Source: Spencer Platt / Getty
Three accused white supremacists have been arrested and charged with leaving more than 100 messages of hate on the properties of residents in the small and overwhelmingly (93 percent) white town of Hornell, New York. Unsurprisingly, the first report of their literal hate mail campaign came from a predominately Black church.
From the New York Times:
A worshiper arriving for services at Rehoboth Deliverance Ministries — a largely Black church in the mostly white city of around 8,500 about an hour south of Rochester — found a leaflet affixed to the door, the police chief, T.J. Murray, said in an interview on Tuesday. On it were the words “Aryan National Army” and an image of a skull inside a swastika, he said.
By the time the weekend was over, Chief Murray said, officers had found similar material across town, mostly in plastic bags that also held rocks (presumably to keep them from blowing away). The tracts were in doorways, driveways and a park; on the porches of homes; and attached to the front of the Temple Beth-El synagogue.
By Monday, three suspects were arrested in connection with the white supremacy-at-your-doorstep rampage. According to police, two of them, Dylan Henry, 30, and Ryan Mulhollen, 27, were caught in the act of distributing their Nazi Door Dash material. After searching the residence of the two men and a third woman, 31-year-old Aubrey Dragonetti, officers “found two computers and several cellphones the three had used to communicate with others about the distribution of the material,” the Times reported. Dragonetti was arrested after investigators determined that she was the one who prepared the bags with the messages. They’ve each been charged with 115 counts of first-degree aggravated harassment—one count for each leaflet they allegedly left around town. (These were some busy white supremacists. Not very smart—but busy.)
The crime they’ve been charged with is described as an effort to “harass, annoy, threaten or alarm another person” because of their “race, color, national origin, ancestry, gender, religion, religious practice, age, disability or sexual orientation.” The statute “specifically cites the use of a swastika or noose in such harassment,” according to the Times.
The Three Stooges of white supremacy were arraigned Monday. Henry was held without bail while Mulhollen and Dragonetti were released without bail. Henry and Mulhollen both served time in state prison (Mulhollen on a drug charge and Henry for attempted assault and burglary.) It’s unclear why Mulhollen wasn’t also held without bail. All three are scheduled to return to court later this month.
Hate crime doesn’t pay, folks.