstitutional - it is our RIGHT to bear arms.

He should be imprisoned for threatening public officials - true. But, the judges should be relieved of their jobs for not upholding their oath to protect and defend the constitution.

If you are not willing to die for liberty, you will have no liberty.

[Bude]

He wasn't suggesting that someone should die for liberty, he was suggesting that someone kill for it.

[jdlund]

Well as a point of fact it is not a right to be able to bear ALL arms. Even when the Amendment was written it is not as though private citizens had the right to own canons which are arms. Also the right is qualified, "a well regulated militia being necessary.­.." Well regulated. There's nothing there that suggests that you have a right to own any weapon you want whenever you want it no matter who you are or what your motivation might be.

The very intention of the amendment is included, which is rare by the way for the Constitution. It is meant for national security and the security of individuals. If certain individuals owning guns, certain guns being owned period, or if guns being bought without background checks threaten the security of this nation or of its citizens the government has every right to regulate these things. By the way an H bomb is an arm, do you think you have the right to buy that whenever you want? There's nothing wrong with using some common sense regulations based on what is in the public's best interest.

[csavage]

It's our right to bear arms in order to form a well regulated militia...­..that is the exact wording of the Second Amendment. I trust you're fully registered with your state and willing serve when tasked....

[Artos]

I believe in the right to bare Arms and I have them bare as often as I can. Seriously though, I do think we should have the right to a rifle or a pistol but not fully automatic. And no one needs RPGs either. These are exclusively for the use of the military and weren't meant for the use of the average civilian. For those who are especially belligerent I would even suggest only allowing them to have single shot muskets.

[laocoon]

it is still pointedly the peoples right and not the states... the states have the right to appoint officers but the right to a militia is specifically given to the people. the constitution talks about rights of the federal government, the states and the people.

[Horus45]

States and Municipalities are free to enact whatever gun legislation they see fit.
So quit blaming the judges, they are just doing their job and upholding the law.

[ThomasMc]

Calling for assassinations isn't a defense of liberty, it's TERRORISM!

[totaldisbelief]

Hal is like our very own Taliban...­and should be treated as such.

[Sean 6399]

And here's yet another poster "inciting violence". Declaring that an innocent (for the moment at least) person be subjected to aerial attack by combat aircraft.

You should be careful about that. Once the Fitzgeralds of the world are through with Turner they may turn their sights on you.