{"id":281,"date":"2006-07-05T04:46:49","date_gmt":"2006-07-04T18:46:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/slackbastard.anarchobase.com\/?p=281"},"modified":"2006-07-06T03:43:06","modified_gmt":"2006-07-05T17:43:06","slug":"rip-dan-and-spit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/slackbastard.anarchobase.com\/?p=281","title":{"rendered":"RIP Dan and Spit"},"content":{"rendered":"
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On July 4, 1998, two skinheads — Lin “Spit” Newborn, 24, and Dan Shersty, 20 — were murdered<\/a> by boneheads in the rocky desert northwest of Las Vegas, USA. Their crime, like that of Maciek D., was to be effective in the fight against racism and fascism.<\/p>\n

The only person to be convicted of their murders, John Edward Butler<\/a>, was initially sentenced<\/a> to death for the crime in 2001, but, after failing<\/a> in his first attempt in 2002, was eventually successful in winning<\/a> an appeal against his sentence in 2004. However<\/a>, prosecutors say that at least four<\/em> people were involved in the plot to kill Lin and Dan, although so far no others have been charged. Further<\/a>, “While hate crimes such as the torture of a gay man in Wyoming<\/a> and the dragging death of an African-American man in Texas<\/a> have received national attention, the deaths of Lin Newborn and his friend Dan Shersty are chronicled more by friends and activists than the national press”. In fact:<\/p>\n

Prosecutors from the Las Vegas district attorney\u2019s office were slow to prosecute the case despite holding the key evidence necessary to try the case only a week after the murders. It was not until after a 500 person Anti-Racist Action<\/strong> protest in the fall of 1998 in John Butler\u2019s neighborhood, and a similar protest in 1999, where activists marched down the Vegas strip distributing information on the case to tourists and demanding the case be prosecuted, that the district attorney acted.<\/p>\n

Allegedly, Butler had received money in the past from the Las Vegas police department as a police informant.<\/p>\n

Ross Hack, who fled to Europe when he was identified as a suspect two years ago, has never been charged for his involvement in the murder. According to the defense attorney, Ross Hack has been on a \u201ctwo-year vacation in Europe,\u201d courtesy of his rich father.<\/p>\n

Prosecutors say they have no plans to pursue charges against Ross Hack. Melissa Hack also remains uncharged in the case.<\/p>\n

Lionel Newborn said his son had told him that he was involved in various organizations that opposed racism.<\/p>\n

After the slayings, the father learned with some pride that his son played a leading role in this effort.<\/p>\n

“I had no idea that he was involved to the extent that he was,\u201d Lionel Newborn said. \u201cI probably wouldn\u2019t have been able to sleep at night.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

See also<\/em> : <\/p>\n