Hal Turner

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name = Hal Turner
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birth_name = Harold Charles Turner
birth_date = Birth date and age|1962|3|15
birth_place = Jersey City, New Jersey
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website = http://halturnershow.blogspot.com/
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Harold "Hal" Turner is an American white nationalist and white supremacist from North Bergen, New Jersey. He ran his program, "The Hal Turner Show", as a webcast from his home once a week and depended on donations by his listeners. He quit the show in July 2008 for good. In August his website also closed down though he retains a blog.

Turner has often made news for his extreme right-wing views. He promotes antisemitism (including rounding up and killing Jews) [ [http://www.adl.org/main_Extremism/turner_own_words.htm "Hal Turner in His Own Words"] " Instead of fighting Muslims, we Christians should be rounding up jews [sic] and killing them here in America. "] and opposes the existence of the state of Israel. [ [http://www.adl.org/main_Extremism/turner_own_words.htm Hal Turner in His Own Words ] ] He also denies the Holocaust. [http://www.halturnershow.com/RedCrossRecordsProveHolocaustWasFraud.html] In 2005, Turner organized what he billed as a "rally against violence" after a white student was beaten by a black student at a high school. In 2006, he got in a fight with Jaime Vazquez, a former Jersey City deputy mayor, after Vazquez called him a racist coward. Turner has made numerous threats against political figures on his website and in other forums.

Early career

Identifying himself as "Hal from North Bergen", Turner became notable in American conservative circles as a frequent caller to WABC-AM radio talk shows hosted by Bob Grant and Sean Hannity.citeweb|url=http://www.thenation.com/doc/20050620/blumenthal|author=Max Blumenthal|date=2005-06-03|publisher=The Nation|title=Hannity's Soul-Mate of Hate] Turner parlayed this fame into a role as the northern New Jersey coordinator for Patrick J. Buchanan's 1992 presidential campaign. He went on to serve as campaign manager for Libertarian Party candidate Murray Sabrin in New Jersey in the 1990s, including a 1997 gubernatorial campaign. [cite web|url=http://images.nictusa.com/cgi-bin/fecimg/?20020212929|title=F.E.C. IMAGE 20020212929 (Page 13 of 25)|accessdate=2007-01-01]

Turner reportedly established a friendship with Sean Hannity, on whose program he was a frequent presence. However, when confronted by the New Black Panther Party's Malik Zulu Shabazz about his association with Turner (in light of Hannity's scrutiny of Barack Obama's association with Jeremiah Wright), Hannity at first denied knowing Turner, then said he had banned Turner from his radio station, and that he never supported Turner's views. Turner subsequently posted this response on his website: "I was quite disappointed when Sean Hannity at first tried to say he didn't know me. In fact, Sean does know me and we were quite friendly a few years ago." [citeweb|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/03/23/sean-hannity-confronted-o_n_92961.html|author=Jason Linkins|date=2008-03-23|title=Sean Hannity Confronted Over His Relationship With Neo-Nazi Hal Turner|publisher=The Huffington Post] [citeweb|url=http://www.thenation.com/doc/20050620/blumenthal/2|author=Max Blumenthal|date=2005-06-03|publisher=The Nation|title=Hannity's Soul-Mate of Hate (page 2)]

Turner became a talk radio host, joining fellow regular callers Frank from Queens and John from Staten Island to start the program "The Right Perspective". Turner left the program in 2002, citing artistic differences. In 2002, Turner became a solo host, purchasing a time slot on shortwave radio station WBCQ, over which he broadcast for approximately four years. He gave up this show on WBCQ on March 22, 2004 for a few reasons: financial support from the listening audience had faded, [Stopped broadcasting on March 22, 2004 from WBCQ http://schedule.wbcq.com/main.php?fn=show_program&id=50] [Lack of financial support http://www.worldofradio.com/dxld4123.txt] , the owner of the station Allan Weiner was Jewish, Turner had health problems, [Turner's was in the hospital a number of times in 2003 and 2004 http://www.frn.net/vines/Forum1/HTML/000877.html] and his personal financial condition was deteriorating. This led to the temporary closure of his website and show. [The financial condition was deteriorating which eventually led to the temporary closure of his website and show http://www.adl.org/learn/news/Suprem_Urge_Bomb.asp] .

2000 Congressional election

In the 2000 US congress election, Turner sought, but did not receive, the Republican Party nomination for election to the United States Congress from New Jersey's 13th congressional district, losing to Theresa de Leon. [cite web|url=http://www.opensecrets.org/races/summary.asp?id=NJ13&cycle=2000|title=Congressional Races|accessdate=2007-01-01|publisher=Center for Responsive Politics] [http://www.state.nj.us/lps/elections/elec2000/results/2000g_c_candidate_tally.html] Turner has identified himself as the "Chairman of the Republican Party of Hudson County, NJ Corp," a group which has no connection to the official Hudson County Republican Party recognized by the state and national party. According to news reports, Hudson County Republican officials have stated that Turner's party is a "paper corporation with little or no membership". [ [http://www.getnj.com/onlygameintown/turnervazquez.shtml GET NJ - Hudson County Hate Monger Hal Turner Faces Purple Heart Veteran Jaime Vazquez in Court ] ]

Rally against violence

In response to an October 7, 2005 assault against a white student by a black student at Kingston High School, Turner, working with the white nationalist group National Vanguard, organized a rally which he called a "rally against violence". [ [http://www.ulsterpublishing.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=article&articleID=356782 Woodstock Times: "Turning our backs in unityKingston falls into line behind mayor's call to SPURN white supremacist rally"] ] The case resulted in the perpetrator being indicted as an adult with two felony counts: assault and attempted assault.cite web|url=http://dailyfreeman.com/site/index.cfm?newsid=15749825&BRD=1769&PAG=461&dept_id=74969&rfi=8|title=KHS teen indicted for assault, not hate crime|accessdate=2007-01-01|date=2005-12-14|author= Fairchild, Mary|publisher=DailyFreeman.com] [cite web|url=http://www.dailyfreeman.com/site/news.cfm?BRD=1769&dept_id=74969&newsid=15534522&PAG=461&rfi=9|accessdate=2007-01-01|title=Supremacist vows KHS rally|author=Paul Kirby|date=2005-11-08|publisher=DailyFreeman.com] He characterized the rally both as "pro-white" and "against violence". [http://www.dailyfreeman.com/site/news.cfm?BRD=1769&dept_id=74969&newsid=15534522&PAG=461&rfi=9 Daily Freeman - Supremacist vows KHS rally ] ] [cite web|url=http://www.national-socialism.us/archives/266|title=Media do not agree about Hal Turner’s Kingston Rally|accessdate=2007-01-01|date=2005-11-20|publisher=national-socialism.us ] The victim's mother chose not to attend the rally. In response, local residents, including political and religious leaders, organized a number of "Unity Rallies" with a tolerance theme. [http://www.ulsterpublishing.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=article&articleID=356782 "Woodstock Times": "Turning our backs in unityKingston falls into line behind mayor's call to SPURN white supremacist rally"] When the rally occurred on November 19, 2005, Turner and the National Vanguard attracted approximately 50 demonstrators, compared to the 100 counter-demonstrators. [ [http://www.adl.org/main_Extremism/turner_051117.htm Hal Turner, White Supremacists Exploit Tensions in Kingston, NY: ] ]

Jaime Vazquez encounter

On April 12, 2006, Turner had a physical altercation with Jaime Vazquez, a former Jersey City Deputy Mayor and member of the Jersey City Council who was the Jersey City Commissioner of Veterans Affairs at the time. "The North Bergen Reporter" quoted Turner as saying "(t)he illegal immigrants are breaking the law, and people like me should break the law as well by shooting them down." In response, Vasquez picketed with a sign reading "Hal Turner -- shoot me! Racists and bigots like you are cowards." [ [http://www.hudsonreporter.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=16922311&BRD=1291&PAG=461&dept_id=523589&rfi=6 The Hudson Reporter - No charges in case of ex-councilman v. white supremacistNorth Bergen judge rules Turner, Vazquez not guilty ] ] Vazquez suffered a back injury and a fractured wrist. Turner and Vazquez later filed criminal charges against each other. On July 16, 2006 North Bergen Municipal Court Judge Joseph Romano found both men to be equally credible and thus neither criminally liable. [Jim Hague [http://www.hudsonreporter.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=16922311&BRD=1291&PAG=461&dept_id=523589&rfi=6 No charges in case of ex-councilman v. white supremacist] Hudson Reporter/NorthBergenReporter.com July 16, 2006]

Threats against judges and political figures

In 2005, Turner publicized the names of three federal court judges who handled lawsuits involving Matt Hale.cite news |title= White Supremacist Radio Host Urges Bombings, Assassinations|url= http://www.adl.org/learn/news/Suprem_Urge_Bomb.asp|publisher= Anti-Defamation League|date= 2005-08-22|accessdate=2008-02-16] Turner posted the judges' names and addresses on his Web site. [ [http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/02/national/02chicago.html?pagewanted=2&%2338;ei=5088&%2338;en=56f931385cef66a2&ex=1267592400 The New York Times > National > Haunted by Threats, U.S. Judge Finds New Horror ] ]

On December 6, 2006, Turner announced on his website:

"We may have to ASSASSINATE some of the people you elect on Nov. 7! This could be your LAST ELECTION CHANCE, to save this Republic... Sorry to have to be so blunt, but the country is in mortal danger from our present government and our liberty is already near dead because of this government. If you are too stupid to turn things around with your vote, there are people out here like me who are willing to turn things around with guns, force and violence. We hope our method does not become necessary". [http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=53245 'Assassination' schedule announced for Congress: Radio-show host says leaders won't be allowed to 'betray' nation] World News Daily, December 6, 2006]

Since the announcement was made, Turner has had difficulties finding a host for his website. He alleged that his website has been the target of denial of service attacks, and subsequently filed a pro se lawsuit. [ [http://halturnershow.blogspot.com/2006/12/my-web-site-has-been-turned-off.html Official show blog] ] [Dallas Morning News. [http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/nation/stories/020707dnnathate.1ae2563.html Hate-talk radio host down in mouth] . February 6, 2007] [ [http://turnerradionetwork.blogspot.com/2007/02/third-data-center-backs-out.html Hal Turner's blog] (defunct as of 11-07-07)]

On April 4, 2008, Turner encouraged violence against Lexington, Massachusetts school superintendent Paul Ash for establishing a new curriculum supporting gays and lesbians. On his website, he stated:

"I advocate parents using FORCE AND VIOLENCE against Superintendent Paul B. Ash as a method of defending the health and safety of school children presently being endangered through his politically-correct indoctrination into deadly, disease-ridden sodomite lifestyles." [ [http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/state/x2084320886 Lexington superintendent threatened by radio host - Framingham, MA - The MetroWest Daily News ] ] [emphasis his]

He went on to provide Ash's personal information, including his address.

Anonymous website raid

According to Turner, in December 2006 and January 2007, individuals who identified themselves as Anonymous took Turners' website offline, and cost him thousands of dollars in bandwidth bills. He retaliated by sending a "formal legal notice of criminal activity in violation of several federal laws" by email to 7chan, multacom, and multicom, as well as redirecting his domain to 420chan.org, causing that site to take a bandwidth hit as well.cite news|last = Winston|first = Ali|title = 'Hate Host' is hacked| work = Jersey Journal| date = 2007-01-08| url = http://www.nj.com/jjournal/stories/index.ssf?/base/news-0/116823968784040.xml&coll=3|accessdate = 2007-01-08 ] cite web | url=http://fergdawg.blogspot.com/2007/02/cyber-foes-find-ways-to-silence-hate.html | publisher=freep.com | title=Cyber foes find ways to silence hate-talk radio host | accessdate=2007-02-28] cite web|url=http://www.halturnershow.com/HalTurnerRetaliatesForAttackOnRadioShow.html|title=Hal Turner Retaliates For Attack On Radio Show|publisher=Hal Turner|accessdate=2007-07-21] He also sued 4chan, 7chan, and other websites in court over copyright infringement. However, he lost his plea for an injunction and failed to receive letters from the court.cite web | url=http://dockets.justia.com/docket/court-njdce/case_no-2:2007cv00306/case_id-198438/ | publisher=Justia | title=Harold C. "Hal" Turner v. 4chan.org | accessdate=2007-07-27]

Informant allegations

Allegations that Turner acts as an informant to the FBI surfaced after unidentified hackers claimed on Turner's website's forums that they had read email correspondence between him and an FBI agent, apparently his handler.cite news |first= Mark|last= Potok|title= FBI's Use of Neo-Nazi Informant Knocked|url= http://www.splcenter.org/intel/intelreport/article.jsp?aid=880|work= Intelligence Report|publisher= Southern Poverty Law Center|accessdate=2008-03-26 ] This led to a discussion on a neo-Nazi website on January 10, 2008, in which Turner revealed he was quitting political work, was ending his radio show and that he was separating "from the 'pro-White' movement". Both the FBI and Turner declined to comment on the matter. The Southern Poverty Law Center later reported that they had "revealed... that Turner was an FBI informant" [cite news |first= Brentin|last= Mock|coauthors= Potoc, Mark|title= Virginia Developer is USA’s Loudest Neo-Nazi |url= http://www.splcenter.org/intel/intelreport/article.jsp?aid=877|work= Intelligence Report|publisher= Southern Poverty Law Center|accessdate=2008-03-26 ] and the Anti-Defamation League reported that "a neo-Nazi Website had posted material reportedly found by the hackers, including alleged exchanges between himself and law enforcement agents that indicated that Turner had been providing information to them." [cite news |title=Hal Turner Claims to Leave Movement After Accusations of Being an Informant|url= http://www.adl.org/main_Extremism/hturner_claim.htm|publisher= Anti-Defamation League|date= 2008-01-18|accessdate=2008-03-26 ]

Footnotes

External links

* [http://www.buzzflash.com/articles/interviews/102 Follow-up interview with "The Nation's" Max Blumenthal: "Max Blumenthal Probes Hannity's History With Talk Radio's 'Angry White Men' -- and Fanning the Flames of Racial Politics"]
* [http://www.thenation.com/doc/20050620/blumenthal "The Nation": "Hannity's Soul-Mate of Hate"]
* [http://msnbc.msn.com/id/7129533 "MSNBC": "Lefkow slayings divide white supremacists"]
* [http://www.nj.com/news/jjournal/index.ssf?/base/news-0/114535164250850.xml&coll=3 Jersey Journal article about Vazquez & Turner]
* [http://www.getnj.com/onlygameintown/turnervazquez.shtml Hudson County Hate Monger Hal Turner Faces Purple Heart Veteran Jaime Vazquez in Court]
* [http://www.adl.org/main_Extremism/turner_own_words.htm Anti-Defamation League: "Turner in his own words"]
* [http://www.adl.org/learn/extremism_in_the_news/White_Supremacy/hal_turner_threats_10305.htm?LEARN_Cat=Extremism&LEARN_SubCat=Extremism_in_the_News Anti-Defamation League: "Hal Turner and His Supporters Threaten Officials and Other Targets of Their Hate"]
* [http://www.splcenter.org/intel/intelreport/article.jsp?pid=215 Southern Poverty Law Center: "The Host of Hate: Harold C. Turner"]
* [http://web.archive.org/web/20051106034156/www.halturnershow.com/JewTellsWhitesWeWillRunYouOutOfTown.mp3 Audio excerpt from the Hal Turner Show prior to the "Rally against violence"] (mp3 stream)
* [http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.halturnershow.com/index.html www.halturnershow.com (defunct)] archived at Archive.org
* [http://halturnershow.blogspot.com/ Hal Turner Show (Blog)] (Replaces former web show site)