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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A18057-2003Oct25.html
Supremacist Case Unites Improbable Contingent
By Tim Craig
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, October 26, 2003; Page C01
When police visited his southeast Baltimore rowhouse this summer, Lovell A. Wheeler noticed that one of the officers was wearing a German American lapel pin. Wheeler complimented him on "being a good white officer," according to court documents.
"The war is going to start in the city, and I am ready and need more troops to help in the fight," said Wheeler, a white supremacist whose wife, Elizabeth, is a member of the National Alliance, a West Virginia-based neo-Nazi group.
Two days later, Lovell Wheeler was arrested. A tactical team stormed his house in the Highlandtown neighborhood and seized 62 pounds of gunpowder, 16,000 rounds of ammunition, 22 guns, body armor and thousands of weapons parts, according to court documents.
Nearly four months later, Wheeler, 61, remains in a Baltimore jail, held without bail and isolated from other inmates. He awaits a Nov. 7 trial on three misdemeanor charges.
Despite widespread revulsion with Wheeler's views, his case is being championed by an unlikely coalition of civil libertarians, gun enthusiasts and African American lawyers. They contend that Wheeler's confinement, in a city where repeat homicide suspects have been known to walk the streets while awaiting trial, is an example of a judicial system grown jittery, paranoid and abusive since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
Wheeler's defenders say they worry he is being detained for his beliefs, not his actions, in the name of homeland security.
"It is a classic case of a perversion of the system by the powers that be. He deserves bail under Maryland law." said Warren A. Brown, a Baltimore defense lawyer.
"It is unusual, and to that extent, he is damn near a political prisoner," Brown said. "If he was an ordinary dope dealer with guns in his house, he would have a bail, but because he is a white supremacist, they stick it to him."
Douglas L. Colbert, a University of Maryland law professor and author of a study on Baltimore's pretrial legal system, said he does not recall a case in which someone has been denied bail under similar circumstances.
"A general statement of 'I expect there to be a race war, and I am prepared for it' falls far short of direct and imminent violence that could result in bail being denied someone," Colbert said.
Federal authorities have broad new powers to detain people without bail if they are suspected of having links to terrorist groups. But there are no such provisions in Maryland law, and Wheeler is not facing federal charges, according to the FBI and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
His defenders say Wheeler, who moved to Baltimore from Arkansas 20 years ago, makes and sells guns as a hobby, nothing more. "This guy is a machinist, a gunsmith, and this is what he has done all of his life," said Brian Thompson, Wheeler's attorney, who took the case pro bono last week.
Other groups say Wheeler's pretrial detention is appropriate and responsible. David Friedman, director of the Washington office of the Anti-Defamation League, said Wheeler needs to be watched closely.
"The combination of extremist ideology and weapons is something that law enforcement has an obligation to make sure that the person is just not wandering the streets," Friedman said.
The police investigation began with a tip that Wheeler was storing gunpowder in his house.
When two Baltimore officers visited his home June 28, court documents say, Wheeler told them he believes there will be a race war and handed them a piece of National Alliance literature titled, "Who Rules America?" He also invited the officers to return for an audiotape of National Alliance founder William Pierce, who died last year.
Pierce, under the pen name Andrew MacDonald, was the author of "The Turner Diaries," a 1978 novel about a white supremacist takeover of the U.S. government. The book, which includes a description of a truck bombing of FBI headquarters, was believed to have influenced Timothy McVeigh's decision to blow up the federal building in Oklahoma City by similar means in 1995.
After speaking with Wheeler, Baltimore police consulted the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force, which says the National Alliance poses a risk for domestic terrorism. According to the FBI, the Wheelers were active members. Wheeler denied being a member of the group but said he sympathizes with its views, according to court documents.
Police, who feared that Wheeler was armed, obtained a "no-knock" search warrant from a judge and returned to the home July 1.
"They chopped down my front door with an ax, and 60 people came in," said Elizabeth Wheeler, host of an Internet radio program called "Grandmother Elizabeth's Reading Hour for White Children." According to court documents, she refused to cooperate because some of the officers were black.
Her husband was not home but was arrested at his job at a plastics factory.
Prosecutors initially contended that Lovell Wheeler "created a substantial risk of death or serious physical injury to the citizens of Baltimore," because of his arsenal and connection to the National Alliance, according to court documents.
Since then, the state's case has fizzled, and prosecutors acknowledge that it largely boils down to whether the gunpowder placed his neighbors at risk.
In the end, Wheeler was charged with three misdemeanors: reckless endangerment, possession of a smokeless powder without a license and improper storage of smokeless powder.
Sanford Abrams, vice president of the Maryland Licensed Firearms Dealers Association, said it is not unusual for a gunsmith to possess large amounts of smokeless powder, which is less volatile than black gunpowder.
"Even if handled improperly, it will not explode," Abrams said. "That is only in movies."
Still, Wheeler's bail, initially set at $2 million, was revoked Aug. 12 by Judge M. Brooke Murdock after a hearing. Prosecutors had argued to Murdock that Wheeler was a threat to the community because his gunpowder could have exploded, sending fire and debris into neighboring homes.
Typically, Maryland defendants are entitled to bail unless a judge believes they might flee before trial or there is convincing evidence that they are a danger to society. This case, some legal experts say, doesn't meet either criterion.
"I think it smacks at his First Amendment rights," said A. Dwight Pettit, a lawyer who has long been active in Baltimore's black community. "I think a lot of judges are more sensitive to the racial aspect of it than they are the constitutional aspect."
Anton J.S. Keating, a lawyer who ran for Baltimore state's attorney last year, said judges have been more hesitant about whom they release on bail since Sept.11.
"Let's face it, a year or two ago, we would not be having this knee-jerk reaction," Keating said. "Instead, you hear footsteps when there is no reason to hear footsteps. What if you let the guy out, and he has another 15 pounds of this stuff and he goes and blows up Beth Tfiloh" synagogue?
Murdock declined to comment.
Thompson said he plans to argue that police never had enough evidence to raid Wheeler's house in the first place. Much of the police affidavit talks about Wheeler's alleged ties to the National Alliance, which in themselves would not be a crime.
But while his alleged racial views were described in the charging documents, prosecutors say those views will have little to do with their case.
"Freedom of expression is not a crime," said Margaret T. Burns, spokeswoman for the Baltimore state's attorney's office. "We need to stick to the facts of the case: gunpowder, explosion, threat to public safety."
Wheeler's imprisonment has become fodder for conservative talk radio programs and on Internet sites across the country. "This fellow may be a reprehensible man with loathsome thoughts, but the last time I checked, that was no reason to put someone in jail and throw away the key," said Ron Smith, a Baltimore radio host.
© 2003 The Washington Post Company
Supremacist Case Unites Improbable Contingent
By Tim Craig
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, October 26, 2003; Page C01
When police visited his southeast Baltimore rowhouse this summer, Lovell A. Wheeler noticed that one of the officers was wearing a German American lapel pin. Wheeler complimented him on "being a good white officer," according to court documents.
"The war is going to start in the city, and I am ready and need more troops to help in the fight," said Wheeler, a white supremacist whose wife, Elizabeth, is a member of the National Alliance, a West Virginia-based neo-Nazi group.
Two days later, Lovell Wheeler was arrested. A tactical team stormed his house in the Highlandtown neighborhood and seized 62 pounds of gunpowder, 16,000 rounds of ammunition, 22 guns, body armor and thousands of weapons parts, according to court documents.
Nearly four months later, Wheeler, 61, remains in a Baltimore jail, held without bail and isolated from other inmates. He awaits a Nov. 7 trial on three misdemeanor charges.
Despite widespread revulsion with Wheeler's views, his case is being championed by an unlikely coalition of civil libertarians, gun enthusiasts and African American lawyers. They contend that Wheeler's confinement, in a city where repeat homicide suspects have been known to walk the streets while awaiting trial, is an example of a judicial system grown jittery, paranoid and abusive since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
Wheeler's defenders say they worry he is being detained for his beliefs, not his actions, in the name of homeland security.
"It is a classic case of a perversion of the system by the powers that be. He deserves bail under Maryland law." said Warren A. Brown, a Baltimore defense lawyer.
"It is unusual, and to that extent, he is damn near a political prisoner," Brown said. "If he was an ordinary dope dealer with guns in his house, he would have a bail, but because he is a white supremacist, they stick it to him."
Douglas L. Colbert, a University of Maryland law professor and author of a study on Baltimore's pretrial legal system, said he does not recall a case in which someone has been denied bail under similar circumstances.
"A general statement of 'I expect there to be a race war, and I am prepared for it' falls far short of direct and imminent violence that could result in bail being denied someone," Colbert said.
Federal authorities have broad new powers to detain people without bail if they are suspected of having links to terrorist groups. But there are no such provisions in Maryland law, and Wheeler is not facing federal charges, according to the FBI and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
His defenders say Wheeler, who moved to Baltimore from Arkansas 20 years ago, makes and sells guns as a hobby, nothing more. "This guy is a machinist, a gunsmith, and this is what he has done all of his life," said Brian Thompson, Wheeler's attorney, who took the case pro bono last week.
Other groups say Wheeler's pretrial detention is appropriate and responsible. David Friedman, director of the Washington office of the Anti-Defamation League, said Wheeler needs to be watched closely.
"The combination of extremist ideology and weapons is something that law enforcement has an obligation to make sure that the person is just not wandering the streets," Friedman said.
The police investigation began with a tip that Wheeler was storing gunpowder in his house.
When two Baltimore officers visited his home June 28, court documents say, Wheeler told them he believes there will be a race war and handed them a piece of National Alliance literature titled, "Who Rules America?" He also invited the officers to return for an audiotape of National Alliance founder William Pierce, who died last year.
Pierce, under the pen name Andrew MacDonald, was the author of "The Turner Diaries," a 1978 novel about a white supremacist takeover of the U.S. government. The book, which includes a description of a truck bombing of FBI headquarters, was believed to have influenced Timothy McVeigh's decision to blow up the federal building in Oklahoma City by similar means in 1995.
After speaking with Wheeler, Baltimore police consulted the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force, which says the National Alliance poses a risk for domestic terrorism. According to the FBI, the Wheelers were active members. Wheeler denied being a member of the group but said he sympathizes with its views, according to court documents.
Police, who feared that Wheeler was armed, obtained a "no-knock" search warrant from a judge and returned to the home July 1.
"They chopped down my front door with an ax, and 60 people came in," said Elizabeth Wheeler, host of an Internet radio program called "Grandmother Elizabeth's Reading Hour for White Children." According to court documents, she refused to cooperate because some of the officers were black.
Her husband was not home but was arrested at his job at a plastics factory.
Prosecutors initially contended that Lovell Wheeler "created a substantial risk of death or serious physical injury to the citizens of Baltimore," because of his arsenal and connection to the National Alliance, according to court documents.
Since then, the state's case has fizzled, and prosecutors acknowledge that it largely boils down to whether the gunpowder placed his neighbors at risk.
In the end, Wheeler was charged with three misdemeanors: reckless endangerment, possession of a smokeless powder without a license and improper storage of smokeless powder.
Sanford Abrams, vice president of the Maryland Licensed Firearms Dealers Association, said it is not unusual for a gunsmith to possess large amounts of smokeless powder, which is less volatile than black gunpowder.
"Even if handled improperly, it will not explode," Abrams said. "That is only in movies."
Still, Wheeler's bail, initially set at $2 million, was revoked Aug. 12 by Judge M. Brooke Murdock after a hearing. Prosecutors had argued to Murdock that Wheeler was a threat to the community because his gunpowder could have exploded, sending fire and debris into neighboring homes.
Typically, Maryland defendants are entitled to bail unless a judge believes they might flee before trial or there is convincing evidence that they are a danger to society. This case, some legal experts say, doesn't meet either criterion.
"I think it smacks at his First Amendment rights," said A. Dwight Pettit, a lawyer who has long been active in Baltimore's black community. "I think a lot of judges are more sensitive to the racial aspect of it than they are the constitutional aspect."
Anton J.S. Keating, a lawyer who ran for Baltimore state's attorney last year, said judges have been more hesitant about whom they release on bail since Sept.11.
"Let's face it, a year or two ago, we would not be having this knee-jerk reaction," Keating said. "Instead, you hear footsteps when there is no reason to hear footsteps. What if you let the guy out, and he has another 15 pounds of this stuff and he goes and blows up Beth Tfiloh" synagogue?
Murdock declined to comment.
Thompson said he plans to argue that police never had enough evidence to raid Wheeler's house in the first place. Much of the police affidavit talks about Wheeler's alleged ties to the National Alliance, which in themselves would not be a crime.
But while his alleged racial views were described in the charging documents, prosecutors say those views will have little to do with their case.
"Freedom of expression is not a crime," said Margaret T. Burns, spokeswoman for the Baltimore state's attorney's office. "We need to stick to the facts of the case: gunpowder, explosion, threat to public safety."
Wheeler's imprisonment has become fodder for conservative talk radio programs and on Internet sites across the country. "This fellow may be a reprehensible man with loathsome thoughts, but the last time I checked, that was no reason to put someone in jail and throw away the key," said Ron Smith, a Baltimore radio host.
© 2003 The Washington Post Company
