Amish "outcasts" assaulting men

[Buzzard]

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.c ... z1aCnr4nZX

 

They're cutting off beards forcefully... I'm pretty sure thats a ridiculous shame!

[debrand]

Abdalla said the motive may be related to unspecified religious differences involving 18 Amish families, 17 of them related, that have drawn previous attention from law enforcement, including a threat against the sheriff and a relative convicted of sexual contact with a minor.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.c ... z1aJ4U6yRt

It would be interesting to know the source of the attackers' anger.

I've heard that cases of abuse sometimes go underreported among the Amish

[Buzzard]

So 17 of the 18 families involved in this feud are related? Thats a little scary in itself! Weird that they would be threatening an outsider (or threatening anyone at all)... and that an assault would be reported and result in a conviction. The whole thing is strange for the Amish.

[debrand]

I would like to know what had to occur before the Amish reported the sexual abuse. According to the article, Amish people don't like to involved the police in their problems. I'm glad whoever reported it was willing to go against their community's traditions to protect a child.

Cutting off the Amish man's beard is a way to humiliate the victim so there must be a lot of anger behind that act.

[Buzzard]

Drudge has an "update"

http://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2011/10/ ... e-attacks/

I dont know how far apart these counties are, because its a long way anywhere in a horse and buggy. There HAS to be more to this!

[YPestis]

Sounds to me like there's a whole lot to this story than being reported. There's some serious anger between the feuding Amish family members. Abuse? Revenge? The cutting of facial hair appears to be an act to humiliate. It makes me wonder what instigated all of this.

[Buzzard]

Sounds to me like there's a whole lot to this story than being reported. There's some serious anger between the feuding Amish family members. Abuse? Revenge? The cutting of facial hair appears to be an act to humiliate. It makes me wonder what instigated all of this.

Too bad no one will have a blog!

[Guest Anonymous]

My Hubby and I were in the Lancaster PA area this week for vacation and many of the Amish down there were talking about this. They were familiar with this group thats doing the hair cutting. One of the Amish Ladies was telling me that one of the hair cutters family members has been in jail because he molested his sister and a couple other young girls and now has to register as a sex offender after he serves his time. The Ordnung that he and his family belonged to were shunned by their Amish Church Peers and thats when the trouble all started. They were mad because they got kicked out of their Ordnung. The Amish woman told me that this " Amish" family had quite the reputation for causing trouble among their Amish neighbors for quite a while. Her sister and family live out near this mess going on out in Ohio and I guess the violence has really escalated against innocent Amish by this one Amish Family.

There is a lot of inbreeding in the Amish Society but the sect has been trying to put a stop to cousins marrying cousins because of a genetic thing the kids inherit and die from by being related. Right now down in Lancaster Amish Banns of Marriage are being announced and couples who want to get married have to wait til after the harvest to get married. Weddings will start taking place at the end of October through November and My DH and I had a chance to stay with one family whose daughter is getting married in 3 weeks. We don't do the tourist thing we always offroad and we met a couple of wonderful Amish Families who invited us to share their meals with them and stay in their homes while we vacationed there. My DH even got to plow a few fields with their teams of horses and my female Amish guests let me help with stitching on a quilt they were making for the soon to be bride and they showed me how to make whoopie pies and chow chow. We had a good time and I loved the quiet and simplicity of the farmlands and Amish Families we met. Several teens were on Rumspringa and had cell phones, rock music blaring and a few had cars. In the few evenings we spent there it was nice to see young Amish couples courting in their 2 seater buggies heading down country roads in the twilight.

I was glad to get home though to my own couple of acres of land.

[luckylibrarian]

In response to Buzzard's question about where these counties are in relation to one another:

Carroll, Holmes and Jefferson Counties are in north central Ohio, right next to each other. Jeferson County is on the state line, and Carroll County is west of Jefferson. Holmes is west of Carroll. In a buggy, it would be difficult but not impossible. What really throws me is that it happened in Trumbull County. I'm from the southern part of Trumbull County, and it is not Amish Country. It's suburban blue collar, not rural. There are some Amish in the extreme northern part of the county, which is getting close to the Cleveland area. To get to Jefferson from northern Trumbull County, you would have to cross three counties, which is probably 90 miles or so, and a good portion of that is urban. It would be tough in horse-drawn buggy. Where I live now, the Amish pay non-Amish to drive them around. It's possible there was an unsuspecting driver involved.

[debrand]

Abbra, I am trying to make certain that I understand the situation correctly.

A member of family A sexually abused a girl. He was sent to jail. The Amish community shunned the entire family for the man's actions. Is that correct?

Also, when did family A start being a problem? Was it before or after the sexual abuse? Is there sexual abuse within family A? Has anyone investigated the other members of the family?

[Buzzard]

http://www.ajc.com/news/nation-world/ha ... 01708.html

Just another article on the case. I love that the guy's name is "mullet" and he's cutting hair!

[maybeizfundie]

If I can find the article that I saw, I will post it. It was more recent, and apparently the leader of the "outcast" group is allowing this behavior as "punishment" of detractors. He claims he's not ordering it. But he was also quoted as saying that if he's not able to punish people in the group (or maybe those who leave?), people will walk all over him.

Which strikes me as kind of megalomaniac thinking.

[maybeizfundie]

blog.cleveland.com/metro/2011/10/beard-cutting_attacks_bring_na.html

Not the same article I read, but same info.

If he was upset about his group being called a cult, this was a great way to dispel such myths, huh?

[Brainsample]

Too bad no one will have a blog!

The closest thing they have is the bulletin board at the farmer's market. It's Amish Facebook without the faces.

[Buzzard]

I find it interesting that they choose not to involve the outside authorities for a lot of things. I wonder if the line is the same in all groups - is this why we dont hear about so many of the molestation allegations?

[Prek teach]

There's an article in today's Washington Post. One couple had their hair and beard cut by their own sons. The Post is identifying the cutters as a "breakaway group". Apparently the Amish want to handle their own problems and are very big on forgiveness and turning the other cheek. However, they eventually reported the problem to police so that "the attackers would get help and to prevent anyone else from getting hurt".

[Buzzard]

There's an article in today's Washington Post. One couple had their hair and beard cut by their own sons. The Post is identifying the cutters as a "breakaway group". Apparently the Amish want to handle their own problems and are very big on forgiveness and turning the other cheek. However, they eventually reported the problem to police so that "the attackers would get help and to prevent anyone else from getting hurt".

So this group is even MORE restrictive than the amish? I cant see how thats even possible!

[Prek teach]

Here's the quotes from the post article:

"Two of those arrested a week ago are the sons of the breakaway group's leader Sam Mullet. He has denied ordering the beard-cuttings but says they were in response to criticism ha has received from other Amish religious leaders about his leadership practices, including excommunicating people in his own group."

"He lashed out at those who asked law enforcement to get involved."

" 'One thing for sure is, I'm not calling the law in against one of the other Amish people or against you people,' " Mullet said at his farm outside of Bergholtz, a village he established in 1995. 'I don't do that. I have no right to call the sheffif to defend myself.' "

A cult within the Amish perhaps?

[Buzzard]

Here's the quotes from the post article:

"Two of those arrested a week ago are the sons of the breakaway group's leader Sam Mullet. He has denied ordering the beard-cuttings but says they were in response to criticism ha has received from other Amish religious leaders about his leadership practices, including excommunicating people in his own group."

"He lashed out at those who asked law enforcement to get involved."

" 'One thing for sure is, I'm not calling the law in against one of the other Amish people or against you people,' " Mullet said at his farm outside of Bergholtz, a village he established in 1995. 'I don't do that. I have no right to call the sheffif to defend myself.' "

A cult within the Amish perhaps?

That sounds particularly nasty. I wonder what the cause of the rift was.

[Witsec1]

.

OMG - what if they start cutting hair in the eponymous style? It will be a crime against fashion as well as assault.

[Brainsample]

OMG - what if they start cutting hair in the eponymous style? It will be a crime against fashion as well as assault.

LOL!

Seriously, there are still Fundie Christian women in Lancaster Co, PA (Prime Amish country) that still wear their hair in mullets, so this is not that big of a stretch to me.

[Guest Anonymous]

Abbra, I am trying to make certain that I understand the situation correctly.

A member of family A sexually abused a girl. He was sent to jail. The Amish community shunned the entire family for the man's actions. Is that correct?

Also, when did family A start being a problem? Was it before or after the sexual abuse? Is there sexual abuse within family A? Has anyone investigated the other members of the family?

I'm not sure what your wanting to know Debrand. It was passed to us by Amish that one of their relatives in Ohio knew of this Mullet group. They said Mullets son was in prison for sexually abusing a girl and Mullet was angry because the Brethren who he worshiped with made police aware of the molestation. They did not want him near their female church members so Mullet and his followers were kicked out of the strict ordnung.

As for when the family started to have a problem I have no idea. I didn't feel it was my place to ask any questions in fact I was surprised that the Amish Family we grew close to even discussed it with us because they are very private people.

Many Amish Families are inbred. There is a clinic set up in rural Pennsylvania specifically dedicated to testing and identifying genetic disorders among the Amish. They have identified about 150 and that was 5 years ago! The Amish population doubles about every 20 years – why? Because they don’t wait until they’re 30 to get married, they’re married and knocking out kids by the time the girls are 20 at the latest. And of course, you can’t remain in the Amish church and marry an outsider aka English, so there’s only so many people to choose from. There are about 233,000 Amish people in North America today. Supposedly they no longer allow first cousins to marry, but will allow second and third cousins to marry. How do you justify “hey, we have the same grandparents but our parents are only cousins, so lets make a baby.†I have a feeling that this sexual attack on an Amish Girl had something to do with the Amish's past inbreeding. The Amish Church I think still allows 2nd and 3rd cousins to get married I believe. Then there may have been some devious side to the Amish boy who molested the Amish Girl. I think someone said in one of their threads here that there is more to this story that is not being reported.

[Buzzard]

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nati ... g/1902757/

Sam Mullet Sr. and 15 members of his extended family were convicted of conspiracy in some manner in the 2011 attacks on fellow Amish in eastern and northeastern Ohio with whom they had religious differences.

"You deserve the longest and harshest sentence," U.S. District Judge Dan Aaron Polster said to Mullet before his sentencing. "Sadly, I consider you are a danger to the community."

15 years for the assaults.

In addition to the conspiracy charge, Mullet was convicted last year on six additional counts, including lying to the FBI, for planning the attacks, which were likened to animals being shorn.

"shorn?" really...

Mullet's sons asked that they be allowed to serve the time for their father. The judge gave them sentences from five to seven years. Others convicted were sentenced to as little as a year and a day up to seven years in federal prison.

Nine of 10 men who were convicted have been locked up awaiting sentencing. The six women, who all have children, have been free on bond.

During the trial, prosecutors and witnesses in U.S. District Court here described how Mullet's sons pulled a father out of bed and chopped off his beard in the moonlight and how women followers of Mullet surrounded their mother-in-law and cut off 2 feet of her hair, taking it down to the scalp in some places.

"The beard, what it stands for me, what I know about it, once you're married, you just grow a beard. That's just the way the Amish is," Mast said.

As for the victims, he added, "They got their beard back again, so what's the big deal about it?"

Many in twitter land are noting that this sentence is greater than the standard sentence for rape. I dont know that the two exist in the same universe and can be equated. I'm glad that these dangerous people are off the streets, but it is sobering to think that a rapist would serve less time.

[Mama Mia]

I noticed that those seemed like unusually long sentences - but I am wondering if it is classified as a hate crime, due to the religious nature, and that is why ? Don't know the laws in that area and if they give long sentences as a rule.

[Buzzard]

I noticed that those seemed like unusually long sentences - but I am wondering if it is classified as a hate crime, due to the religious nature, and that is why ? Don't know the laws in that area and if they give long sentences as a rule.

It appears to be in federal court, which is odd.