Law enforcementU.S. prosecutor leaves Texas Aryan Brotherhood case due to safety concerns
A federal prosecutor in Houston has withdrawn from a racketeering case involving the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas. Assistant U.S. attorney Jay Hileman left the case due to concerns over his and his family’s safety after a Kaufman County district attorney and an assistant attorney were killed in two separate incidents. It is not known whether Hileman and his family were specifically threatened.
Aryan Brotherhood drives prosecutor from case // Source: feldgrau.info
A federal prosecutor in Houston has withdrawn from a racketeering case involving the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas.
Assistant U.S. attorney Jay Hileman left the investigation due to concerns over his and his family’s safety after a Kaufman County district attorney and an assistant attorney were killed in two separate incidents.
The Dallas Morning News reports that Hileman notified the lawyers representing thirty-four defendants in the case. A prosecutor from the U.S. Justice Department in Washington D.C., who is already involved in the proceedings, will take over the case.
Both the Morning News and TPM report that it is not known whether Hileman and his family were threatened.
“He’s obviously made a decision based on something,” defense attorney Richard O. Ely II told USA Today, adding that he, too, had been threatened when he was a prosecutor..
Terry Sillers, the brotherhood’s former top leader, pleaded guilty and will cooperate with authorities in the case, which is being prosecuted in Houston. Sellers is now in protective custody.
The Brotherhood has been in the sights of the FBI and other law enforcement agencies since January, when county prosecutor Mark Hasse was gunned down just outside the courthouse. The Brotherhood may also be connected to the deaths of Kaufman County District Attorney Mike McLelland and his wife, Cynthia, who were found shot to death in their home last weekend.
According to KTVT-TV, investigators have found evidence near the McLelland’s home which indicates they might have been watched for some time before they were killed.
The Aryan Brotherhood of Texas is considered to be the nation’s most violent extremist group, according to the Anti-Defamation League, and the Texas Department of Public Safety lists the Brotherhood as a “significant” threat.
An excerpt from a report by the ADL stated the violent nature of the group.
Since 2000, ABT members and associates have committed at least 29 murders in the United States, all in Texas or neighboring states. The true number is likely considerably higher, as most murders that occur behind prison walls do not get reported by the media. The 29 known killings are all “street” killings, more evidence of the growing presence of racist prison gangs on the streets of America.
