Jewish Group Sued by Alamo Jacket Firm

An ongoing dispute between the Jewish Federation Council of Greater Los Angeles and followers of fugitive preacher and clothing designer Tony Alamo moved to the courts this week, as the Alamo faithful filed suit against the federation, which has launched a successful campaign to stop the sale of Alamo jackets.

Alamo, 54, and three followers of his Saugus church have evaded arrest since October, 1988, when they were charged with felony child abuse after the alleged beating of an 11-year-old boy left bloodied after being struck 140 times with a thick wooden paddle.

Until recently, the sequined, air-brushed jackets were among the most popular items in upscale Los Angeles boutiques. But sales of the jackets have dropped as the Jewish Federation’s Commission on Cults and Missionaries has urged retailers to stop selling the product, charging that money from jacket sales finances cult activities.

Federation officials said Wednesday that they were not mounting a boycott of Alamo products, but were instead trying to educate retailers about the criminal charges facing Alamo.

The lawsuit was filed Monday in Los Angeles Superior Court by Alamo Designs, the manufacturer of the jackets. It seeks $250 million in damages from the Jewish Federation, which the clothing firm accuses of libel and slander.

Because of the boycott, the suit says, several retailers have dropped Alamo jackets, returned merchandise and canceled orders.

Rachel Andres, director of the federation’s Commission on Cults and Missionaries, declined comment on the legal action Wednesday because the federation had not yet been served with the suit.

The legal case is only the latest barrage in a three-month campaign by Alamo supporters to discredit the federation, an umbrella group of local Jewish community organizations.

Since October, Alamo supporters have been placing leaflets bearing the title “Slander From the Jewish Federation” on car windshields throughout Southern California. The leaflets, signed by Alamo Designs Inc., also have been mailed to area homes, and have appeared in New York; Peoria, Ill.; Baton Rouge, La., and other cities.

Printed in both English and Spanish, the leaflets allege that the Jewish Federation is linked to what Alamo supporters say is a “conspiracy” led by the Vatican and the Los Angeles district attorney’s office to destroy Alamo’s church. The leaflets also contain references to the Holocaust that some Jewish leaders consider anti-Semitic.

“We’ve been getting a dozen calls a day for the past two months,” said the federation’s Andres. “What they’re doing is going to all the major events. All the malls and neighborhoods are getting them: Pasadena, West Covina, Newport Beach, everywhere.”

The leaflets have appeared in most U.S. cities with sizable Jewish populations, said Jerome Chanes of the National Jewish Community Relations Advisory Council in New York. Chanes said he suspects that Alamo’s followers somehow obtained the membership and fund-raising lists of several Jewish organizations.

“It seems to me that almost anybody who has some kind of connection with the Jewish community received this mailing,” Chanes said.

Tom Alford, a spokesman for Alamo Designs, said the campaign has cut deep into Christmas season clothing sales.

“Because of the smear campaign, a lot of people have dropped the product,” Alford said. “The campaign is hurting a lot of people.”

Saks Fifth Avenue is the most recent major retailer to drop Alamo jackets. Although the jackets appear in the store’s Christmas catalogue, shoppers looking for the jackets on the department store’s racks will be disappointed.

“There was some negative publicity and we made the decision not to carry them any more,” a spokeswoman for the New York-based department store said.

Sales of the jackets, which cost up to $600, help support members of the Holy Alamo Christian Church, according to Alford. The church claims to have about 500 members and has branches in Arkansas, Tennessee and the Santa Clarita Valley.

In an effort to distance the clothing outfit from the fugitive preacher, the leaflets say Alamo is not an employee of Alamo Designs.

However, Alamo has said in interviews that he manages the clothing company. “I make all the decisions in the business, all of them,” he told The Times in an August telephone interview. “Wherever I am is the (company) headquarters. If you can find me, you’ve found the headquarters.”

But over the last 14 months, authorities have not been able to find Alamo.

After the capture of two church followers who were charged along with Alamo in the child-abuse case, Alamo announced to media organizations across the country that he would return to Los Angeles and turn himself in to federal agents.

The preacher then changed his mind. In what was apparently his last public statement--to the Newhall Signal newspaper--he said he would face prosecution only when he was confident that he could beat the charges.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Robert Foltz, who has monitored the activities of the Tony and Susan Alamo Foundation, said the child-abuse charges and publicity surrounding Alamo jackets have dealt a serious blow to the church.

“Alamo Designs is about to be come a nonentity; their entire market is drying up,” Foltz said. “The Alamo Foundation’s principal funding source is Alamo Designs. Without Alamo Designs, there are certainly insufficient assets to feed, clothe and house the people across the country.”