Mentally Disabled Navajo Man Branded With Swastika

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Intelligence Report, Spring 2011, Issue Number:  141
http://www.splcenter.org/get-informed/intelligence-report/browse-all-issues/2011/spring/mentally-disabled-navajo-man-branded-
Hate Crimes

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In the first known case filed under the federal hate crimes law signed by President Obama in 2009, three New Mexico men face charges after being accused of using a heated wire coat hanger to brand a swastika on a mentally disabled Navajo man.

Paul Beebe, William Hatch and Jesse Sanford each face one count of conspiracy and one count of violating the federal hate crimes law, also known as the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act. They also face state felony charges of kidnapping, conspiracy to commit kidnapping, aggravated battery causing great bodily harm and conspiracy to commit aggravated battery.

They are accused of more than just branding Vincent Kee's arm in April 2009.

Police say they shaved a swastika on the back of his head, drew two horns on his forehead and wrote the words "White Power" across the back of his neck. None of this seems incidental. The men are believed to be associated with the white supremacist movement, and a search of Beebe's apartment turned up various items displaying *bleep* iconography, including a *bleep* flag mounted on a wall and a baseball bat painted with a swastika.