Please wait while we load your article...

Home > Hal Turner

Learn more about "Hal Turner"

Hal Turner

Harold Charles "Hal" Turner is an United States|American White nationalism|white nationalist and white supremacist from North Bergen, New Jersey. He was arrested in June 2009 for threats which he made against three federal judges with the 7th Circuit|7th U.S. Circuit United States courts of appeals|Court of Appeals. Prior to Turner's arrest, his program, ''The Hal Turner Show'', was a webcast from his home once a week. Turner promotes antisemitism (including the rounding up and killing of Jews), he opposes the existence of the state of Israel and he Holocaust denial|denies the Holocaust.

Early career

Identifying himself as "Hal from North Bergen", Turner became notable in Conservatism in the United States|American conservative circles as a frequent caller to and supporter of WABC (AM)|WABC radio talk show hosts Bob Grant (radio)|Bob Grant and Sean Hannity. 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 (United States)|Libertarian Party candidate Murray Sabrin in New Jersey in the 1990s, including a 1997 gubernatorial campaign. Turner claims he 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 in 2008 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. 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." 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 (SW)|WBCQ, over which he broadcast for approximately four years. On WBCQ on March 22, 2004 he left the show "after harshly criticizing his supporters, listeners, and WBCQ." The show lacked financial support Stopped broadcasting on March 22, 2004 from WBCQ the owner of the station Allan Weiner was Jewish, and Turner had health problemsTurner was in the hospital a number of times in 2003 and 2004 http://www.frn.net/vines/Forum1/HTML/000877.html. This led to the temporary closure of his website and show.

Activism and assault claims

In United States House of Representatives elections, 2000#New Jersey|the 2000 US congress election, Turner sought, but did not receive, the Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party nomination for election to the United States Congress from New Jersey's 13th congressional district, losing to Theresa de Leon.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, NJ|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".GET NJ - Hudson County Hate Monger Hal Turner Faces Purple Heart Veteran Jaime Vazquez in Court In response to an October 7, 2005 assault against a white student by a black student at Kingston, New York|Kingston High School, Turner, working with the White nationalism|white nationalist group National Vanguard (American organization)|National Vanguard, organized a rally which he called a "rally against violence".Woodstock Times: "Turning our backs in unity Kingston 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. He characterized the rally both as "pro-white" and "against violence". 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. When the rally occurred on November 19, 2005, Turner and the National Vanguard attracted approximately 50 demonstrators, compared to the 100 counter-demonstrators. On April 12, 2006, Turner had a physical altercation with Jaime Vazquez, a former Jersey City Deputy Mayor and a 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 immigration|illegal immigrants are breaking the law, and people like me should break the law as well by shooting them down." In response, Vazquez picketed with a sign reading "Hal Turner — shoot me! Racism|Racists and bigots like you are cowards."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, NJ|North Bergen Municipal Court Judge Joseph Romano found both men to be equally credible and thus neither criminally liable.

Broadcasting and website issues

In 2002, Turner started broadcasting, but quit the show in July 2008 and resumed in April 2009 as Turner Radio Network. In August 2008 his website also closed down, though he retained a blog, it was shut down by his host, Google's Blogger (service)|Blogger, for violations of terms of service.

Origin of China Eminent Domain Hoax

In February 2009, Turner posted an article to his blog entitled: "FEDS GRANT Eminent domain|EMINENT DOMAIN AS COLLATERAL TO China|CHINA FOR U.S. DEBTS!" claiming that a secret agreement had been made to allow China to physically take U.S. land, in the event of a U.S. default. The story then went viral marketing|viral and was posted across the internet, including most conspiracy theory|conspiracy and extremist right-wing sites and forums.

Anonymous website raid

Turner claimed that in December 2006 and January 2007 individuals who identified themselves as Anonymous (group)|Anonymous took Turner's website offline, costing him thousands of dollars in Bandwidth (computing)|bandwidth bills. As a result, Turner sued 4chan, eBaum's World, 7chan, and other websites for copyright infringement. He lost his plea for an injunction, however, and failed to receive letters from the court, which caused the lawsuit to lapse.

FBI Informant

Turner was a paid FBI informant for several years, supplying information about right-wing terrorism to federal agents. The original allegations that Turner acted as an informant for the FBI surfaced in 2008 after unidentified Hacker (computer security)|hackers claimed on Turner's website's forums that they had read email correspondence between him and an FBI agent, apparently his Agent handling|handler. This led to a discussion on a Neo-Nazism|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". The FBI has declined to comment on the matter. The Southern Poverty Law Center and the Anti-Defamation League reported on the emails that "a neo-Nazi Website had posted material reportedly found by the hackers, including alleged exchanges between himself and law enforcement agents which indicated that Turner had been providing information to them." On July 28, 2009 in a Chicago courtroom, Turner's defense lawyer said that Turner worked as a paid informant for the FBI. In December 2009, ''The_Record_(Bergen_County)|The Record'' published an investigative report on Turner's "complex" relationship with the FBI and Federal Marshalls, noting that all parties broke off contact at several points.

Threats against judges and political figures

Turner has a history of making threats against various public figures. In 2005, Turner publicized the names of three federal court judges who handled lawsuits involving Matthew F. Hale|Matt Hale. Turner posted the judges' names and addresses on his Web site.Haunted by Threats, U.S. Judge Finds New Horror New York Times March 2, 2005 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."'Assassination' schedule announced for Congress: Radio-show host says leaders won't be allowed to 'betray' nation WorldNetDaily, 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.Official show blogDallas Morning News. Hate-talk radio host down in mouth. February 6, 2007Hal 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 political correctness|politically-correct indoctrination into deadly, disease-ridden sodomy|sodomite lifestyles."Lexington superintendent threatened by radio host - Framingham, MA - The MetroWest Daily News

He went on to provide Ash's personal information, including his address. Fourteen months later, on June 2, 2009, Turner posted on his blog

"Let me be the first to say this plainly: These judges deserve to be killed. Their blood will replenish the tree of liberty. A small price to pay to assure freedom for millions."

The next day Turner posted information on how to find Chief Judge Frank Easterbrook and Judges Richard Posner and William Joseph Bauer.

Arrest and trial

On June 3, 2009, Turner was arrested and charged with inciting injury to two politicians in Connecticut and a state ethics official. The warrant issued was for inciting his website's readers to "take up arms" against the officials. He was arrested in New Jersey. Turner was subsequently re-arrested on June 24, 2009 at his New Jersey home for making threats against the judges of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit|United States Court of Appeals in Chicago. Turner was denied bail. On June 30, 2009, the website for Turner's blog was shut down and replaced with a notice stating that the website has been taken down by Turner's family, directing interested parties to a blog for the Family of Hal Turner, with entries by his mother. In July the Connecticut case was handed to a division of the state court that handles more serious matters. On July 28 in the Chicago case, Turner pleaded not guilty to threatening to kill three federal appellate judges there and then sought his release from custody, saying he had been an informant for the FBI. The judge gave Turner 10 days "to produce concrete evidence of Turner's help to the FBI or federal marshals." On August 11, Turner was denied bail again. The judge cited the fact that Turner, from his prison cell, recorded and posted on the internet a telephone conversation that included the names of his arresting FBI agents. The judge said that Turner's act "tells me something about the disposition of Mr. Turner." He pleaded not guilty, and his lawyer said the defense will use "Turner's background as an FBI informant" and argue that he was "trained by the FBI" as "an agent provocateur" to incite people." Subsequently, in late October Turner was freed on 0,000 bond, and was ordered not to use a computer or any device that can access the Internet. His trial started on November 30, 2009 and ended December 4, 2009, with the defense opting not to call any witnesses. After two hours of deliberation, the jury announced it was deadlocked. Three days later the judge declared a mistrial, and a retrial was set for March 1, 2010. The federal retrial will take place in the Eastern District of New York and will be overseen by United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana|Western District of Louisiana judge Donald Walter to avoid conflicts of interest in the Northern District of Illinois. Prosecutors have filed court documents to have the three judges testify in the case. The trial ended in a mistrial on March 10, 2010, with another trial scheduled for April 12.http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/03/10/internet-radio-hosts-case-ends-in-mistrial/