Wednesday, December 01, 2004

Beware your day in court.

A brief brawl erupted in a federal courtroom Tuesday, shortly after a judge imposed severe restrictions on 12 alleged white supremacists following a reported threat to federal prosecutors.
The scuffle began at the end of a hearing and involved 10 of the defendants and approximately 15 deputy U.S. marshals. It started when one defendant spit at a marshal carrying out U.S. Magistrate Samuel Alba’s order to get the particularly vocal man into his seat.
Almost instantly, violence broke out in the jury box, where the defendants and their attorneys were seated. As the other defendants jumped to their feet, the marshals quickly wrestled them to the ground, and the tussle lasted about two minutes until the federal agents got the men under control.
By the end, one defendant was in a choke-hold, another was pressed against the wall and the defendant who incited the brawl had a mask over his face and marshals were preparing to use a stun gun on him.

Read the whole article to learn more about the defendants. Not the kinds of guys you’d take home to Mom.