The voice on the other end of the phone had peppered
him with questions, asking him to confirm his name, date of birth and
other details. And then this: Were you on the jury that convicted
Within 20 minutes, the juror,
46, was receiving hateful texts, one after the other — although none
specifically threatening him. By the end of the day, he learned that
his personal information — address, phone numbers and even a photo — as
well as references to his longtime partner had been posted on a website
that identified him as a juror in the Hale case.
on criminal charges that he had solicited an attack on Hoffman with the
posting on his website, overthrow.com. Prosecutors charge that White
targeted Hoffman because he was the foreman on a federal jury in 2004
that had convicted Hale, a white supremacist from Downstate Illinois,
of plotting to murder a federal judge in
“They wouldn’t stop,” Hoffman said of the texts he received on
Attorneys for White, though, told the jury that
White at no point in the Web posting specifically called for harm to
come to Hoffman. While you might not like what he says, he has a
constitutional right to say it, they contended during the first day of
the trial.
“This is a man who believes in the supremacy of the white race,” said one of White’s attorneys,
government censorship. You confront bad ideas with superior ideas.”
Federal prosecutors, however, said that White’s
posting needs to be considered in light of other inflammatory language
on his website in which he called for violence against other people he
considered enemies of the white race.
In his opening remarks, Assistant U.S. Attorney
those with similar beliefs — and that he wanted them to “pick up” on
the details he posted.
“It was a call for others to act … (to) find
The charges against White had been thrown by a judge, but an appellate court reversed that decision and ordered him tried.
U.S. District Judge
to preside over the trial, allowed jurors to be selected Monday without
their names being public identified. The government had asked to
protect their identities, saying jurors might fear for their own lives
in light of the charges. The defense objected to the request.
Hale was convicted in 2004 of plotting the murder of U.S. District Judge
attempt was made on Lefkow’s life, but in an unrelated tragedy the
following year, the judge’s husband and mother were slain by a
disgruntled litigant.
The posting that White allegedly authored was titled
“The Juror Who Convicted Matt Hale.” It noted that Hoffman had “played
a key role” in convicting Hale and referred to the juror as “gay and
anti-racist.”
In addition to the texts, Hoffman testified that he received a phone message that included racial and ethnic slurs.
Prosecutors pointed out to the jury Monday that White’s website also contained a posting in
through the postings Monday with Hoffman, pointing out that much of the
personal information was public at the time White posted it. Sanan also
repeatedly asked him whether he ever saw a direct physical threat from
White in the postings.
Hoffman responded no — although he immediately answered yes when prosecutors later asked him if he still felt threatened.
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